Distilled vs RODI water

[Duane Clark]

This is so much easier than it seems. You're literally just going to unscrew the aerator screen where the water comes out of your faucet and attach a nozzle or you're going to unscrew the water line under the sink with a wrench and attach an adaptor for the RO/DI, all done with just a wrench. YouTube is great for a visual how-to so you can see what to do step by step much clearer than what words can explain.

Yeah I was hoping I could just screw into the faucet but my wife purchased all these fancy display type faucets in our house so I don't see any screw threads. some simple under the sink work seems feasible I suppose. pulling the trigger soon. :-)

 

[ChrisOFL]

Yeah I was hoping I could just screw into the faucet but my wife purchased all these fancy display type faucets in our house so I don't see any screw threads. some simple under the sink work seems feasible I suppose. pulling the trigger soon. :)

You can get one of these at your local lowes.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Apollo-1-4...tainless-Steel-Ice-Maker-Connector/1000096850
It's what I use for mine after I upgraded my faucet to a fancy display also lol.
Female part connects to water pipe valve, male part connects to water line going to faucet. Just make sure you hook it up on cold water side. Added benefit of being able to use sink while RO/DI is making water also :)

 

[VbReefer]

I do remember reading an article about distilled possibly having copper, or other metals in trace amounts. I believe this is from older/smaller distillation plants and don't think this should be an issue these days.
They use(or used to use) copper coils to cool and condense the vapor back into a liquid.

Who wants to send a bunch of distilled samples to a lab?

 

[Carl Potts]

I’ve used a Waterwise model 7000 home distiller since 1989. My family uses it for drinking, cooking and I use it for the aquariums. The distillers are stainless steel so no worries about copper. They use pre and post carbon filters as well. You can buy different sized reservoirs for this model. However, they are not cheap! Distilled water tends to get acidic due to CO2 from the air. If you worry about that (I didn’t), I suppose you can always mix in a buffering agent before using the water for topping off.

http://www.waterwise.com/productcart/pc/7000.asp

 

[Sealion]

I'm currently using distilled water but will be switching soon. My issue is just how to set an RO/DI system up. A handyman I am not.

Aquatic life makes a great little RO/DI system. I've been using one now for about a year now. Easy to set up a basic system. Extra items can be added with ease. I've added a pressure gauge, TDS probes, and a automatic shut off valve.

 

[Forsaken77]

I've always wondered with RODI how it doesn't affect the fish. Ya know how people can't drink it because it will suck ions from your body? Why is it ok for fish then? How does it not suck ions out of the fish, especially since they are encapsulated in it?

 

[DSC reef]

I've always wondered with RODI how it doesn't affect the fish. Ya know how people can't drink it because it will suck ions from your body? Why is it ok for fish then? How does it not suck ions out of the fish, especially since they are encapsulated in it?

I've never heard of this before. I don't drink it due to bacteria but I like my ions;)

 

[Forsaken77]

I've never heard of this before. I don't drink it due to bacteria but I like my ions;)

Yea, that's why, I read, that it's unhealthy to drink the DI stage of the water (DEionization). Because it sucks all of the ions from the water and then when you drink it, it will take ions from your body.

 

[Duane Clark]

Ions or not I just pulled the trigger on an aquatic life twist-on 4 stage. looking forward to it. :-)

 

[Forsaken77]

Ions or not I just pulled the trigger on an aquatic life twist-on 4 stage. looking forward to it. :)

I use one to. Just curious how it affects us, but not the fish.

Is that the one where the canisters are all preassembled? And you just buy the replacement canister for each instead of buying filters? Good luck with it ;)

 

[Duane Clark]

I use one to. Just curious how it affects us, but not the fish.

Is that the one where the canisters are all preassembled? And you just buy the replacement canister for each instead of buying filters? Good luck with it ;)

I don't know about pre-assembled but the canisters just screw in. then, yes, you just buy a new canister when it runs out or expires. its kind of a lazy man's unit but its my first one so figured I would give it a try.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I've always wondered with RODI how it doesn't affect the fish. Ya know how people can't drink it because it will suck ions from your body? Why is it ok for fish then? How does it not suck ions out of the fish, especially since they are encapsulated in it?

The difference is you add a salt mix to the RO/DI water. It is no longer just RO/DI when you add it to the tank. Top off is just replacing the pure water lost.

 

[hart24601]

You can drink ro/di just fine if you are a normal healthy person. Tastes terrible, but it won’t hurt you. Few threads with that talked about with Randy if you search.

Many soft water freshwater folk run RO drips. I myself run only ro/di in my freshwater 180 and 120 tanks. I do remineralze, but not very much.

 

[Sealion]

When you add salt mix back in , then the water is back to being basically unpolluted saltwater

 

[Cory]

RODI is a purer/cleaner water and more cost effective than distilled. Good article on water and more hub for the similarities.

Ro/di in a labortary would be cleaner and purer. Our home units are not better than distilled because bacteria grow in them, and tap tds is variable.

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

So buying distilled from Wal-Mart is better than having an RODI unit in the house? Don't have the money for a distiller in the house so we can disagree. I'll stick with the RODI. Flush kits help with bacteria as well. I don't drink from the RODI so I'm not sure how the bacteria effect the tank.

 

[Cory]

When i used to make distilled water for drinking, my electric bill went up 35$ a month. That was making just 1 gallon a day. Thats at 5 cents a kilowatt hour.

 

[Cory]

My opinion about the two is that distilled water is far less complicated with less potential to nuke your tank than ro/di.

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

We buy zephyrhills for drinking. I'm using RODI for the tank. Not trying to debate for drinking water or costs but thanks for the info. Keep your filters changed, watch the DI resin and change the membrane once a year. Not worried about nuking the tank with RODI.

 

[Gareth elliott]

I think the main points here are.

-Either can be used to for very low to 0 tds mixing or top off water, that is superior to tap water.

-purchasing Large quantities of either produced outside the home is much more expensive

-home ro/di units are cheaper to run and purchase than a home distiller.

-dont drink either will taste disgusting lol

-i think we would see a lot more posts of nuked tanks from distilled water if the other variables were common.

To the op’s original question(cost) is the single largest reason distilled is not widely used. On this entire thread 1 person has home distiller, and has great results. But how many others are going to sink that much into a unit they could get the same results at 1/10 the cost of a home ro/di unit.