Just watched Reefbuilders….thoughts on going RO water only

[Lousybreed]

Jake just showed off his saltwater making system and he went in depth on his water filtration. He doesn’t use RO/DI water!! He doesn’t even use RO water!!!! He uses tap water that goes thru a ton of carbon.
Here is my question: what are your thoughts on using an RO system and then afterward using 4 carbon filters like Jake does and call it good??? Seems like a super easy way to greatly reduce costs of reefing while still getting a higher level of clean water compared to tap water.

 

[Dcal]

I havent watched vid yet but it honestly sounds more expensive than just normal RO/DI system

 

[Tamberav]

Jake just showed off his saltwater making system and he went in depth on his water filtration. He doesn’t use RO/DI water!! He doesn’t even use RO water!!!! He uses tap water that goes thru a ton of carbon.
Here is my question: what are your thoughts on using an RO system and then afterward using 4 carbon filters like Jake does and call it good??? Seems like a super easy way to greatly reduce costs of reefing while still getting a higher level of clean water compared to tap water.

Did he post his TDS and tests to show what is in his tap water and what is in it after?

Not everyone's tap water is the same. I could maybe even use straight tap if I still lived in Duluth MN. TDS was like 15-20 out of the faucet when I lived there.

Not sure about costs... TDS in is 130ish for me. My super max cap RODI lasted me two years and my spectrapure membrane lasted 6. I change pre filters every 6 months just because that preserves the membrane but those are cheap as heck. So I am not spending much at all!

 

[ggNoRe]

Good luck on that where I live. 260TDS I'm burning through filters every 3 months.

 

[rtparty]

He has some of the cleanest tap water in the US. He has talked about that in the past. Totally an unfair comparison for the vast majority of reefers. Carbon filters don't remove a lot of things. DI is an absolute necessity for a lot of us.

 

[Lousybreed]

He has some of the cleanest tap water in the US. He has talked about that in the past. Totally an unfair comparison for the vast majority of reefers. Carbon filters don't remove a lot of things. DI is an absolute necessity for a lot of us.

Do we know this? This is where I am coming from. Do we really need DI? I have 330tds tap and my ro knocks it down to 3tds…..carbon removes almost all pesticides, organics, even heavy metals……there is a reason why carbon is used for water filtration it is really good at filtering out the bad stuff.
I sent my RO only water in for ICP testing…….there was only a very little magnesium, calcium, and some silicates. But other than that, nothing else was detected. Last I checked we add calcium and magnesium to our tanks!

 

[Lousybreed]

Good luck on that where I live. 260TDS I'm burning through filters every 3 months.

What filters are you burning through?

 

[Lousybreed]

Did he post his TDS and tests to show what is in his tap water and what is in it after?

Not everyone's tap water is the same. I could maybe even use straight tap if I still lived in Duluth MN. TDS was like 15-20 out of the faucet when I lived there.

Not sure about costs... TDS in is 130ish for me. My super max cap RODI lasted me two years and my spectrapure membrane lasted 6. I change pre filters every 6 months just because that preserves the membrane but those are cheap as heck. So I am not spending much at all!

I hear you!!! And for your situation using DI sounds like it makes sense. But for a lot of us that live on limestone aquifers your DI is absorbing mostly carbon dioxide, magnesium, and calcium. Carbon takes care of any organics, pesticides, and most heavy metals.

 

[SPS2020]

Jake just showed off his saltwater making system and he went in depth on his water filtration. He doesn’t use RO/DI water!! He doesn’t even use RO water!!!! He uses tap water that goes thru a ton of carbon.
Here is my question: what are your thoughts on using an RO system and then afterward using 4 carbon filters like Jake does and call it good??? Seems like a super easy way to greatly reduce costs of reefing while still getting a higher level of clean water compared to tap water.

I would think that would depend on the tank inhabitants. FOWLER is going to be much more accepting of lower water quality than an Acro dominant tank. The biggest advantage I see to that approach is how much waste water goes down the drain in an RO\DI system. I'm looking to configure a way to put that "waste water" into a rain barrel and give it back to my lawn and shrubs.

 

[ggNoRe]

What filters are you burning through?

