RO price what kind

[ystmarroon]

If any of you use bottled water for drinking, the water from the waste line is still cleaner then tap water. I bottle it for drinking.

It also works fine for water changes on freshwater tanks if you have any.

[antwood]

For those of you interested, I have a link that tells you how to "recharge" your DI. It involves caustic and somewhat dangerous (but easily attainable) chemicals.

As a side effect it makes a fog appear just above the floor in the rooms or your house.

I love it!



Ant

here

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/twp_recharge.html

[chem_fun]

AquaFilly,

Just out of curiosity. I've been doing some research tonight on what happens to a membrane when it fouls. You don't have city water do you? Do you have chlorine in your water?



antwood,

you're nuts. That's like something out of the anarchist cookbook I had when I was in high school.

FYI: I was a chemistry major, and teach science. I woudn't recomend this procedure to anyone. I'm not sure what concentration the HCl is that you can buy at the store. Nor am I sure of the purity of teh HCl or the NaOH. Mearly the warning that chlorine gas can be produced scares me. That screams inpurities. When you dilute NaOH or HCl you shouldn't get any adverse gas (other than HCl gas, which by the way is GREAT for the lungs).

I would be greatly concerned about the neutralization process. Honestly, I thought about recharging my DI. If you have a septic tank..and you were to dump that down the drain, you would kill all the bugs in your tank.

Having a cloud in your house should alarm you.

WARNING: if you try this at home...be sure to use a thick plastic container. I've heard some horror stories (and seen the damage) from a guy making a concentrated NaOH solution. the URL is correct, it gets really hot. I'd rather get burned any day by an acid than conc. NaOH.

[antwood]

I am in no way advocating this procedure.

As a side not I am suprised at you chem_fun

The base and acid that are created cancel each other out when combined. I have tested and it actually creates a solution that has a PH of around 7.1-7.8


Remember, pour an acid into a higher PH! Otherwise Uncle Fester will make you look like him!


Sorry chem_fun, just having a little fun.... I have degrees in biology and chemistry, and quite honestly I have never met a ahh.... uhm....

Shall we say "average" reefkeeper. I don't think they exsist.

I think most people that feel confident with this procedure are actually semi, if not fully qualified to attempt it.

As far as the "fog" goes, it is my understandng that the hydroscopic nature of the reations is so fast/harsh that the normal environment in your house cannot keep up, and therfore condensation occurs.

I could be way off base, and usually am.

Ant


PS, everyone knows that the anarchist cookbook was made by the CIA to cull off any would be Unibombers....

[chem_fun]

LOL...

CIA, hadn't heard that story.

Being a high school chemistry teacher, I tend to be overly cautious.

If they were of base, so to speak, I'd hate to have someone get hurt. I never assume that they will follow the instructions exactly, and they might not neutralize the solutions. A little paranoia is always a good piece of safety in my book.

Though I guess, getting into my truck every day is an experience that is just as dangerous.

Interesting about the fog. I'm going to have to do some research on the concentrationof muriatic acid and the NaOH in the link. I wonder exactly what concentrations are being used in these reactions.

I did have the local water guys actually suggest (with out recipie) that I could recharge my DI on my own. I was wondering if they suggest that to everyone, or just becuase they knew I had access to the materials.

-Scott

[AquaFilly]

I have well water. Very very bad well water. I'm not sure if there is chlorine in my water. That doesn't usually come in well water, does it? My TDS is over 800 and that's AFTER the water softener.

The pre filters are crappy. They only reduce my TDS by 100. I would hope they'd do more than that before the water reached the RO membrane.

Ed's directions where a little contradictory at times. He said the unit came fully assembled. I was setting it up with a friend and we must have tossed the RO membrane aside thinking it was an extra. I never checked to see if there was a membrane already installed because it came "fully assembled." So when I stuck the membrane in, it brought my TDS down to 400. I'm still confused about the extra filters I received and where they go. It would have been nice if they were labeled. But I'll leave the rest of my rant for Ed to read.

I'm 75% sure I'm doing everything right. The only thing left to make certain of is if I have the correct pre filters in.

[Jimbob]

If you ran a couple of "tanks full" of water through your unit without a membrane in it, your DI cartridge is toast. Also, if your RO only brings you down to 400 TDS, your DI will need to do the rest and therefore it will probably only be good for about 50-100 gallons of 0-10 TDS water. It osunds like you need to replace your DI.

[AquaFilly]

yep I ran 4 tanks before I figured out the RO membrane was missing. Great...

Well thanks for the help guys! I'll make sure Ed put the correct prefilters in there. I'll change my DI and let ya know how it's working then.

Wish me luck!

[Jimbob]

I would also estimate that you will need to replace your pre-filters at an increased interval as well due to the hard water you have.

I do know that Ed has some very hard water in B.C. (over 1000 TDS I believe) so you may want to find out how often he has to personally change his pre-filters and DI cartridge.

