RO Units Why are they so important?

[bginop]

As you know the topic I listed above was very broad, but I wanted to leave this section open for discussion because I really want to get a strong understand of why people use RO units and should I use them?

Thanks guys, please just post what ever information you have, and please remember to be curtious to each other.

 

[Sk8r]

I love my ro/di because I am supremely lazy, and cheap. At .69 a gallon, buying 5 gallons a week forever will ultimately cost more than the ro/di did, and I'd have to carry the bought water across a parking lot and up 3 flights of stairs. After 14 months of weekly water changes in a 52 gallon tank, it will cost the same as the storebought water. Then I have to buy new filters, which cost, but they're way cheaper than the unit with filters, and I should be in the black after another few months. AND meanwhile I haven't spent any gas to drive to the store, been backed into in their parking lot, or carried five gallons of water a week up those forsaken stairs---or had to do it in the ice and snow.

The thing is jury-rigged to my washing-machine tap, and sits there when it works, dripping waste down the washing closet drain and good ro/di water into my tank.

Treated tap water isn't even a consideration.

 

[bginop]

good,

I have a question though, just how do you set up an RO unit? I mean, i really just have a hose and thats it. I do have a sink, and a washer and drier unit, but they are the apartments really.

That little bit of information I posted above was just to clarify how little I know about RO units.

 

[Satori]

I know the TDS of tap water here in SV is about 200. It has phosphates, silicates, nitrates, and tons of other undesireable stuff. Even if you de-clorinate it with drops, there's still lots of stuff in there that will feed algae blooms.

RO/DI water has 0 TDS.

Here's how mine is hooked up to the washer. The orange tube is the waste line from the RO. I have a rubbermaid tub that collects the good water.

 

[bginop]

nice nice, thanks for the pictures. So, you absolutely have to hook it up this way? Or are there other options. And please assume I am not a plumbing master.

 

[Satori]

There are other ways, this is just the easiest.

 

[Sk8r]

You can also get a sink adapter: little gadget goes on the faucet, just like the one that's probably already screwed in, and has a side connector for the light-gauge tubing that the ro/di uses. But that takes up counter space. I just keep mine sitting on the dryer, and move it to the washing machine when I use it (just turn the Y-connector tap a bit and its on, waste line goes down the waste chute for the washing machine to the drain. The reason I set it there is because there's never been a light-line connector made that doesn't leak, and any leak just flows right down into the toploading washing machine and I use the water for washing. Hmmn. I suppose I could put the waste line into the washing machine too and waste nothing.

As for your apartment manager, you can see in the photos there's no alteration to his plumbing---just unscrew the cold line, screw on the Y connector, screw the cold line to one side, ro/di screw-on to the other---valve to the washing machine always left open, valve to the ro/di cut off when you're not using it. Put your collection bucket on the floor, bulldog-clip the line to the rim so it won't fall out, and you'll have ro/di by the gallon. Of course you may have to sweet-talk the spousal unit about the dryer top being a water purification station, but there are ways.

 

[Roll221]

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

No mater what you have to do to get it hooked up, here it what it will do for your water quality.

This picture is of my TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) meter immersed in tap water.

This picture is of my TDS meter immersed in RO/DI water. You decide if you need an RO unit?

 

[phenom5]

why is an RO unit important? well, i asked myself that very question not too long ago. i was reading something in Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Fenner and i came across something he said that i thought was interesting. he said, and i'm paraphrasing here, but he said that people were too quick to blame their source water for problems, when better husbandry would have a greater impact on a tank, and that people often didn't need an RO unit. i'm currently buying RO water for my tank, which isn't a big deal b/c it's a nano, but it is a PITA. so i figured i look into it. i emailed metro water to get some updated, complete water tests...here's what i found for my area...

