robinfly
New Member
I finally received my Reef Pure 100gpd RO/DI unit, and it seems to be working well. The included faucet connector won't fit onto any of my faucets, so I had to use a cold water line tap (also included) to rig up the filter. Anyhow, the whole set up process has spawned a few questions that I'm hoping one of you can answer:
1) The cold water line tap bundled with the unit is a little device that clamps around standard 3/8" copper water pipes. Once attached, part of its valve pierces a hole in the tube, thereby allowing water to be redirected from the main water line into a tapped hose. My concern is that this device is made of 100% copper, which seems like a strange choice for an aquarium water filter. Even the manual for the filter itself warns not to use "copper fittings"... why would they have bundled the very type of item that they instruct their users not to use?!? Will this additional copper seep into my RO/DI water? Don't RO units remove trace elements like copper anyhow?
2) Because I'm creating DI water, I'm adding a small amount of Kent's Osmosis Prep to restore some of the desirable minerals into the water. I'm also using Kent's salt, which also claims to treat the water a bit (the Osmosis Prep has special instructions for use with Kent salt). Does this combination satisfactorily treat the water? Do I need to worry about dechlorinating the water as well? What about unsalted RO water to be used for evaporation make-up? I want this water to be as perfect as possible, darnit!
3) Speaking of "perfect as possible" water, can anyone recommend a way to test the quality of this unit's output? How can I be sure that it's working at all? (not that I don't trust Reef Pure, but I would like to be sure that I wasn't ripped off)
4) It's a 100gpd unit, but I'm only getting roughly 40gpd output. This is totally acceptable performance, but I have to ask why this is so. Is the low pressure, ice cold water from the line tap enough of a factor to cause such a decline in performance?
At any rate, I have 15 gallons of high quality salt water mixing and heating at home right now for the big water change tonight. A couple more and maybe I'll finally be ready to try my first coral
[ November 28, 2001: Message edited by: RobinFly ]
1) The cold water line tap bundled with the unit is a little device that clamps around standard 3/8" copper water pipes. Once attached, part of its valve pierces a hole in the tube, thereby allowing water to be redirected from the main water line into a tapped hose. My concern is that this device is made of 100% copper, which seems like a strange choice for an aquarium water filter. Even the manual for the filter itself warns not to use "copper fittings"... why would they have bundled the very type of item that they instruct their users not to use?!? Will this additional copper seep into my RO/DI water? Don't RO units remove trace elements like copper anyhow?
2) Because I'm creating DI water, I'm adding a small amount of Kent's Osmosis Prep to restore some of the desirable minerals into the water. I'm also using Kent's salt, which also claims to treat the water a bit (the Osmosis Prep has special instructions for use with Kent salt). Does this combination satisfactorily treat the water? Do I need to worry about dechlorinating the water as well? What about unsalted RO water to be used for evaporation make-up? I want this water to be as perfect as possible, darnit!
3) Speaking of "perfect as possible" water, can anyone recommend a way to test the quality of this unit's output? How can I be sure that it's working at all? (not that I don't trust Reef Pure, but I would like to be sure that I wasn't ripped off)
4) It's a 100gpd unit, but I'm only getting roughly 40gpd output. This is totally acceptable performance, but I have to ask why this is so. Is the low pressure, ice cold water from the line tap enough of a factor to cause such a decline in performance?
At any rate, I have 15 gallons of high quality salt water mixing and heating at home right now for the big water change tonight. A couple more and maybe I'll finally be ready to try my first coral
[ November 28, 2001: Message edited by: RobinFly ]
