T
tidalwave1
Guest
Do most of you get your system from home depot or does it need to come from an aquarium supply?
snakeblitz33
Well-Known Member
That's a very good question! Thank you for bringing it up. I have done a lot of research on RO/DI systems and I can tell you a few things to get started.
First, you shouldn't just buy any ole' system. You have to know what is in your tap water first. Get an annual water report from your local water district and see what it contains. About 20% of households these days have chloramine in their tap water. This is a problem for standard RO units.
Second, you should have a free TDS test from somewhere online, like AirWaterIce. A TDS test, or a Total Dissolved Solids test which tests the conductivity of the water. The more "junk" in your water, the more conductive it is. So, a higher TDS will tell you just how much "junk" is in your water. It also lets you know just about what type of rejection rate you need on your membrane. 100gpd membranes have about a 90% rejection rate, and if your TDS is really high, it will blast through your DI resin. A 75gpd unit will have a higher rejection rate of about 98%, which will push more clean water to your DI resin and make it last longer.
Third, if your in it for the long haul, I recommend buying the cheap 5 micron sediment filters and getting refillable cartridges for your carbon and DI resins. Catalytic carbon is one of the best carbons you could use to remove Chloramines and chlorine from the system. Depending on the concentration, you may need either one or two of them.
Basically,... find out what is in your water, and then custom design a system around your needs. Figure out when you will need to replace your filters so that you can maintain water quality.
First, you shouldn't just buy any ole' system. You have to know what is in your tap water first. Get an annual water report from your local water district and see what it contains. About 20% of households these days have chloramine in their tap water. This is a problem for standard RO units.
Second, you should have a free TDS test from somewhere online, like AirWaterIce. A TDS test, or a Total Dissolved Solids test which tests the conductivity of the water. The more "junk" in your water, the more conductive it is. So, a higher TDS will tell you just how much "junk" is in your water. It also lets you know just about what type of rejection rate you need on your membrane. 100gpd membranes have about a 90% rejection rate, and if your TDS is really high, it will blast through your DI resin. A 75gpd unit will have a higher rejection rate of about 98%, which will push more clean water to your DI resin and make it last longer.
Third, if your in it for the long haul, I recommend buying the cheap 5 micron sediment filters and getting refillable cartridges for your carbon and DI resins. Catalytic carbon is one of the best carbons you could use to remove Chloramines and chlorine from the system. Depending on the concentration, you may need either one or two of them.
Basically,... find out what is in your water, and then custom design a system around your needs. Figure out when you will need to replace your filters so that you can maintain water quality.