Best of luck... I'm sure you'll get it all figured out and be very pleased with it!

[primetime]

This is primetime I want to thank everyone for their impute. I have decided that I am going to buy an aquasfecanada ro unit and someone elses di unit that takes cartridge. I will let you know how it works. I am also going to buy a meter. I would especially like to thank chem_fun and Jimbob for their impute. Also, I hope more people will participate in this thread and stick to the point of price and kind of ro units. Thank You.



P.S. I would also particularly like to thank the people who make this internet site possible.

[chem_fun]

glad to help.

I can now say, I just recieved my aquasafecanada RO/DI today.

interesting process.

Easy to set up.

I'll be honest, I didn't use the puncture feed. I went to the store and spent an extra $6 on a T and $5 on a ball valve. couldn't find one with both a T and valve in one unit.

I'm not to keen on puncturing pipes, no matter how permenant I think this will be. Other than the fact that it leaked at first from the top of the T due to impropper tightining, and a possible drip emerging from the 1/4 end of the T...I think it's well without a hitch.

I used the blue tubing to connect to the brine out, and the white to connect to the RO out. I am currently, as I'm typing, flushing the membranes.

I went from 235 TDS -> 200 TDS just from the prefilters.

Then from the 200 TDS to 7 while the RO is first flushing, we'll see if it gets better with time.

I would love to report on the DI...but I havn't gotten there yet. If you aren't supposed to drink the first few hours of RO, why should I waste the DI?

I'm also planning on flushing the post carbon and the tank while bypassing the DI.

If you are going to use the puncture, and if you want to hang your tank, all you need is a drill and 3 screws. EVERYTHING else is in the kit.

I was amayzed at how slow the restrictor makes the flow.

Don't disconnect any of the hoses, the restrictor also creates quite a bit of pressure.

I'm also going to time the flow rate....I got the pump too....experiment...experiment...experiment...

I'll let you know if DI ice really melts slower...I'm quite sceptical. I will of course try this both with and without a DI chilling liquid to see if the ice melts faster.

[Jimbob]

Just a clarification chem... the restrictor does not "create" pressure. This a hydraulic system. In other words, pressure at any one given point (in a sealed state) can never exceed the pressure at any other point.

Any time you create an opening of any kind on the end of a hydraulic system, the pressure must be lower than whatever the maximum potential pressure of the system is. If the pressure of your house plumbing is ~60 p.s.i. It is at 60 p.s.i. regardless of whether the diameter of the pipe of 5 inches or 1/4 of an inch.

The velocity with which the water moves through the different diameter is much different though... this is how so much braking force is generating in a braking system on a car (I can elaborate later in a different thread about the brakes).

If the restrictor allows even a slight amount of bypass, pressure is actually lower than whatever the maximum potential is... it simply creates a restriction with an orifice of smaller diameter than the supply line tubing and thus more of the water is forced through the RO membrane.

Sorry, just a hydraulics thing I wanted to help clarify :-)

[chem_fun]

hmmm, that's funny...chemistry major. Had a bunch of physics, but forgot to apply it in the hydrolics sense. Thanks, that helped a bunch.

Does anyone have a RO Booster pump? Would you like to vouch for the improoved performance?

Is there anyone near Grand Rapids (Caledonia area)? I'm looking for a premate pump. I have been told that they don't help, and I've been told (by a source that doesn't know jack) that they are great.

Been experimenting a bunch today. Currently I have RO/DI ice in the freezer (just for fun...who needs to buy a chiller, what better way to slowly replace the evaporated water, J/K).

Currently my house pressure is about 38 PSI. 2/3 of that is 25, and my RO/DI just filled my 3.2 gallon tank to 24 PSI (pretty close).

Tomorrow, I'll probbly empty the tank and add the booster pump. It took about 3.5 hours to fill the tank. We'll see what happens when I almost tripple the pressure.

After that, I'd love to test a premate for a few hours, but don't really want to invest in a pump if they don't work.

-Scott

[eelman]

I have a spectra pure booster pump, have it set at 80 psi with a 90+ gallon / day RO membrane. I can get 90+ gallons. I set up a permeated pump for a friend with there RO drinking water system.
They use it for drinking water, not aquariums. It seems to work fine. If I were you, I would spend the money on a booster pump it you want to increase your RO output. RO membranes also work better at a higher pressure. I bought a Spectr Pure RO system back in 1992. (?) Had them add a booster bump and new membrane in 1996, they did it while I waited at there shop. Replaced the membrane this year, the conductivity of the water had increased to 30, my well water after the new water softener has a conductivity of about 960. With then new membrane its less than 10. A good membrane is worth the money. Your DI will also last a lot longer if you have a good membrane. Spectra Pure cost a few dollars more than most of you are paying for RO/DI systems, but they have great products and customer service.