what's cheaper?
- Thread starter Daddyrawg
- Start date
sirclintler
New member
Something to think about, my local lfs sells their rodi water at 15 tds. At the least with your own you can control this. My water bill is un affected because we pay by the 1000 gallons
mcgyvr
New member
In the long run having your own RO/DI is almost always cheaper..
Just do the math.. Its quite easy stuff..
Here is how easy the math can be..
A decent RO/DI unit is $150
Thats only 300G of water from your LFS not even including the $1-2 in gas it takes to get there/back each time..
With a 100G tank changing 20 gallons 26 times a year is 520 gallons..
So..
Lets say 20 gallons every other week..
Thats 20 x $0.5 = $10 + $2 gas
Thats $12 x 26 weeks = $312 a year.. (cost of 2 RO/DI units)..
easy stuff people... easy stuff..
Just do the math.. Its quite easy stuff..
Here is how easy the math can be..
A decent RO/DI unit is $150
Thats only 300G of water from your LFS not even including the $1-2 in gas it takes to get there/back each time..
With a 100G tank changing 20 gallons 26 times a year is 520 gallons..
So..
Lets say 20 gallons every other week..
Thats 20 x $0.5 = $10 + $2 gas
Thats $12 x 26 weeks = $312 a year.. (cost of 2 RO/DI units)..
easy stuff people... easy stuff..
mcgyvr
New member
Tell me how you are billed and its quite easy to include that information in the math..
Some people are on wells so the water is basically free...
Others pay a set price per 1000/gallons or whatever...
Water is usually pretty darn cheap.. Its most certainly no where near $.50 a gallon..
kevin21
Active member
Good stuff as always. Been pondering this myself. For your typical RODI unit, how many gallons can they supply before the filters need changing? How much are the replacement filters?
Tripod1404
Active member
If it was more expensive to do it at home, your LFS would be losing money by selling water .
mcgyvr
New member
I'm going to refer you to this FAQ
http://www.buckeyehydro.com/faq/#Q1
and give you this link..
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-5-stage-ro-di-replacement-filter-kit.html
and since this is where I bought my system I'll just do a plug for them too..
https://airwaterice.com/
I will just about guarantee that if you have anything larger than a 10G tank a RO/DI will be cheaper in the long run... ROI may be as little as a few months to likely no more than a few years..
Funny thing is LFS said its not worth it for me to get a rodi unit.. obviously he wants me to buy his water
Thinking of buying this one but its out of stock atm...
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/75gpd-4-stage-value-ro-di-system-bulk-reef-supply.html
mcgyvr
New member
DUH... :thumbsup:
And they probably tried to sell you PH buffer... and many other "common" LFS complaints like that..
PatW
New member
I figure that making my own RODI costs me about $.20 per gallon and saltwater $.50 per gallon. On top of that, I control the quality of both. It is also far more convenient to make my own. And I can easily have an ample supply on hand. Running to the LFS would have to get old .... really quick. My LFS sells all sorts of water. I think it is a significant cash flow. But they do sell RODI units also. Some people would just rather carry jugs of water around.
ryeguyy84
New member
I would go with the plus unit if you're going with BRS. it's nice to have a pressure gauge and a TDS meter on the unit.
another perk to owning your own unit is you can drink the water either before the RO unit or after it (but not after the DI stage). much cheaper than bottled water, I just refill a store bought gallon a few times until my wife throws it away because the bottle is "old". I'm now running a line upstairs to a sink mounted faucet.
Tripod1404
Active member
Seattle aquarium at Seattle (obviously) is selling saltwater for $0.07 per gallon. Unless you can get water from that, its always cheaper to mix your own.
mcgyvr
New member
now that's a good deal, unless it's their used water lol. Even then it's probably cleaner than my tank
haha.. we are just kidding.. Its whale pee
Tripod1404
Active member
now that's a good deal, unless it's their used water lol. Even then it's probably cleaner than my tank
I think it is NSW filtered and UV sterilized. Last time I was there I asked about it and they said it is pre-treated sea water that they use for their own aquariums as well. By pretreatment I assume it is filtering and UV.
Since they have healthy reef tank displays with delicate SPS corals, clams, and etc., I assume their water is okay to use
.But I only used it few times, mainly when I returned from a vacation and wanted to do a water change without preparing saltwater. For regular water changes, it is still easier to prepare your own rather than driving around with jugs of saltwater.
mcgyvr
New member
Yes you can if you need to..
In my old house I had a hose faucet in the garage and hooked up there...
Only issue is that if it freezes there in the winter well.... that doesn't mix well..
My current system is hooked up in the laundry room using the water hookups there..
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