Unboxing my Kati-Ani Water Filter

Sure, I still have an greatly value my RO/DI unit. However, there are times when one needs water faster, doesn't want the amount of waste-water they produce, or you're doing an install for a customer and time is money.

I used these MANY moons ago on a very large install (and I suspect they are still using them). However, I paid $500~$600 for the smaller version than I got, had to wait for AGES for it to come from Germany, and had to bug a relative to translate the instruction manual into English. Because Ready Aquatics had this on sale, I got a filter that was twice as big for a LOT LESS.

Basically, this is nothing but a big DI unit. The cation adsorbing resings are kept separate from the anion adsorbing resins because they require different methods to recharge. The second you go to a mixed bed, you can no longer recharge the resins.

The first thing I will comment on is that they want to make sure your filters arrive in good condition. The inside of the box was lined with foam and craft paper. More craft paper was used to make sure they didn't roll around. Then they wrapped them in a whole bunch of bubble-wrap. The final layer of protection was each was wrapped about twice in cardboard. Mine arrived fine. LOL



They didn't include an instruction manual however I was happy about that. My uncle who translated it for me the last time died about 8 years ago. They translated it and included pictures. https://www.readyaquatics.com/assets/images/katianiins.pdf

I got model 2 which holds 2 liters of resin and is 24 inches tall.



Here's a close-up of the different resins.



I'm actually going to borrow one of Steven Pro's ideas and remove the RO membrane but use the sediment filter and the carbon block (to remove Chlorine). However, if you aren't using a carbon block to remove Chlorine, you HAVE TO run the water through the KATI side first before heading to the ANI side.

 

Thats some heavy duty filtering going on there...what size tank you building ?
Gotta say, never seen anything like it, thanx for show'n....ya, it looks like your lucky it didn't get damaged ! : ) lol

 

Just a 120. However, now I don't have to haul buckets and gas cans of water when helping friends/customers. Screw it onto their kitchen faucet and in no time at all, I have water that can be mixed with salt to start their tank.

 

again, no surprise, I have not heard of this...lol.....I have to wait 8/10 hours for 20+ gal. ..whats the gph on these things? The price puts it out of my reach, I do have more time than money, but in your case..Time IS money.;D
Right on..8)
I'm gonna look them up ...curiosity ya know..LOL
WOW 10 gallons an hour ! Dang. What I didn't see was how often you can recharge before adding new media, or did I miss it.?

 

DI only is used a lot in commercial installations where they change the resin tanks out often and send them for recharging, much like a Culligan water softener.

What is your tap TDS and how much do you expect to get out of the kati ani system before needing to regenerate the resin? Personally I have found most DI resins last approx 3000 to 6000 total TDS per 16 oz or pound of resin the first time around and slightly less with recharged resin since you can never get it back to 100% strength at home. If you have fairly low TDS this might be a viable option but I hate the thought of having to regenerate the resin using hazardous chemicals, I work around that stuff every day and don't want to go home to it.

 

I stated in the original post that I still value (and will continue to use) my RO/DI filter. This item is to help for special situations. In St. Louis, we are at the confluence of 3 separate rivers and every farmer North of us, Northeast of us, and Northwest of us is sending us plenty of algae growers.

 

Keep us posted!

 

Sweet Curt! I want that pretty bad myself. I spent about 45 minutes talking to Calfo about it. That's all he uses ya know. Of course when I eventually get mine I will have to keep the chemicals to recharge the resin somewhere other than at home due to the kids, especially those in my wife's day care.
But I'm eager to see how this system works for you. Please keep us updated.

 

This entirely depends on what is going in on the "IN" side. In St. Louis, we have some serious issues as I stated above. In other cities, these can go a very long time before needing to be recharged. To give you an idea, if you don't clean your shower and tub and toilet often here in St. Louis, all of the previous will be orange from Iron in our water. However, that's nothing. My brother lives in Indianapolis and they have to have a whole house water softener just to take a shower. On the other hand, I have friends in Washington State where one could go for ages and ages and ages without recharging.

 

They have them on sale for even cheaper than when I bought mine.....a LOT cheaper. They are having a 75% off sale so if you were thinking about getting one, act quickly. Kati Ani Deionizers | ReadyAquatics.com