Teach me about RO/DI Units!

[jcattanach2012]

Hey everyone,
Coming back into the hobby with my old 125 gallon. I was mislead the first time around by a crappy LFS, and did a bunch of stuff wrong -- started up using tap water, etc.
So one of the main things I'm gonna do right off the bat this time is use RO/DI water. However, I'm a renter and will only be here for three years, and as I'd like to have my security deposit back, I don't think I can make any significant changes. So here's my main question:
Is there any way I can hook up my RO/DI unit to an outdoor hose hookup? I know absolutely nothing about the unit itself, and as I've just gotten my fish tank and want to start it up, I'll probably just take the 50 cent/gallon hit for the initial fillup, but it seems a crapload more economical to actually have a unit.
Thanks for your help!

 

[king_neptune]

.50 a gallon. thats half the RO unit right there!
oh wait..your sump too, so now your around 2/3 the price of an RO unit right off the bat.
order on on a certain bay site. I payed $99 for mine, it came with a 0ppm money back garonte.
next go to home depot/lowes and in the toilet plumbing section is all the attachments you could desire. I payed just under $6 for an adapter that went from the garden hose to the RO-DI input line. Voila!! no worries. Garden hoses are about 40psi and most ro units are 35-60psi requirements.
If you want to be on the safe side you can also purchase a hose pressure check valve that attaches to the garden hose outlet and measures water pressure.
Too much pressure can rip the membrane so you dont want to exceed spec.

 

[flower]

WELCOME!
Trust me you want a RO unit...lugging 5g jugs for top offs and water changes is crazy hard. I did it or years. I have my own unit but still had to do the 5g jug thing for first fill up. Otherwise it would take forever to fill.

 

[teresaq]

I have a typhone III with a hose attachment. I just ordered the hose attachment when I bought my unit. I attached the unit to the wall in my lani, bought a food grade hose from walmart, and hooked it up. I did find I had to cover the unit with black out cloth so the sun would not cause algea on the filters.
T

 

[jcattanach2012]

What about undersink? My hose attachment is RIGHT in front of the apartment so I think it would look kinda silly; it's still definitely an option but I'm just curious about the undersink setups. I don't really have any excess spots on top of the sink for another faucet (there's not a built in soap dispenser or anything). Is installing an RO/DI unit into your sink reversible?
Thanks

 

[florida joe]

Screw off the portion of your faucet that holds the filter screen. Take it to your local puluming supply. Ask them for an adapter to replace the piece you bring them with a hose adapter. Now you just put the adapter on when you are using the ro unite. When not using the ro you replace it with the screen filter adapter

 

[king_neptune]

another option is to use the adapter that comes with the RO unit. it pierces the copper line. this is a good solution, but your land lord might take a peek under the sink and see the adapter when you leave.
note that the adapter has a shutoff valve so you can remove the ro unit and nothing will spill.

 

[jmoore1197]

suggestions for ro/di units?? i was thinking typhoon III extreme. any thoughts little expensive but seems nice

 

[king_neptune]

whatever your budget lets you buy.
for me, i got a $99 lower end 5 stage ro-di unit. it wasn't the price that won me over. there were others within my reasonable budget for 150ish.
it was the 0ppm money back guarantee that did it for me.
i think in the end most of them all use the same material and membrane, so all your really getting is a brand name with a slightly better case/construction.
then again, its my first RO unit, I dont have anything to compare it to.

 

[oceansidefish]

I have a Spectrapure 4 stage RO/DI and its really awesome.... This is how mine is hooked up...Went to the hardware store and over by garden hoses I bought a Y adapter that has shut off valves on both parts of the Y. The other side is where I hook up my washing maching cold water line. I just use the hose fitting my unit came with....I use the waste water to wash my clothes. Recently I added a sprinkler timer that allows me to make exactly what I need without worrying about forgetting all about it and spillage.

 

[jcattanach2012]

This is all super-great advice, but I have no idea how to hook the system up to where my washer input is, and I wouldn't know what to do with the waste water if I hooked the unit up to a hose outside... I guess I could just drain it, but it seems like a terrible, terrible waste to me...