Will I save $ making my own water?

J

jasper24

New member
I have had a tank running for the last year and a half. I have always purchased my water change water and top off from my LFS. I have a 58G with about 13G in my sump. I buy 5G premixed salt water for water changes and about 6 gallons of ro/di for top off each week. I spend about $10 a week. I have several questions that I hope someone will help me with.

Will the weekly costs of an RO/DI unit be less than this considering I have to buy salt also?

How much salt mix per gallon is needed to make SG 1.025?

Is the Typhoon 3 a top of the line unit?

What is the best salt mix for a reef?

Thanks!
 
Well, you're spending $520 a year for 260g saltwater and 312g of fresh water.

A typhoon 3 with all the bells and whistles is $200. Upgrade to a dual inline tds meter and add shipping, maybe you're up to $250. 2 buckets of salt will allow you to make more than 300g of saltwater, and should cost $70 or so for the year. Figure to change your prefilters annually for about $25. DI cartridges are $20 or so, how often you need to change depends on your water quality, and what comes out of the RO stage. Assume annually since you're using relatively little water.

Your actual water utility costs should be pretty minimal. You're looking to make ~50g of RO/DI a month, that will use ~250g of utility water. Cost should be pretty negligible there, but check your water bill if you want to know the rate (usually billed per 1000g).

That adds up to about $365 the first year, with ongoing costs of $115 each year thereafter (salt, filters). A significant savings, IMO. Keep in mind, at some point you'll need to replace the RO membrane for $40/$50, but it should last for several years.
 
I agree definately cheaper to make your own, plus in an emergency you have the ability to make your own water, right now you can only get water if your LFS is open.
 
Also, having your own unit allows you to control the quality assurance.

There are nasty stories on here of people buying water from LFS or grocery stores that turned out to have higher TDS than their tap water. You have no control over when or if those places change their filters.
 
Great advice Jeffbrig and others above. I weighed the options as well when I first started out and decided I might as well just pop for the RO/DI unit, TDS meter, refractometer, and salt mix since I figured I would save more money in the long run.

As far as units go, I have the Optima from PurelyH20 and couldn't be happier with it. But really, any of the units from the sponsors on here appear to be great since they all use Dow filters.

As far as salt mixes, I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals but mainly because it was/is on sale from Drs. F & S and I've heard nothing but great things about the calcium levels and trace elements. I figure it's a couple dollars more off the bat but then again I don't have to add as much calcium and trace elements after.

Adam
 
I make water for our tank at less than half the cost the lfs sell RO/DI water for around here, so I would encourage you to seriously consider making your own RO/DI water. I make water for a friend, too, so I figured out how much it costs me to make it and he reimburses me. It runs me $0.20 / g for fw and just under $0.50 / g for sw, while the lfs charge $0.50 / g for fw and $1 / g for sw.

While it's possible, I wouldn't count on your pre-filters lasting a year. But, it'll vary based upon your incoming water quality. As an example, my first set only lasted 4 months, which was approximately 400g of actual RO/DI.

I like Reef Crystals, too.
 
You also have to figure in the hassle of going to the store when you might not otherwise need to, dealing with bottles, jugs or whatever.
 
OK so here is my next question. With the small amount of water that I need can I make it all in one day and then turn the unit off until I need it again the next week or does it constantly have to be running? Thanks!
 
You can turn it off whenever you want. Just have a valve on the line feeding it. But they usually come with an auto-off valve so that it is not doing anything unless you actually have the outlet valve open.

I love having my own ro/di and auto topoff. "I'll never go back" lol. We also use it for drinking water.
 
Cheaper in the long run and like others said you control quality .

Here is my spectra pure unit. It has their best 0.5 micron sediment for improved particle removal and long term performance,Their best 0.5 micron carbon block Chloramine eater,The industry standard, a FilmTec TFC 75 GPD membrane, individually TESTED to insure >98% rejection,Dual stage DI for true “18.2 meg-ohm resistivity laboratory grade water”.

First stage DI is their new revolutionary MaxCap DI with 3.5x capacity of other mixed beds!It will lower your DI production costs by over half.

Second DI stage is the DI cartridge that pioneered silica removal- the SILICA BUSTER Cartridge.

And two in line TDS meters, one to monitor RO performance and one to monitor DI performance to signal change required.

IMO I would get a water report form your local utility company and give spectrapure a call they will get you setup with the best filter for your area. Here in AZ we have anywhere from 500-800 tds depending on where you live.



ro-di.jpg
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7982418#post7982418 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jasper24
OK so here is my next question. With the small amount of water that I need can I make it all in one day and then turn the unit off until I need it again the next week or does it constantly have to be running? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yes and that would be the way I would do it . I make 44g every 5 days for top offs around the house.

This will also insure you get the most from your setup .

Also I bleed off the first gallon has it has higher tds from sitting in the filter during non use.
 
Well what are people's expereinces/opinions about bacteria growth in a unit that is used oly once every weeks or so?
 
I have been told its non issue unless your unit is in direct light

But I haven't gone that long with out using mine. Beside top of water I also fill cans for water changes. I also put a t in my line before DI so I can get regualr ro for drinking water.
 
I use my AWI Typhoon every weekend for top off and changes. Ilove that unit and highly recommend it. 0 TDS every time. But I wory about bacteria growth with only use one day a week.
 
Going back to the original question:

"Will I save $ making my own water? "

YES..You'll save $ and headache.
 
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