Question about ro/di sediment filter cartridges

kilofey

Member
Long story short, ive never used an ro/di unit before & the guy I bought it from had the good water & bad water mixed up, he told ne the good was the bad and the bad was the good. So I bought all new filters just in case & the lfs guy helped me by showing me how it works & which is good water ect...
so I got all that squared away, now I wonder about the sediment filter. I have well water with high iron, I let it run all day while I was at work today and now the sediment filter is iron yellow after one day, is that normal? When I had it outside, where it was filtering straight well water, the sediment filter looked fine. Now it is in my garage where there is filtered well water and the filter is bright yellow, why could this be happening? (i now know that ro/di units outside Is bad, thats why it has been moved)
If it makes a difference, I have no idea how many microns the old sediment filter was but the new one is .5 microns
 

acrylic51

Active Member
The .5 micron will clog or pick up finer matter more so than the 1 micron, so it is possible the water is highly concentrated......
 

kilofey

Member
So how do I know when to change the filter? Next time I replace the filter, should I get larger than .5 micron?
Also, I ran the ro/di last night and all day today to flush the filters before putting in the di cartridge (the lfs guy said 15 gallons, but I thought I turned it off but I actually turned the water on full blast cause I turned the knob the wrong way, so it ran all last night till I got home today *oops!*
I put the di cartridge in like 2 hours ago, and theres no water inside the di canister, is that normal? ro/di water is filling the garbage can but the di canister only has a few drops of water. Is it supposed to be empty or does it just take some time for it to fill up?
I know its working though cause my kh WAS 11 without salt and 22 with salt when using my old filters & now its 0 (without salt). yayy! Hopefully ill be able to keep fish soon lol
 

acrylic51

Active Member
I'm lost here!!!!!! Do you currently have a 1 micron or .5 micron sediment filter installed currently????? The larger micron filter won't clog as easily as the smaller micron filter. Do you have a TDS meter? If so what are you reading on your output(good water)?
I'm actually anal about my RO/DI unit, and the slightest change of color to any of my filters catches my attention and usually it would be a tinge of tan and they get changed out.....I again am a bit different than most....In my RO/DI I run dual sediment a 1 micron first and then a .5 micron, and run dual carbons as well.....The last vessel with the DI shouldn't be full of water......
 

kilofey

Member
Whoops, sorry. I have a .5 micron. I was just asking if I should get a 1 micron next time I change the filter so it doesnt clog. If mine turned a goldish yellow after only one day, what should I do? If u change yours after its a light tan, youd freak if you saw mine! And its brand new!!
I dont have a tds meter, but I will call my lfs tomorrow to see if they can order one for me
We are seriously considering buying a whole new well water filter system (house filter, not tank filter) cause the company is CLEARLY not doing their job... our tuband toilet are stained yellow from the iron in the well water *yuck* hopefully the new house water filter will be better if/when we get it
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Sounds like the filter is doing it's job. I would leave it in until it looks like a darkish brown or until the TDS starts to creep up from 0 to 5. I would definitely not use the water at any more than a TDS reading of 10 but it all depends on what kind of filtration you are using in your aquarium.
When you use an at home RO/DI unit, a TDS meter is a must have.
 

kilofey

Member
I will definately be buying a tds, seeing how my well water is sooo bad, it sounds like I definately need one cause my filters might go bad sooner than normal. Seeing the filter makes me kinda leery about drinking it lol, I bought bottled water today >.
 
Top