Questions on ro, ro/di

so i have a few extra bucks and i wanted to get a ro or ro/di filter for my reef tank, and also for human consumption. Which is better ro or ro/di? who makes the best filters? who has experience on which filters worked the best? i dont want to spend more then 300.

 

RO is best for human consumption and RO/DI is best for a reef tank. You can get systems which have both or you can add a drinking water kit to a reef quality RO/DI. I have personally modified a drinking water system for reef use and found it was more expensive to do it that way as more components need upgrading than if you were adding the drinking kit to a reef system.

A couple of good vendors I would consider are Spectrapure which has a sale going on on their CSP-DI reef quality RO/DI, $145, which can have an add on drinking water kit added to it for another $144.
SpectraPure Customer Appreciation SALE! 20% - 50% off
and the drinking water kit:
DRINKING WATER ADD-ON KIT

Or Buckeye Field Supply with their $277, 75 GPD Reef Residential system found here:
http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/showproducts.asp?Category=171&Sub=166


The Spectrapure is slightly higher but gets you a better 0.5 micron absolute rated prefilter, a batch tested and treated RO membrane, a dual inline TDS meter and a specially blended DI resin which lasts about 30% longer than normal mixed bed DI resins.

The Buckeye is a few bucks less but does not have the tested membrane or custom blended DI resin but does get you a handheld TDS meter instead of the inline. I own both and prefer the handheld but I prefer Spectrapures membranes,, prefilters and DI resins over any other. Its sort of a toss up though as they are both high quality systems.

You will find some ebay type systems for less but make sure you compare feature for feature before making a purchase, what appears to be less expensive at first often ends up being more expensive to operate long term. Some use 90% efficient nanofilters instead of 98% efficient RO membranes. Many don't even tell you what the micron ratings of the prefilter and carbon block are, some even still use low quality granular activated carbon good for about 60 gallons of treated water. Many send the DI resin unsealed and probably expired, it has a shelf life of about 6 months even when vacuum sealed in a mylar bag. Make sure they have a TDS meter and pressure gauge as you will need them to judge its effectiveness.

 

just saying I agree with AZ. +1

 

Just make sure you dont drink water that went through the DI filter. While I havnt tested this myself and have read mixed opinions-- DI water is potentially bad for you and other non aquarium animals so I go the better safe than sry rout.

 

Drinking DI is not harmful as long as you eat your normal solid food too. You would have to survive on DI water alone for many weeks before it could possibly do any harm. Eating one salted potato chip negates the effect of many gallons of DI water. Lots of people drink DI as long as they follow a sensible diet.

 

Now, wait a second! I don't mean to highjack jay02483's thread. But just wanted to confirm... what possible bad side effect can anyone with a normal eating diet get if drinking RO/DI water? I have been drinking my RO water since it has way less TDS levels than my faucet water. I'm a little confused on how the DI part of the thing would affect a person's health, since I was planning to add the DI part to my RO only setup.

Sorry for my failed attempt not to highjack the thread. Anyone with an answer to that can reply to me via PM if possible.

Thanks!

- Mag.

 

I thought any RO or DI would turn water into distilled??? Maybe not because that is why you have water purifiers!

 

melevsreef has a good ro/di system for sell.

 

Deionized water is very agressive, it is always attempting to get back to its normal "dirty" state. It will leach or draw things out of the air, containers it is stored in or from the lining of the stomach and intestines. Like anything in normal moderate quantities, the effects are minimal, its when you go to excess like a DI water only diet or binge drinking or running a marathon with no dietary supplements, electrolytes or food then drinking massive amounts of DI.
The above are not normal situations though and the average person would drown internally before suffering any harm from drinking DI. Remember the radio contests a few years ago where the woman died from drinking massive amounts of water? It was just tap water or bottled drinking water but her cells drowned from drinking too much and she died. Again not a normal situation.

Drinking RO is acceptable as it still contains dissolved solids and is not nearly as agressive as Deionized water. Many bottled waters are RO or RO which has been partially remineralized so it tastes more refreshing and palatable. I would not concern myself with it personally, my familay has drank RO water almost exclusively since 1990 or so and we are perfectly normal, well kinda normal anyway!

 

It's the potential lack of nutrients that would get you, if you only drank DI water for a long period of time. Like AZDR said, it doesn't matter if you still eat solid foods, but don't take enough to go survivalist tripping (ala Bear Grylls) for 2 weeks with only it.