At first I was burning through cheap filters from purewaterclub. Than after much frustration I ordered the 3 stage DI resins from BRS and the RO membrane from BRS. To my dismay they are fully spent after just 3 months. Just ordered there full 7 stage filteration system this time and the RO membrane flush. If this goes out in 3 months not sure what to do.

 

[Lousybreed]

At first I was burning through cheap filters from purewaterclub. Than after much frustration I ordered the 3 stage DI resins from BRS and the RO membrane from BRS. To my dismay they are fully spent after just 3 months. Just ordered there full 7 stage filteration system this time and the RO membrane flush. If this goes out in 3 months not sure what to do.

You can see why I am looking at this alternative!

 

[blaxsun]

This title seems off. Shouldn’t it be “tap water only”?

 

[Montiman]

My tap water has 700 to 1200 TDS depending on the season. At the LFS I used to work for years ago we used a 1400GPD Spectrapure Producer unit and it consistently came out of the membrane at 0TDS we used DI because customers really wanted to buy RO DI water but I can't every remember changing the DI resign in years.

I mention this because when I used my local tap water I had horrible algae issues but after switching to RO never had a problem even long after my DI was exhausted.

Everyone's water is different but even with horrible tap water a high quality membrane can eliminate the need for DI. WWC also uses no DI but they use industrial membranes.

I would consider an industrial membrane. They are not as expensive as you might think and perform very well.

 

[atlantean]

Other than cost of replacing the DI resin, I don't think there's a strong reason to skip using it. The biggest pain is the RO system since it slows down water production. You also never know what might suddenly come through the tap season to season, so unless you are monitoring it closely, the DI resin gives some extra security.

 

[Cory]

I just use ro. My spectrapure select plus membrane brings my tds down from 100+ to 0-1ppm tds. Never had any problems doing it this way.

 

[ZoWhat]

At first I was burning through cheap filters from purewaterclub. Than after much frustration I ordered the 3 stage DI resins from BRS and the RO membrane from BRS. To my dismay they are fully spent after just 3 months. Just ordered there full 7 stage filteration system this time and the RO membrane flush. If this goes out in 3 months not sure what to do.

I put in a whole house Water Softener and I change filters every 12-14mos.

The water entering the RODI has already been cleaned fairly well by the Softener.

I have the Water Boss 700. I would never go without a Softener seeing knowing what it does for me


.

 

[Spieg]

Do we know this?

The studio is in Golden Colorado, and yes we have some of the best tap water in the world here. I frequently measure TDS in the single digits straight from the tap.

 

[rtparty]

Do we know this? This is where I am coming from. Do we really need DI? I have 330tds tap and my ro knocks it down to 3tds…..carbon removes almost all pesticides, organics, even heavy metals……there is a reason why carbon is used for water filtration it is really good at filtering out the bad stuff.
I sent my RO only water in for ICP testing…….there was only a very little magnesium, calcium, and some silicates. But other than that, nothing else was detected. Last I checked we add calcium and magnesium to our tanks!

TDS is actually a terrible way to test how pure your water is. ICP is a better way as you've already done.

Silica will not show on a TDS meter and carbon will not fully remove it. This is just one element.

I run a 7 stage BRS unit with the pro resin setup. Cation, anion, mixed bed. My TDS is routinely over 300. I replace my anion about once a year, maybe even longer on this current cartridge. I sent in my tap water for an ICP and silica is crazy high in my area. Carbon alone won't filter it out to my knowledge. Could be wrong.

My mixed bed and cation are over 2 years old and never replaced. I replace my sediment filter every 6 months or so. I rotate and replace a carbon filter every 3 months. Meaning the oldest filter is 6 months old. I do this in case my city ever switches to chloramines and I don't know. They don't have to report this when they do it.

In the end, a lot of things can get past the carbon and RO membrane that we won't see on the TDS meter. I use ATI for my ICP for this very reason. I know pretty quick if my filters need any replacing.

 

[reefinatl]

Some around me go the other route and run sediment and carbon blocks with DI but no RO. Eliminates wasted water but does burn a bit more DI.

 

[Bccarty151]

My well water (800ft deep) tests alkalinity at 8.5 dkh nitrates at 5ppm ph at 8....haven't tested tds but I'm going to roll with it for auto top off tank is stable we'll see