[swinginbeef]

Aquarium Water Quality: Tap Water Filter

any thoughts on using something like this instead of full on RO/DI filter system? Or what about something like those PUR filter systems that you keep on your faucet for drinking water? Would those filters be ok if you changed filters often? What is the advantage of RO/DI water vs these cheaper filters vs non-filtered tap water?

[blind1993]

i wanted to know the same thing.

[natematzke]

Me too I was just thinking the same thing Lots of time to move 25 gal at a time. I have two 125 gal tanks with 4 hang on filters

[SweeTang22]

well from what a read about the pur and brita filters is that they dont really remove all the materials that you want removed. RO/DI units are nice, and are usually pocket friendly down the road. setting one up in your house is the costly part, but it filters more water with one resin cartridge. the tap water filters are okay but if the pressure is too high then it pushes all the resin out. so be carefull if you use one. also be sure to get a water test from your local water source, and see what they have in the water. after that you can read up on those purifyers and see what they take out of the water, and then use your judgment. for a reef i wouldnt use anything other than a 3 stage RO unit. good luck in your quest!!

[blind1993]

what about those refrigirator water filters.

[SweeTang22]

i think its about the same thing. that you would have to read into tho. an RO unit will produce more water with less work then a refrigerator water spout. the majority of those membranes are only good for a bout 100 gallons, and thats because they dont purify the water to the extant of an RO system. RO units dont have to be expensive or complicated, but if its something thats not in your budget, then the cheap 1 gallon deionized water at the store could be used i believe. that will get expensive really quick though.

[CyberJester]

Refridgerator water filters are no where near as effective as RO units. A fridge filter is really just a carbon filter same thing as those pitchers. Fridge filters really only remove certain trace metals from your water.

[swinginbeef]

You guys might check your LFS, mine sells RO/DI water for a quarter a gallon. It's a PITA to transport water all the time, but it's an option. They keep two 55 gallon barrels of clean water in the back at all times.

[e_baer]

wait, so for an R/O unit, you dont need to hook it up to anything do you?.....how does an R/O unit even function? Im not talking about how it removes the gunk, but how does it get water and purify it? im gonna get an r/o unit, but i should know how it works first.

[swinginbeef]

you need to hook up the RO/DI unit to a faucet. It runs the water through how ever many stages of filtration and then drips the filtered water into some sort of tank that you set up.

[e_baer]

o...ok.....thats not so hard! im getting a 3 stager.....this one:
https://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...=23475&catid=3 anyone hear anyhting about it?

[ejwsr]

R/O units, Reverse Osmosis are rather simple really. First, water enters the unit under pressure through a central core of some type. The outlet of this core is restricted so that the input remains under high pressure. The magic begins here as the central core is usually a micropore membrane that only allows water molecule or smaller sized substances to pass. The high pressure side is the reject, brine or concentrate, as contaminants can't pass through the membrane layers. The low pressure side is the accept or clean water.

The accept water can and should be further polished using resin filtration. There are many advantages to an RODI unit, but they are tempermental and should be specifically engineered for the process that they will feed. The membranes foul and input water pH, free chlorine and ammoniacs can accelerate the fouling.

While pure water is an admirable goal, there isn't really any such thing except in sterile production and packaging. Since water is a universal solvent anything that is water soluble will immediately contaminate your pure water. Gases, minerals and particulate matter will find its way into the water.

So the question really comes down to one of comfort level with the systems out there, as well as thinking about what the critical substances are that must come out or be significantly reduced.

Hope this helps a bit in understanding the process as well as it's limitations. The plant I work in has three separate RO/DI units, so the above is experiential information.

[e_baer]

lol thanks foir all that info....i already knew most of it, yoi just gave it in a little more detail!