The purest possible water - using a $12,000 lab-grade water purification system for my nano reef

hds4216

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 18, 2020
Messages
1,283
Reaction score
1,811
Location
Denver, CO
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
So, I'm a doctoral/medical (MD-PhD program) student working in a biology lab, and thus have access to some interesting devices. Among these is a $12,000 water purification system known as the "Milli-Q IQ 7003". (Shoutout to the taxpayers for funding this nifty thing btw.) The basic point of it is to deliver ultra pure water. These things make RODI units look like Brita water filters. Not only do they create 0 TDS water, it's almost completely free of any ionic traces of any other element or compound, and they're designed to eliminate basically all microorganisms from the water as well. In our lab, we mostly use it to create sterile water for when we operate on our model organisms (which we mix with other ultra-pure compounds to create artificial cerebrospinal fluid). We need to do this because if you drop cells into pure Milliq water, they will violently die because the osmotic pressure inside will make them rapidly expand and explode.

Anyway, I'm going to use this water for water changes for a month and see what happens. I really doubt it will be much different, because at a certain point there are diminishing returns on the purity of the water. I.e. - going from 250 TDS (my actual tap water) to 1 is a huge improvement, but going from 1 to 0.0000000000001 is much less noticeable. Technically, the machine is supposed to get water to specifically 18.2 MΩ.cm (at 25°C) and a total organic carbon (TOC) value below 5 ppb. MΩ.cm stands for megohm-centimeter. It is is an important water quality test indicator for the concentration of anions and cations in water. The higher the ionic content - the lower the resistivity and the lower the ionic content - the higher the resistivity. This is really generalized, and I'm not a chemist, but those are the basics.

Anyway, I'll be doing a 5-gallon water change with this water once per week for 8 weeks to see if I notice any results. It starts today. I'll keep you guys updated!

Here's a representative photo (ours is larger though):
132526_0.jpg
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
hds4216

hds4216

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 18, 2020
Messages
1,283
Reaction score
1,811
Location
Denver, CO
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The kid in me wants to see what happens if you drink water that pure. The teenager in me wants to say "I'll give you 10 bucks to drink it" lol

Cool stuff though, keep us updated on if you see any noticable difference.
Drinking doesn't really have any ill effects as far as I can tell. My PI makes tea out of it sometimes and pretends its fancy.
 

blasterman

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 14, 2019
Messages
1,730
Reaction score
2,018
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm sure BRS would sell the water for some outrageous amount and make some good marketing videos about it.

From a practical perspective you are adding lab / reagent grade water to a fish tank full of all kinds of organic waste along with high levels of calcium carbonate. It will get dirty real fast. Kind of like putting a 25yr old Macellan scotch in red solo cup. But hey, I'm all for science.
 

WirelessMike

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 6, 2020
Messages
877
Reaction score
3,718
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm sure BRS would sell the water for some outrageous amount and make some good marketing videos about it.

From a practical perspective you are adding lab / reagent grade water to a fish tank full of all kinds of organic waste along with high levels of calcium carbonate. It will get dirty real fast. Kind of like putting a 25yr old Macellan scotch in red solo cup. But hey, I'm all for science.
Might be one of the best analogies I have heard in a while! Hahahahaha
 

xAndrewx

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 7, 2017
Messages
90
Reaction score
72
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Interesting, I kind of went down a rabbit hole reading about it. How long does it take to make 5 gallons?
 

Anirban

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 18, 2015
Messages
5,353
Reaction score
9,479
Location
Chapel Hill
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
So, I'm a doctoral/medical (MD-PhD program) student working in a biology lab, and thus have access to some interesting devices. Among these is a $12,000 water purification system known as the "Milli-Q IQ 7003". (Shoutout to the taxpayers for funding this nifty thing btw.) The basic point of it is to deliver ultra pure water. These things make RODI units look like Brita water filters. Not only do they create 0 TDS water, it's almost completely free of any ionic traces of any other element or compound, and they're designed to eliminate basically all microorganisms from the water as well. In our lab, we mostly use it to create sterile water for when we operate on our model organisms (which we mix with other ultra-pure compounds to create artificial cerebrospinal fluid). We need to do this because if you drop cells into pure Milliq water, they will violently die because the osmotic pressure inside will make them rapidly expand and explode.

Anyway, I'm going to use this water for water changes for a month and see what happens. I really doubt it will be much different, because at a certain point there are diminishing returns on the purity of the water. I.e. - going from 250 TDS (my actual tap water) to 1 is a huge improvement, but going from 1 to 0.0000000000001 is much less noticeable. Technically, the machine is supposed to get water to specifically 18.2 MΩ.cm (at 25°C) and a total organic carbon (TOC) value below 5 ppb. MΩ.cm stands for megohm-centimeter. It is is an important water quality test indicator for the concentration of anions and cations in water. The higher the ionic content - the lower the resistivity and the lower the ionic content - the higher the resistivity. This is really generalized, and I'm not a chemist, but those are the basics.

Anyway, I'll be doing a 5-gallon water change with this water once per week for 8 weeks to see if I notice any results. It starts today. I'll keep you guys updated!

Here's a representative photo (ours is larger though):
132526_0.jpg
Just don't let your principle investigator know you are doing it. The MilliQ cartridges and maintenance are quite costly so he might not like that you are using his grant money to run your aquarium. ;)
 

Anirban

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 18, 2015
Messages
5,353
Reaction score
9,479
Location
Chapel Hill
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Interesting, I kind of went down a rabbit hole reading about it. How long does it take to make 5 gallons?
Its faster than our regular BRS RODI unit
 

Tcook

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 29, 2014
Messages
3,636
Reaction score
8,259
Location
California
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have an old one in the attic. I don't think you are going to see any difference.
MilliQ.jpg
 

Tcook

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 29, 2014
Messages
3,636
Reaction score
8,259
Location
California
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I had the same idea 20 years ago. Cartridges back then were $400-500. 20 yrs old, outdated, cartridges not available. A fleeting idea. I guess if your young enough it could all be about flex. Just an interesting coincidence to me.
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

Reef Chemist
View Badges
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Messages
66,577
Reaction score
62,878
Location
Arlington, Massachusetts, United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Anyway, I'm going to use this water for water changes for a month and see what happens. I really doubt it will be much different,

Unless you have a diatom problem from excessive silicate getting through your home RO/DI, there should be no noticeable change, for better or worse, on changing to the lower TDS water from the lab.
 
Back
Top