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Media reactor instead of ro/di water

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250 55g algae brs build carbon cheap corals filters glass healthy job live phosphate plants problem pump remove ro/di system tank tanks tds tree water
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katymunoz

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Well my question is a bit out there, but I'm curious none the less. So I have an ro/di and despise how much water it wastes. So if I were to use tap and run the water through a media reactor for a couple hours or so before mixing it with the salt and stuff, how much impurities do you think it would pull out? And how close to ro-di water would it be? Considering most of the problem with tap water seems to be phosphates, a gfo media should take care of that.

I have a media reactor on my tank as well but I figured specifically using one in my water tub would make sure that all of the water circulates through at least a few times, since it would only be probably 25 gallons or so at a time. Also, I'd have close to zero waste of the water.

Let me know what you think :)
 
#2 ·
I will look for the link but there is a lfs up north and they said they have saved hundreds in filters doing the same thing just tap water treated with gfo.

I would say the problem would would be what else is in. The water like heavy metals and I presume you probably have city water so what else is in that, maybe they provide accurate water analysis reports and you could try and make sense of it.

With my well water I don't measure any phosphates in my tap water but after every water change I have film on the glass like from phosphates and noticeable amount of healthy algae growing in places on the back.

I just set up an algae scrubber to see how that works and if it help me with phosphate export. I don't feed a lot so it most be coming from my water even though I'm not seeing any with a salifert test kit, so Ive even considered running a media reactor after the ro/di.
 
#3 ·
Im not super informed on gfo reactors (so correct me if Im wrong) but im fairly certin they dont remove heavy metals you will get trace metals like copper in tap water along with alot of others. you probably wouldnt notice a difference right away but the build up after awhile will probably be harmful to corals.

I know the ro/di units are pretty wasteful but have you upgraded it any? Ive got one from BRS with all the bells and whistles and it runs at about a 1:1 ratio 1:1.5 at worst.
 
#4 ·
city water or well water?

i have well water, he have a LOT of iron and phosphate in the water. also that means the only way i pay for water is the bit of electricity to pump it. therefore i find ro/di to be the most cost effective.

gfo is not cheap either. and you will still have metals and other things getting into your tank since there wont be any filtering. the metals will speed up the process of "old tank syndrome".

couldn't you save the waste water from ro/di and water your plants with it or something instead of using the hose?
 
#5 ·
i know this isnt the answer tp the question asked ,but couldnt you just add another membrane to the waste water hose on your ro unit .this is a common upgrade that can be found in a kit and doing so would cut down the waste water by quite a bit . my.02
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
dputt88 said:
city water or well water?

couldn't you save the waste water from ro/di and water your plants with it or something instead of using the hose?
Click to expand...
I have city water, and my tds meter registers about 103 (don't know if that's good or bad?)

As for saving the water.... lol... yea tried that before, by about the 20th bucket of watering the grass i gave up on that idea......i was exhausted :help:
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
ReeferAL said:
Im not super informed on gfo reactors (so correct me if Im wrong) but im fairly certin they dont remove heavy metals you will get trace metals like copper in tap water along with alot of others. you probably wouldnt notice a difference right away but the build up after awhile will probably be harmful to corals.

I know the ro/di units are pretty wasteful but have you upgraded it any? Ive got one from BRS with all the bells and whistles and it runs at about a 1:1 ratio 1:1.5 at worst.
Click to expand...
I have a 4 stage ro/di and its "SUPPOSED" to be 1:2, but id say its more like 1:3
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
1CARPENTER said:
This is my solution to waste water from ro/Di, I purchased 3 55g drums and used them to collect the waste water, I then have a maxi-jet pump that I use to pump the water from those barrels into my washer!
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That is a really good idea, but how does your washer know that it's already full of water when you go to turn it on? Lol. Is it a sensor that stops the water at a certain level depending on if you do a small, medium, or large load? Or does your washer automatically put in a certain amount of water depending on the size load you pick? Cuz in the second scenario the washer would overflow, lol. I have no idea how washers work obviously.... That's a mans job..... It's my job to do the laundry ;-)
 
#18 ·
I dont belive it does, and it really doesnt matter if you on city or well water youll get copper in the water just from the errosion of your household plumbing. Well unless your house is brand new and they used all that new pex tubing for your water lines. even then any houses hooked up to city lines can leach copper back into the system.

Defentaly look into getting a second membrane it will cut the waste down. also look into getting a booster pump both will help cut down on your waste water. Ive been considering trying to add a 3rd membrane to mine but Im not sure it would really help.
 
#19 ·
well i just read a research article, that shows at a higher pH activated carbon can reduce heavy metals ( specifically cadmium copper and lead). but when removing multiple types of metal they compete in sort of a way to be removed, and things like copper ( the example used in this experiment) tend to be left behind.

now just think, we use Ro/Di water in our tanks, and we are very conscientious about what we put into our tanks, and still our carbon is only activated for a short period of time. how long do you think the carbon is going to remain active against straight up tap water? every time i have used activated carbon in the lab setting, it becomes exhausted almost instantaneously. of course i would expect it to last longer with just water, but i think you would be spending a lot more money for a much lower quality end product.

you can go what ever way you want, but i am suggesting you stick with filters and membranes.

here's the paper, it by far is not the most interesting article i've read. lol.
http://www.kadinst.hku.hk/sdconf10/Papers_PDF/p54.pdf
 
Discussion starter · #20 ·
Maybe i wasnt clear about my main concern, I am not in any way trying to save costs by doing this method. Im trying to save water.

Obviously I'd be spending a lot more on replacing media than replacing my filters every 6-12 months. I just hate watching water go down the drain, when I know there has to be something I can do about it. Obviously I'm not a straight up tree hugger, or I probably wouldn't have a reef tank in general and live in the woods, but for some reason wasting that much water does bother me.
 
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