Test my r/o machine?

[kg4izw]

Over the past few months I have starting having some hair algae problems in my tank and my corals are not opening like they used to.
I have no fish in my tank but feed my corals 3 times per week. I have a 3 month old 20K bulb.
Here is the weird thing: I thought my problem might be my r/o water or salt, so I bought enough salt water and top off water to last a month from a local store. My algae began to die and my corals opened back up fully.
I then had to decide whether it was the salt or the water. I have a Typhoon II r/o machine. After the month, I replaced all three filters and the membrane and then threw all my old salt away (like 2 gallons), bought new salt and began using my own water again. I tested the TDS from the r/o machine and it was zero. I was convinced the problem was fixed. Wrong. It is about a month since I began using my own water and salt again and I am having the same issues. Hair algae and declining corals. I also have noticed that my r/o machine makes water WAY faster than it is rated. It is a 75gallon per day machine, but it makes over 5 gallons of water in under an hour! Now I do live on the beach with local water that is 70 degrees in the dead of winter and I do have great water pressure, but This seems like a bad sign to me.
I called and emailed Air Water and Ice where I got my machine and they have not been consistent with assistance with their product.
Is there a way I can test my own r/o machine water quality other than the TDS?

 

[Tomoko Schum]

If TDS reading is zero, the water should be fine. However, you need to make sure that your TDS meter is calibrated correctly. 5 gallons in less than one hour is really fast, but it's possible if you have a very high water pressure. Some people use booster pump to double the water production.

What are you feeding corals with? Have you tested your phosphate and nitrate levels?

 

[wpecoul]

Is your TDS meter a pen-type or is it inline with your RODI system? I know all of them can be dodgy, but the pen types especially so.

 

[atlantisaquari]

maybe test some tap water just to verify a different reading. also just wondering what kind of salt you use?

 

[kg4izw]

I feed corals zooplankton and mysis.
Tap water is like 175 TDS and my single stage drinking water filter puts out 75 TDS water.
I have the pen type meter and use Reef Crystals salt.
I went ahead and bought water today. I just have too much to lose by letting things continue downhill.
If the battery was weak in my meter (it's 2 years old) would it register high or low? It might be something to check.

 

[NicoleC]

75 TDS is *way* too high for RO water. My guess would be that you have a leak around the membrane or possibly a tear in the membrane, which is permitting both the water to flow so fast and letting much of the water run through without being processed.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Is Typhoon II an RO system without a DI unit? I take it that your Typhoon II is not the single stage drinking water system that you mentioned earlier.

If it is a simple RO membrane with three prefilters, your output water from RO membrane should read like 3 or 4 ppm with your TDS meter since no RO membrane captures 100% of impurities. If your 75GPD Typhoon system (normally with 98% capture rate) does not have DI resin and TDS reading is zero with input TDS of 175 ppm, I suspect that your hand held TDS meter is out of calibration. If your tank performs better with the store bought water, the store may be using a well-maintained RODI unit.

 

[gnoles]

I would test a known 0 TDS source. A fellow reefer or a store that can show you the reading on your TDS meter. This will help you eliminate the meter or identify the calibration as part of the problem.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I hope that someone in your area has some fresh calibration solution. I calibrated my TDS meter recently. If you are coming up to Hunstville in the near future, I can give you some to calibrate your meter.

As Gary said, ask your LFS or fellow reefer with a good RODI system to let you test your meter with the outflow from his/her DI unit. A well maintained RODI system should produce water with zero TDS reading.

 

[kg4izw]

My Typhoon II machine produces water with a zero TDS. And I am still having water quality issues. This is why I think something else is wrong with my unit.
My earlier post was just referencing other sources of water around my house I have tested with my TDS meter.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I don't know if Typhoon II is a three stage unit without a DI or 5 stage unit like Typhoon III which has a built-in DI unit. If your RO unit does not include a DI unit, it does not produce zero TDS water with your tap as high as 175 because no RO membrane captures 100 % of impurities. Its output will have a small amount of impurities (3 to 4 ppm). It's just the nature of the beast. Your LFS may be using RODI unit which puts out zero TDS water. This may be the difference you are experiencing. Does your water have cloramine in it?

 

[kg4izw]

I have a 4 stage including DI.
What is cloramine?

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Some municipalities use chloramine to disinfect water instead of chlorine. Chloramine is most commonly made from a combination of Chlorine and Ammonia gases. Chloramine is broken down to chloride and ammonia by carbon filters. Ammonia passes RO membrane readily but is captured by DI resin. If you have a functioning DI resin unit, your output water should not contain any ammonia. However, your DI resin will be spent much faster.

You can find more about the mechanism of RODI system here:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/rhf/index.php

If you started having another hair algae issue only one month after replacing all the RODI system components and you have not changed your reefkeeping/husbandry practice, you may be right to suspect your water. As gnoles suggested earlier, I think you should take your water to your LFS or your fellow reefter with a TDS meter and compare the readings from their TDS meter and yours. Do you think that the LFS where you bought the good salt water might be able to help you determine the cause of your problem?

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

I have a 4 stage including DI.
What is cloramine?

5 gal/hr = 120 gal/day. What is your water pressure at the membrane?