WANT TO BUY AN RODI SYSTEM

O

Orca 33

Just like it says, im planning on buying an ro system, any suggestion on what to buy. So far they all seem about the same other than price and how many gallons per day it produces.
Any one with first hand experince would be great.
By the way im looking for something in the 50 to 80gpd to start with.
 
My own suggestion is that you look at 100 GPD systems, since none of them actually produce anywhere near the rating in my experience. Your water pressure, water temp and air temp will all have an effect on your output and if its less than 50 PSI and 77 degrees, it will mostly not be anything but negative on output numbers.

Do you know where you would put the unit? Does this location have some drain available for the waste water? How will you handle overflows, like when you forget and leave it on for two days?

There are several sponsors that sell RO/DI units on Reef Central and of course Marc has a unit that he sells.

Hope that helps.
 
I wrote an article about this years ago which appeared in the club's newsletter.

Why should you use RO/DI water? by Marc Levenson

When getting into the hobby of marine tanks, the basic consideration is water. Without it, nothing in your tank would live for long. Compared to freshwater tanks, marine tanks need excellent water quality to maintain success. So what water is available to the average person?

* Tap Water - anything can be in your tap water, and most are undesirable for your tank.
* Well Water - similar to above, with the risk of metals and high alkalinity
* Distilled Water - available in many food stores, supposedly pure.
* Reverse Osmosis &/or De-Ionized water - available as above, as well as at your LFS

One of the things about water is you simply don't know what is in it until you test it yourself. Fluoride, Chlorine, Chloramines, Nitrates, Phosphates, and even metals.... none of which can be added to your marine tank safely. Many of these compounds will create nuisance algae and may even lead to premature death of various livestock. Buying water from stores that promise it is filtered may be safe, but you don't really know when they changed their filters, do you? The water at the LFS may be safe to use, if they are keeping up with the schedule of changing their filters. Look in the LFS display tanks. Are they algae free, or is there an outbreak in many tanks? If you see a lot of algae, their water might not be the best choice to use.

If you opt to use tap water because it saves you money, you'll need to add some type of de chlorinator to protect your livestock from chlorine. Seachem's Prime is excellent, and I used it for years. But how much does that cost over time? And how much is your time worth, when you have to spend hours and hours battling green hair algae or worse?

Getting an RO/DI unit of your own is the best decision you will ever make. The up front cost of a unit can vary depending on where you buy it. There are many styles with a variety of options, and they can range from about $100 to $300 or more. Many choose to buy units from vendors on Ebay, and others shop the various online stores. When shopping, here are a few things to consider:

Gallons Per Day - How quickly do you want to make water? A 100gpd unit will produce a little over 4 gallons an hour, under ideal conditions. When you need water in a hurry, you don't want to be waiting for a 25 or 50gpd unit to produce water!

Filter Sizes - The common filter size is 10", and if you buy a unit with that size, you'll be able to shop around for refill cartridges from many vendors. If the filter sizes are unique, you will have to continue to buy them from the original vendor and pray he stays in business or at least provide you with another resource if he doesn't continue selling them.

Clear Canisters - If you get a unit with solid white 'sumps', you can't tell what is going on. Clear acrylic sumps allow you to see if water is in each section, and you can visually inspect the unit to see when something needs changing.

The benefit of having a unit in your home is that you can make pure water as you need it. Installation takes about 10 minutes. You won't have to carry heavy containers of water (5 or more gallons weighs a lot!) out of the store, load it into your vehicle, then unload it at your house and carry it to your tank. Another benefit is you know exactly when your filters were changed last. You can even test your unit to make sure your water is safe. A TDS meter will measure the water quality -- zero is the goal. A cheap Chlorine test will tell you if your carbon filters need replacing. The DI cartridge changes colors from black to brown indicating when it has been consumed. Finally, if the output is remarkably slower than when you first installed it, it is time to replace filters or possibly the membrane.

An additional benefit with some units is the ability to make your own drinking water, by collecting water from the RO section (before the DI can process it). Clean drinking water is a must in most homes, and a RO/DI unit can provide that 24 hours a day.

