What do I to check to see if my RO water is safe?

[Gordonious]

What all do I need to check to make sure my RO water is safe?

I have a Kent bare bones RO unit I got from Foster and Smith at the end of last summer. The unit hasnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t been used much, it was off and on installed and uninstalled till about 2/3 weeks ago when I finally left it running into a huge brute rubber made that my brother gave to me for my birthday. I only get about 1.5-3 gallons a day and it is connected just to the cold water tap.

I have already used a large amount of it last week, but wanted to know how I could make sure it was safe and that the RO was working well.

The water comes from a community well. We live right off an inlet to the Rehoboth Bay in Lewes Delaware.

Jon

 

[Fast Fred]

Get a TDS meter and test it.

 

[Gordonious]

Was going to say that is a little to pricy, but they are not bad on eBay. What kind of readings would I expect if the unit is working right? What level is best and which is ok for a FOWLR?

Jon

 

[Fast Fred]

If you have RO only, and not RO/DI, your reading will prolly be <10ppm on the TDS meter. Anything significantly more than that, and I would question the usability of the R/O membrane.

 

[Unresistible Blue]

depending upon the membrane used in the system, your post RO numbers should be 10% or less than the pre RO numbers.

 

[Gordonious]

Thanks a lot to both of you. Hopefully I'll be able to afford the meter next month. I've been thinking about adding a DI when I got the money for it, how much more could I expect out of it then? If the RO membrane is working well, for my FOWLR system would I benefit greatly? The touchiest two things I think I have in my tanks are my hitchhiker feather dusters which I love and my juvy French Angel.

Jon

 

[poppin_fresh]

A DI would drop the readings closer to "0". Being on a well like I am your water probably has a lot more minerals, etc., than municipal. It will exhaust a DI canister more quickly than municipal water. If you are not having any algae outbreaks and your tank parameters are good, you probably dont need to add a DI.

Just use your TDS meter to measure the consistency of your RO. If your system is good when you are adding 10ppm water, try to keep it in that range. If it creeps to up a few PPM after a few months its probably time to change some prefilters.

 

[Gordonious]

Thank you.

I have had little algae outbreaks, but that was because my brother left the lights out for days at a time, so when I got my computer running the light cycles I had the lights on a little longer so the coralline algae might have a chance.

I've been running the system for a couple of years now not adding anything with extensive or expensive needs. I use twice as much carbon as suggested and four times as much Purigen and the animals I have are extremely hardy and not messy at all. I have just been planning on adding more and more as my system because large enough, automated enough, and I become knowledgeable enough. I have never even added calcium to my tank which I plan to start doing in the next couple of months.

I live an hour and a half away right now at college, but I try to come down every week or every other week.

Jon

 

[Gordonious]

What does everyone think about "Dual Inline TDS meter Reverse Osmosis RO DI only"? They aren't much more on ebay then any of the handheld units. I only have one RO unit so portability isn't an issue. It also seems to have the same range and resolution.

 

[Gordonious]

Would it be worth it to spend an extra $15 for a "REVERSE OSMOSIS RO DI Com-100 TDS /EC/Temp meter HOT!"
Is this something I may want to get in the future for some hobby project?

 

[Gordonious]

***Excuse me $26