BRS RO/DI, Are They the Only Good Ones?

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Hey reefers, am I allowed to post a lot on here or is there a limit? Anyway I was watching BRStv's Best RO/DIs and they kept promoting there RO/DI units and I cannot get them because I live in Australia and I am not getting a mail forwarder. Are there any other good RO/DI units in Aussie and BRS just want money from their product and are they even trustworthy, I have trust issues. They kept saying how their media was the best and how the connecters are awesoe and nything else will leak, is this true?
 

andrewey

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I've owned BRS RODI units as well as many others and have been very happy with them all. I don't know about shipping to australia, but you might want to check out airwaterice and spectrapure- I've used both and was very happy. There are a few other RODI manufacturers out there that others seem to be happy with.
 

redfishbluefish

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You're basically buying a bunch of plastic (that are pretty much all the same) and the only thing that really counts are the quality of the membrane and associated filter cartridges. Besides BRS, we have other good brands here in the USA....Spectrapure and Buckeye Hydro are two that come to mind. I'd simply be looking for the number of stages you want and make sure the membrane has at least a 98 percent rejection rate.
 

Ippyroy

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An RODI like the ones BRS sale are all the same. The only difference is which filters do you put in them. Dow for the di and a good thick carbon block that is rated for your chlorine or chloramines. A good sediment filter is a must. Get which ever RODI unit you can and try to match the filters from BRS.
 

robbyg

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I have used a few different ones and as others have stated they are all pretty much the same when it comes to the 10” models.

if Someone new asked me what to buy I would say just about any of them but see if you can get it without filters. The key part to a great Rodi system is buying good filters and the best Ro membrane.

secondly I would recommend a booster pump if your pressure is below 50PSI and an auto back wash unit. Using mixed resin has worked fine for me but I do use two different carbon filters. One-specifically for chloromine and the other for chlorine and the other bad stuff.
 

Perthegallon

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I have dropped my ro unit from brs many times for high places and it’s held up very good would recommend I got mine on sale I don’t know if that’s common
 

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Here's my setup, I built it. But, I also design water treatment plant a for a living and can get parts pretty cheap. The nice thing about the brs units is that their compact and you don't auctually assemble anything yourself. The di resin I use is the brs pro series but nothing else pictured is brs. All the filter housings etc are generally the same in how they work as are fittings. Generally issues I have with specific houseings are issues with things like quality of threads (plastic vs metal) or using wrenchs and mounting brackets that are specific instead of universal. As far as treatment they are equal.

MVIMG_20200627_193857.jpg
 

2_much_junk_in_the_sump

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The most important factor is if you have chloramines in your water. If you do, then I consider the BRS setup with that special chloramine filter mandatory.

I have the Aquatic Life 4 stage 100GPD setup. It works great and the initial investment is cheaper than BRS, but replacement cartridges are more $ than media or replacing just the filter itself in a canister. For example, Aquatic Life DI cartridges are $25 each and I use 2 because I have a "water saver" setup so in the end (after using it for a few years) I think the BRS is probably better or really any setup that uses canisters that you refill instead of cartridges that you replace. Then again, you probably end up replacing the whole thing after a few years anyway so it may be a wash and cartridges are much easier to replace so I think I just talked myself back into the Aquatic Life.
 
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I only have chrolrine (Gas and some other thing with a buch of letters like luzswichd.), ammonia, nitrite, phosphate, probably nitrate, silicates, and just some other non-crazy things. Does the aquatic life twist in have good filters? I just want good quality zero TDS water.
 

2_much_junk_in_the_sump

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I only have chrolrine (Gas and some other thing with a buch of letters like luzswichd.), ammonia, nitrite, phosphate, probably nitrate, silicates, and just some other non-crazy things. Does the aquatic life twist in have good filters? I just want good quality zero TDS water.

Yeah, it works great. I sent my water to get ICP tested and it came back perfect. Its on sale at saltwater aquarium too for $112. If you plan to make a lot of water let me know and I can let you know how to add on a second RO so you can make 200g/d instead of 100.
 

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Just be aware. With the Aquaticlife Twist In unit, you are tied to their proprietary “twist in” prefilters, RO membrane and DI cartridges. I would recommend going with a unit that comes with standard 10” vertical cartridge housings for the prefilters (sediment & carbon block) and DI resins as well as a standard RO filter housing so you can always use high quality standard sized filters suited specifically for your needs and genuine Dow Filtec RO membranes. These standard cartridges will be cheaper and higher quality than the proprietary “twist in” filters from Aquaticlife.
 
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ELEMENT/COMPOUND​
% REDUCTION​
ELEMENT/COMPOUND​
% REDUCTION​
Barium​
99.9%​
Potassium​
100%​
Bicarbonate​
100%​
Radium​
99.9%​
Cadmium​
99.9%​
Selenium​
99.9%​
Calcium (Hardness)​
100%​
Silicate​
100%​
Chromate​
99.9%​
Silver​
100%​
Copper​
99.9%​
Sodium​
100%​
Detergents​
99.9%​
Strontium​
99.9%​
Fluoride​
100%​
Sulphate​
100%​
Lead​
99.9%​
PCB’s​
99.9%​
Magnesium​
100%​
Insecticides​
99.9%​
Nickel​
99.9%​
Herbicides​
99.9​
 

Water Dog

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What filters do you use?

For filters, all Spectrapure. I use 0.5 micron sediment filter, a 0.5 micron carbon block, a MaxCap DI cartridge and a Silica Buster DI cartridge. My RO membrane is a Dow Filmtec 75 gpd membrane. The Spectrapure 90 gpd membrane is the same thing, it’s a rebranded “batch tested by Spectrapure” Dow Filmtec.
 
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Is that good? I cannot get spectrapure here in Australia unless I want pay 500$ AU for it, I am on a budget, this is from the water factory btw.
 

Water Dog

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While a breakdown of elements in your water is nice, there are 4 things that I think are the most important that will help in choosing your RODI set up...

1) Chorine or chloramine - you’ve already answered chlorine
2) Water pressure
3) Source water TDS (total dissolved solids)
4) Well or city water - you’re on city water
 

Difrano

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I have the aquatic life 75 GPD and love it, easy setup and maintenance, 0 TDS every single time i use it, you can read a mini review on my build thread here:

 
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