Maintenance is easy. Change the filters (sediment and carbon) every 6 months and the DI once a year. The RO membrane should be good for 3 to 5 years. There is very little that can go wrong with a unit, but if you do run into a problem, the vendor or many of our club members can quickly help you get that resolved.

If you add up the cost of the water you are purchasing (or the chemicals you buy to de chlorinate your tap water), you can see that in very little time an RO/DI unit will pay for itself. And your marine tank will look the better for it!
 
Yeah thats a bit of a problem the only place I can think to install it would be next to my cabinets about 3 feet away from the sink.
Living in a loft I am kind of restricted.
As for a drain, that I do not have other than the sink it self.

Dang maybe im just stuck to conditioning water with prime.
 
@Orca 33 wrote:
Yeah thats a bit of a problem the only place I can think to install it would be next to my cabinets about 3 feet away from the sink. Living in a loft I am kind of restricted. As for a drain said:
That's still pretty do-able -- you could run the drain three feet into the drain pipe of the sink, using a saddle fitting. Alternatively, you could keep the whole thing stashed away somewhere except when you need to use it, and just sit it on the counter using a faucet adapter and letting the drain line run into the sink.
Click to expand...
 
Well I herd the RO systems fall apart if you move them around.

Orginally I was planning on just pulling out the system when I needed to make water, will storing it under the sink and just setting it on the counter to fill jugs be ok?

CHARLIE
 
@Orca 33 wrote:
Well I herd the RO systems fall apart if you move them around. Orginally I was planning on just pulling out the system when I needed to make water said:
I suppose it depends a lot on the unit. Mine is mounted on a fairly heavy-duty frame; unless you dropped it and shattered a cannister or fitting, it'd probably never bother it.

On the other hand, if you've got room to store it under the sink, perhaps there'd be room to hook it up and leave it, and just uncoil the hose when you want to use it?
Click to expand...
 
What happens when you move them around is you risk damage to the John Guest fittings. These aren't designed to be moved, bumped and tugged. If you can install it anywhere permanently, that would be ideal. The tubing coming from the unit can be relatively long (no more than 40 feet though).

So install it under the sink, run the drainline to a drain saddle fitting under the sink, and you can even connect it to the cold water line under the sink. The only tubing you'd have to pull out to make water with would be the output and this can be routed to a barrel, jug or bucket. Ideally you want that container somewhere that can overflow down a drain because you WILL forget to turn it off at some point and your neighbors downstairs will complain.
 
i have a Coralife 50gpd unit that i just take out when i need it and hook it up to a sink. It too has a nice rigid, metal frame to keep it sturdy and i have had no problems with it.

(wow, always great stuff from you marc, hope u steppin down doesnt mean you will be steppin away from everything)
 
Do it... if just for the convenience.

I have mine in the laundry room and it drains to the washer drain. You can also do it easily to the sink drain as well.

Mine is hooked up to automatically top off my tank but it tees off to my Ice Cube water line in my freezer and also to my sink (RO/DI water is perfect for newborn formula making).

The line is cheap as well, you can get 20 feet at Lowes or Home Depot for 3.95 as well as fittings to tee off and expand anywhere.

Nick
 
How do you intend to connect it? Hose bib or faucet connetion? Those are real simple. If you are going to permanent plumb or use a saddle piercing valve, it might be wise to get some help or even arrange for a plumber to stop by. You really dont want my help in this regard, we will invariably have water spewing to the ceiling!
 
You need to look at your faucet very carefully and then go to a hardware store and look at faucet connection adapters. You want one that has a male connection off it so that you can place you water input one onto the faucet connection. Barbed male connection off the adapter would be best and as a fail safe measure I would put a zip tie or some other kind of fastener on to make sure it does not come off and you have water running in places not intended. Not all sinks will take adapters easily, so again look at it carefully and then find a knowledgeable guy to explain your application to, and see if the adapter he recommends seems like it will work in your setting.
 
also, what might help is to take the prescreen off your faucet and simply take it with you, then tell him you need a matching connection that will take you to the garden hose
 
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