How many people use RO Units?

[ds450x]

Im just getting into saltwater tanks and I have well water and my water goes through a treatment system and another filter to filter out metals. My dad said our water isnt hard at all and he had it tested and the store told us there was no metal in the water. Who would still use an RO Unit? Or would it be fine without it?

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by ds450x
http:///forum/post/2797535
Im just getting into saltwater tanks and I have well water and my water goes through a treatment system and another filter to filter out metals. My dad said our water isnt hard at all and he had it tested and the store told us there was no metal in the water. Who would still use an RO Unit? Or would it be fine without it?
the store lied. there may be lower than testable levels for copper and iron but thats all they can test for they cant test for lead, cadmium, aluminum, zinc, titanium, boron, etc. there is absolutly no way there is NO metal in your weater, no matter what your water supply is there IS metals in it as well as possible organic and inorganic pollutants.
get an RO.

 

[mr_x]

i use one. 255ppm before, zero after.

 

[ds450x]

I actually bought an ro unit off my friend for $10 because he broke a fitting but I fixed it. My dad just doesnt like me using it because it waste so much water? Why does there need to be a waste water tube, cant it all just go through the membrane and be filtered?

 

[reefkprz]

the waste water contains all the things that are rejected by the filter.
what area are you in and I can show some solid numbers on what your water contains.
AKA are you on municipal whater? if so what district? are you on well water if so what county?
just for giggles here are some drugs that northern new jerseys drinking water supply tested positive for Northern New Jersey: 7 (caffeine, carbamazepine, codeine, cotinine, dehydronifedipine, diphenhydramine and sulfathiazole)
and this isnt even metals, just random drugs
just so you know continine is the metabolite of nicotine (think of this as dropping ciggarrettes into your fish tank)

 

[ds450x]

I have well water and burlington county, nj 08088.

 

[ds450x]

And the waste water would be okay to top off a freshwater tank since it cant be worse then just straight water out of my sink?

 

[frogdog]

Ro unit was the first thing I purchased when I decided to make a reef tank.

 

[frogdog]

also, you can let the "bad" water drain into the washing machine, and wash clothes w/ it.

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by ds450x
http:///forum/post/2797562
And the waste water would be okay to top off a freshwater tank since it cant be worse then just straight water out of my sink?
no dont use it for top off because it IS worse, it's concentrated bad stuff. your removing pure water and leaving all the bad stuff in the waste water so if its 220 PPM before the unit and your wasting 50% the waste water is 440ppm

 

[aquaguy24]

i use one also..one of the best things u can do for ur fishies..and the easiest..

 

[reefkprz]

excerpt from
NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONWELL TEST RESULTS FOR SEPTEMBER 2002 – APRIL 2007
(Of 51,028 wells) A total of 32,530 (64%) of the 51,028 wells tested exceeded one or more of the recommended upper limits for secondary parameters. Due to the nature of soils and geology, the ground water in the southern part of the state tends to be acidic (pH below 7), while ground water in the northern part tends to be neutral (pH = 7) to basic (pH above 7). Of the wells tested, 22,699 wells (45%) had pH values outside the recommended range of 6.5 to 8.5. Both iron and manganese are inorganic ions that occur naturally in soils and rocks throughout the state. A total of 14,751 (29%) wellsreported iron levels above the recommended upper limit of 0.3 mg/l, and 9,890 wells(19%) were above the recommended upper limit of 0.05 mg/l for manganese. (See Figure E2).

 

[ds450x]

Okay I guess I will start using it all the time then. And everyone seems to know alot here. Is there any difference in refractometers, like cheaper ones and expensive onces. I was looking at not spending alot for one.

 

[ds450x]

Originally Posted by reefkprZ
http:///forum/post/2797593
excerpt from
NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONWELL TEST RESULTS FOR SEPTEMBER 2002 – APRIL 2007
(Of 51,028 wells) A total of 32,530 (64%) of the 51,028 wells tested exceeded one or more of the recommended upper limits for secondary parameters. Due to the nature of soils and geology, the ground water in the southern part of the state tends to be acidic (pH below 7), while ground water in the northern part tends to be neutral (pH = 7) to basic (pH above 7). Of the wells tested, 22,699 wells (45%) had pH values outside the recommended range of 6.5 to 8.5. Both iron and manganese are inorganic ions that occur naturally in soils and rocks throughout the state. A total of 14,751 (29%) wellsreported iron levels above the recommended upper limit of 0.3 mg/l, and 9,890 wells(19%) were above the recommended upper limit of 0.05 mg/l for manganese. (See Figure E2).
Thanks for the information. I never really though about looking it up like that. We had to get a treatment system for our house because it was really hard before we had one. I didnt know that it didnt take everything out but thats why I come here and ask questions and get great advice.

 

[aquaguy24]

the cheap ones will work fine..about $40...

 

[ds450x]

where is the best place to buy one? I see them on amazon for about $30 plus shipping

 

[reefkprz]

glad I could help, that is what these boards are for.
keep in mind these test result are for human tolerances and our corals and fish are much more sensitave. we can drink chlorinated water with no bad results but it would kill our fishesand corals, their tolerances for metals is even lower. inverts are easily destroyed by copper levels that wouldnt even faze a human.

 

[jharlow]

You bring up a good point of waste water. After all water is our most precious resource, and it made me sick watching gallons go down the drain. So I came up with a few ways that I could utilize the 'bad' water:
Fill washing machine up
Replenish Outdoor water feature and Irrigation (these two will be going away soon, as I am adding a rainwater harvest system to capture and store roof runoff in conjunction with the water feature that will then provide biologically enhanced water for irrigation)
Wash my trucks
Mop the kitchen floor
Anyone else use the discharge water for any other purpose?

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by jharlow
http:///forum/post/2797630
Anyone else use the discharge water for any other purpose?
watering plants, washing animal cages, unfortuantly since I am on city water I get a sewage charge for water usage so no matter what I do with the water they bill me for disposal of it. so most of it goes back to the treament plant.

 

[valeram]

I've never use RO water when I was in FWA but that is the first equipment I bought when I decided to do SWA. It sure waste a lot of water but I store it for watering my lawn. Use the same pump, MAG 7, to pump out the exhausted water to my lawn garden and to replenish my SWA during the water changes.