tds levels on Long Island

[cthedaytrader]

Hi everyone, well after looking at my old tank and reading reefcentral I was bit by the reef tank bug again and started planning a new tank.

I bought a new tds meter, and tested the tap water andmy some old water in my ro/di unit, which I have to change the filters on.

The meter read about 47PPM from the tap, and ~12PPM from the RO/DI Unit

Is long Island really that low? Can i get away with 10PPM before I buy a new RO/DI Unit?

I measured the bucket I have with live rock in it I have going while i finsih building my setup and it went off the chart, so Im hoping the mtter is working

The meter Ibought was the COM 100

Thanks, I forgot how fun that was

 

[shyland83]

It all depends on where you live. i get readings in the 40's. According to SCWA who test very thouroughly... TDS in my distribution area ranges from 38-180 with an average of around 70. I read 0 after my RODI unit. here is the scwa numbers for last year.

http://www.scwa.com/SCWA_AWQR.pdf

 

[Monkeyfish]

I get a TDS of about 60 from the tap and 0-5 from the RODI depending on how old the filters are.

 

[cthedaytrader]

Thanks for the help Shyland and MonkeyFish,

Interesting reading Shy,
Thats pretty good water then lol, I let some of the water run out of my storage tank and tested it and it was about 7, Im changing the filters now so hopefully it will be even lower which would be nice to save some money and not need a new ro/Di unit.

below 10 is acceptable isnt it?

 

[MIKE NY]

IMO on a FO or a FOWLR tank it should be fine, but on a reef system anything over 5 is getting high.........

 

[cthedaytrader]

thanks for the help, I change the filter, although the one I have is not a reef ro/Di its a Kenmore, so maybe I should just get a reef one, Im spending enough on everything else anyway lol Maybe as it filters it will get lower \\ Im def going reef again, I never used to measure TDS with my old tanks but I figured this time since im going small but higher quality equipment I would, thanks for the help

 

[MIKE NY]

I used a Kenmore for awhile and it was just as good as the higher priced units and it uses the same 10" filters.....1 micron filters will yield cleaner water, but will obviously be changed more often....always run a few gallons first to remove any loose sediment etc.. from the new filters.......

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

I have never used anything but Spectrapure so I can't comment on other cartridges.
I start out between 40-50 from the tap and 2-4 before the membrane. End result is "O"

 

[DgenR8]

Keep in mind that your tap water may read good one day, then it could be awful the next.

 

[cthedaytrader]

Thanks for the help everyone,

I ran the Kenmore and emptied out one tank, Im going to test it again, but my readings have been around 10 hopefully they will get lower. I didnt replace the Di though so that could be the problem, I think ill probaly upgrade soon.

We seem to have lower tds as a whole on Li when you read abou tother places.

You think I can get away with 10tds while the tank cycles and I revive my liverock?

 

[MIKE NY]

not me ..my water is horrible.....I'm on the end of the line in my district and pick up everything along the way not to mention the old pipes in my home. We don't drink from our tap. I have water delivered.....West Hempstead-Hempstead Gardens..the district that made front page of Newsday with the big problem a year or two ago.........