Hard water problem

[fly4funn]

I love the country life but one side effect I have to live with is extremely hard water. I use a water softener system on my house water and wondered if anyone has used that water run through an RO system to make water for a reef tank. So far I have been just running straight from the well to make RO water but the tank water is extremely hard. I would think it would be OK but wanted to see if that had been done before. The other option would be to buy drinking water for a buck a gallon and make my change out water from that. Then the only RO water would be added with the auto top offs on my tanks.

 

[bang guy]

The way you're doing it is fine. It would be slightly better running through the softener first but not a lot better.
What do you mean when you say "tank water is extremely hard"?

 

[fly4funn]

The dkH is running about 18 with Calcium levels around 430. I use test kits and also quick check using test strips. The test strip has all three squares turn bright pink which according to the chart is extremely hard! The test kit shows 18. I may plumb my RO into the house source so the water being fed to the RO unit has already come through the water softener. I just don't want to cause any other issues by doing this.

 

[bang guy]

If the RO is working properly then the hardness cannot be from the source water.
You should check the water coming out of the RO to see if you need to change the membrane.
Are you using any additives?
Throw the test strips away, they're not useful for Alkalinity.
18dkH sounds like a bad test kit. Try testing some of the water from your water softener. If it reads high then I suspect a bad test kit.

 

[fly4funn]

RO unit is a brand new unit. It has made about 100 gallons total. My old one got to where it wouldn't make water even with a new membrane so I decided it was something plugged up. Besides, I wanted one with clear housings so I just replaced the unit. I do not use any additives. The test kit is also a new kit but I suppose it could be bad. I'll check the water from the house supply after the softener tonight and see what that checks at.

 

[bang guy]

While you're at it you might as well double check to make sure you're not using the RO waste line for your water.

 

[hl649]

I also live in the country and use well water. I started out using bottled water for my tank but had algae and diatom blooms every time I completed a water change. I now use water straight out of the tap and no longer have problems. My water is extremely hard and runs through a Kinetico water softener.
I know I will probably get flamed for not using RO water but it works for me.

 

[fly4funn]

Well I checked again last night and hardness is down to 8 now. Not sure why it was so high before. I did a water change on Sunday night so I will check it again this weekend and see if it has gone back up. I do know the RO unit is correct and the waste water is going to waste.