Water question. Distilled vs Primo refill

[yankeeslover]

Newbie question. I do know the best is RO/DI and i will be purchasing a unit by years end.. But in the mean time.. Started up new tank last week.. right now i want to do FOWLR... I have been purchasing the distilled water jugs from my local walmart at .88 gallon.. I have a 46 gallon tank... I have now been informed that my walmart also has a PRIMO refill station that says it uses three types of filters and then UV light.... they charge .32 per gallon....
Any idea what water is better to use for now? is distilled water the same as the primo filtered water or is it better? and last but not least im assuming doesnt really matter with fowlr? but if i want to some day venture into beginner corals...thats why i ask...thank you...

 

[AZDesertRat]

What are the three stages of treatment? If it uses UV it is probably just sediment, carbon and RO then hit with UV for drinking water so no DI step which is what gets the TDS to zero.

 

[yankeeslover]

so im better off for now, just using the distalled water in the gallon bottles from walmart? .88 a piece..not too bad... even thoug i do have to use half gallon day due to evap.... i will probably get a ro/di filter in a couple months.

 

[NeuroticAquatics]

Good RO can get TDS very low though. That level will change between the times they service the machines, so usually best to get water as soon after if it is possible to tell.

I have a 240g FOWLR and just use RO and have never had a problem.

 

[AZDesertRat]

There are many contaminants RO by itself is not very good at removing, just as there are things DI is not particularly good at either. It takes both for high quality water. Using RO only on an expensive reef system is still a crap shoot, a little better than tap but still not as good as an additional $25 DI stage will add. Cheap insurance when you have hundreds to thousands of $$ invested in a reef or even fish only system. Remember, fish are a higher life form that corals and deserve only the best, just like your dogs and cats.

 

[Windy]

My TDS input is 23 and after the RO its 0, ahead of the DI unit. How can that be?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My TDS input is 23 and after the RO its 0, ahead of the DI unit. How can that be?

If you had 98% rejection of water with 23 ppm TDS, you be at 0.46 ppm, which would round to 0 ppm TDS. Or the inline meter may be broken.

I'd still use a DI and it will cost almost nothing since depletion will be very slow.

 

[LetItReef]

I get my Distilled water sealed by the gallon at Walmart at around $1.00 after tax and no issues. My TDS meter readings always at 0.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Inline TDS meters lack the low end accuracy due to not being ATC temperature compensated. I always recommend a good ATC handheld meter over inlines if you are concerned about water quality. I even went so far as to buy the COM-100 handheld which is around $50-$60 versus the normal $25 others cost but it reads down to tenths so would detect TDS at low ranges like that.

 

[KJ]

I get my Distilled water sealed by the gallon at Walmart at around $1.00 after tax and no issues. My TDS meter readings always at 0.

Me2