Orthophosphate = <0.10 mg/L (October 2003)
Nitrate = 2.1 mg/L (October 2005)
Silica = 28.0 mg/L (October 2003)
TDS = 310 mg/L (October 2003)
Copper = <0.020 mg/L (October 2004)
Iron = 0.480 mg/L (October 2003)

that was enough for me, no way in hell i'm using tap water. now i've just got to convince the wife that we need an RO unit. maybe i'll make her haul those 5g jugs for a few weeks...

 

[bginop]

wow lots of silica! Im suprised, well not really but thats just something people say.

Now, I have the same book and i reconigze the quote, but I do not have a real algea problem. Green algea generally takes about 3 to 4 days to show up on my glass after i scrub it off.

Its more like, I want to maintain beautiful corals, and I feel that the water might be doing something to the corals to keep killing them.

Now I want to make it clear that both my mushrooms (ricodea and Rhodactis ) are doing great. Infact my ricodeas have split and are growing.

I just want to try find out the mystery behind why I can not keep LPSs.

 

[phlipper84]

it can be run under sink if you desired. The laundry room system is a good way to go for a couple of reasons.

• laundry rooms are very well equipped for extra-curricular water activites!
• readily accessible area for waste-water disposal.
• Have you ever tried to do anything under your sink? Just turning off the water is an adventure unto itself!

 

[cerreta]

bginop, I too am in a rental. I wanted good water for drinking and using for the tank. I bought a standard 25gpd AquaPure system from CostCo and added on one additonal 4gal resavoir and an add-on DI cartridge. Total cost was around $200.

If I were to do it again, I would get a higher capacity unit, but I like it under the sink.

The benefit, is that one system services many needs, ice-cubes, drinking, and reef tank. I can also remove it when I move out without any damage to the rental.

The disadvantage is that I have to fill a 5 gal jug and gravity feed the top-off-water via a Kent Float valve to the sump. I do it about every third day. Not so bad.

Plumbing the system right to the tank makes adding top-off-water trouble-free, but you can't use this water for drinking and icecubes.

 

[bginop]

hmm interesting

So would you say it is safe to say that having an RO unit definitly helped your performance in the sense of keeping your inhabitents alive.

 

[owsi]

It is one less thing to worry about, $200 is cheap for peace of mind.

 

[cerreta]

yes, I would say that using quality fresh water is as important as lighting and a skimmer. You don't have to have an RO unit, but you have to use RO water. So, you can go to the LFS everytime you do a water change, or add fresh top-off water. I choose to have the convience of the RO system in the home.

Get one!

 

[bginop]

I have been trying to do some research on how to install RO units but I have not come up with any results. So, I saw a few of your pictures but I really just want some advice: on what I need to buy to install the unit, and where is a good place to install it?

Below I will post the information about my apartment:

I have a washer and dryer, and I have a couple of sinks in the house.

The washer and dryer unit is a single unit: dryer on top and washer on bottom.The washer and dryer is in its own room but the room is large enough just to fit the washer and dryer unit.

The sinks are located in almost every bedroom and the kitchen. Of course there one in the kitchen is the largest and I really have nothing underneith the sink that should be a problem on instillation.

So the real core of my problem is, I really dont know what I am doing when I look at the unit and the plumbing. Now, it may appear simplier that I am making it to be, but from what I gather from the pictures (i see online) it really seems quite cryptic.

So, all I am asking is just a little guidence or tips on how to install a unit.

 

[cerreta]

I have a set of instructions I can loan you. It may help, even if the brand is different.

 

[Satori]

Is there a way you can hang it on the wall next to the washer/dryer?
That location is convenient because you have more room for a tub or container to collect the new RO water. If it's under a sink, where would you put a tub or bucket?
Plus, the washer has a convenient drain for the waste water.

 

[Saltwaterâ„¢.Az]

Good idea.

I run mine outside off the back faucet. I use the waste water to water my trees.

So what kind of RO/DI systems do you boys use? I currently use a Optima Professional 4 stage RO/DI. I also have a Kent Maxxima Hi-s 4 stage RO/DI.

 

[Satori]

I also use a Kent Maxxima Hi-S.