How vigilant are you when it comes to the TDS of your RODI water?

[piranhaman00]

My RODI system gets between 65-70 psi with TDS 220. After RO I am at about 9-11 but I have seen it dip to 6. I am contemplating a booster pump to get to 90 (what is the ideal PSI?). How significant of a change would this make in TDS reduction?

 

[Pistol Peet]

It is very important to me that TDS remains low however I don't chase absolute zero if I under five TDS I'm happy as my city water has lots of TDS in it

 

[robbyg]

The votes certainly don't reflect the comments or maybe I am misinterpreting what "Very Important" means. I would have assumed most of the posts would be saying "Mine is always Zero".
Anyway I chose "Somewhat important", I try to keep mine at Zero but every once in awhile I check it and it's at 2-4 TDS. I have auto back flush but that does not work as well as a long manual one.
So I do a manual flush and then change the Di Resin and shes good to go for another couple of months. I don't obsess about zero TDS but I don't want it ever creeping up past 4-5ppm.

 

[robbyg]

What’s TDS I don’t make salt water I use all ocean water 100%,,, does it have TDS ???? I’m

So what are you using to compensate for evaporation?

 

[Jon Fishman]

I’ve almost completely stopped using the top-off reservoir as a living-room toilet

 

[Miller535]

It is super important to me. Where I currently live we have horrible water. I use zero tds only.

 

[Ippyroy]

My RODI system gets between 65-70 psi with TDS 220. After RO I am at about 9-11 but I have seen it dip to 6. I am contemplating a booster pump to get to 90 (what is the ideal PSI?). How significant of a change would this make in TDS reduction?

I think PSI can possibly raise it. 50 - 60 for a regular RODI is good, 90 if you have a water saver. I now use the water saver so I have a 200gpd setup. I make 40 gallons of RODI in about 2-3 hours, that will go to about 4-5 now that colder temps are coming in.

 

[Weasel1960]

Will probably catch heck for this but where is the scientific proof? As being somewhat new I will buy into needing to remove things like chlorine etc. from city water and certain metals from well water but has any of you ever tested the ocean in a reef with your equipment? We pollute enough that I am guessing you will test positive for TDS as well as other chemicals. 30 years ago I had an FO salt tank with an HOB, I distilled water for my tank because it was city water and there were no small scale RODI systems available to the casual hobbyist. My yellow tang, box fish and seahorses did just fine for a year and a half including a move from one apartment to another. What did the tank in was not water quality, it was temperature when my apartment A/C unit died during a heat wave.

 

[chaostactics]

I have a sensor in input and one after DI chamber nd that's it. I check it a few times a year when I remember.

 

[92Miata]

I'm vigilant in the sense that if I get a reading above 0 after the DI, I replace the DI.


I'm not vigilant in the sense that I don't check the TDS every time I run the RO.

 

[Miller535]

My RODI system gets between 65-70 psi with TDS 220. After RO I am at about 9-11 but I have seen it dip to 6. I am contemplating a booster pump to get to 90 (what is the ideal PSI?). How significant of a change would this make in TDS reduction?

Different RO membranes are designed to have different PSI through them. I can only speak for the DOW 75 gpd that I use and it is supposed to have 70 psi ideally if I remember correctly. You need to look up your membrane. But if you are using a 75 gpd rodi from BRS like I am then you will be the same.


Correction, based off their sheet it is rated for 50psi with a max of 150. Not sure where I got 70 from.

https://www.dupont.com/content/dam/dupont/amer/us/en/water-solutions/public/documents/en/45-D01705-en.pdf

 

[Jon Fishman]

Will probably catch heck for this but where is the scientific proof? As being somewhat new I will buy into needing to remove things like chlorine etc. from city water and certain metals from well water but has any of you ever tested the ocean in a reef with your equipment? We pollute enough that I am guessing you will test positive for TDS as well as other chemicals. 30 years ago I had an FO salt tank with an HOB, I distilled water for my tank because it was city water and there were no small scale RODI systems available to the casual hobbyist. My yellow tang, box fish and seahorses did just fine for a year and a half including a move from one apartment to another. What did the tank in was not water quality, it was temperature when my apartment A/C unit died during a heat wave.

Well.... you’d have to test seawater for each element, as TDS just tells you how much of anything other hydrogen or oxygen is in your water. Sea water is full of salt, so TDS is through the roof.

 

[Paulie069]

So what are you using to compensate for evaporation?
[/QUOTE
Spring water after boiling and letting cool down

 

[robbyg]

Will probably catch heck for this but where is the scientific proof? As being somewhat new I will buy into needing to remove things like chlorine etc. from city water and certain metals from well water but has any of you ever tested the ocean in a reef with your equipment? We pollute enough that I am guessing you will test positive for TDS as well as other chemicals. 30 years ago I had an FO salt tank with an HOB, I distilled water for my tank because it was city water and there were no small scale RODI systems available to the casual hobbyist. My yellow tang, box fish and seahorses did just fine for a year and a half including a move from one apartment to another. What did the tank in was not water quality, it was temperature when my apartment A/C unit died during a heat wave.

This line of thinking is a common mistake people make.
The Animals we have in our aquariums typically come from areas of the world that have pristine water. Not areas that have tons of waste water dumped in them. Fish and coral can acclimate and survive but not thrive in bad conditions, just like you can acclimate to living in downtown Beijing and live on the air that is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day and drinking water that will give you a constant case of Montezuma's revenge.

 

[Weasel1960]

This line of thinking is a common mistake people make.
The Animals we have in our aquariums typically come from areas of the world that have pristine water. Not areas that have tons of waste water dumped in them. Fish and coral can acclimate and survive but not thrive in bad conditions, just like you can acclimate to living in downtown Beijing and live on the air that is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day and drinking water that will give you a constant case of Montezuma's revenge.

While I don’t disagree with you, I have been to some of those places, I would also say then that it is the industry itself that is directing this path for the very reasons you stated. I have been looking into this the last few weeks, from what I gather on the water quality websites it appears to me that we are making water so pure for our aquariums that it is actually recommended not to be used for human consumption...RO can and most certainly is, but the DI part should not be.

 

[gray808]

1. How vigilant are you when it comes to RODI TDS and keeping your numbers around zero?

2. What is the maximum TDS number you are comfortable with?

I trust my RO/DI to do its job. So, As long as it's producing water, and the canisters don't look depleted or fouled, I use the water. I don't test the TDS

--Gray

 

[Steve Erekson]

I get 0 TDS out of the RO stage. My DI hasn't shown any noticeable color stage and we're about at the 2 year mark.

 

[Debramb]

Our well water, before softener reads over 16 alk , RO/DI for Aquarium and plants!

 

[vabben]

I have a whole home RO system in my house, so only run a single DI unit. Before the DI my TDS is ~15, I'll let my TDS hit 1 as soon as it does I change out the resin.

 

[WvAquatics]

I have never reached one tds. But I am taking much longer in flush time before tds hits 0 after di. I'm looking into removing my space save di and getting 2stage spectra pure di stages