RO/DI recommendation?

[rustypixel]

I'm aware of Air, Water & Ice but I'd like to know if there are any others I should look into?

Thanks.

[AZDesertRat]

If you want the best look no further than the Spectrapure MaxCap, www.spectrapure.com , nothing else like it anywhere.
If the MaxCap is out of your price range, which it should not be since it wil save more than the initial cost over its lifetime due to savings on replacements and DI, look at the 75 GPD Premium from www.buckeyefieldsupply.com . Best value system on the market considering all it comes with and the quality of the filters and components.
You can find the MaxCap discounted from places like www.premiumaquatics.com and www.marinedepot.com .

[james3586]

Get a coralife pure-flo II 4 stage 50 gpd RODI unit from foster and smith for $140 and up grade to Kent cartridges. this is the best deal for a perfect system. The unit you get is only as good as the filter replacement cartridges and deionization cartridge you use.

[Wrench]

Air Water Ice here. Good system and great support.

[AZDesertRat]

The Coralife units are just one step above e-bay quality. Not sure why you would recommend it? If you are on a budget it does not even compare to the 75 GPD Premium from www.buckeyefieldsupply.com at only $169 which comes stock with the good filters along with an inline pressure gauge, handheld TDS meter, RO bypass valve, flush valve, adjustable flow restrictor, Dow Filmtec membrane, 20 oz vertical refillable DI canister and cartridge ........ Coaralife isn't even close.

[quack]

with a small tank any mentioned here are good. With a large tank, go for the most gph u can afford! I have a small commercial unit . . . essential for recovery from water changes!

[james3586]

Coralife pure-flo II is better unit you dont need a flush kit for it like the others,you just simply switch the outgoing and ingoing lines on the membrane housing. This is the only unit that doesnt require a separate confusing flush kit. I would spend the extra money save on a quality pressure gauge and not handheld but inline tds meter. The pure-flo II comes with quality filter and deionizer cartridges. Kent is is the maker of pure-flos filters. Its not e-bay quality.Im sorry but I dont trust Buck and his products. 50gpd will give you longerlife on the membrane,filter cartridges and di much more efficient than 75 or 100 gpd. My lfs has been in business 10 years and pure-flo is the only one he trusts not to fail.

[patsfan1130]

hehe. Look at Rats occupation. Nothing else needs to be said

[gkimble]

Aqua FX barracuda. I love mine

[AZDesertRat]

james, somebody is pulling your leg, 10 years in business or not. Kent does not make filters for themslves or anyone else especially the Coralifes. Coralife is a Chinese import of very low quality. What they consider a flush is a waste of time, swtching lines on the membrane does nothing but occupy your time, it does absolutely squat for the membrane. A 50 GPD membrane does not make any better wate rthan a 24, 36 or 75, they are all 96-98% efficient, again someone has misinformed you. Compare it to a 100 GPD Dow nanofilter and thats true.
Take a look at the filters supplied with the Coralife, don't you think if they were quality name brand fliters they would advertise so to attract customers? If I wer using a 0.5 micron absolute rated prefilter or a Matrikx+1 0.5 micron Chlorine Guzzler carbon block I would sure put it in my ads and my packaging to sell more unist. Quality filters and components cost money and the Coralife contains neither, sorry.
You may be looking at the replacement filter section on Drs Foster & Smith where they show Kent replacements which will fit in Coralife housings, but thats not what they come with.

[rustypixel]

I appreciate everyone's input and replies, but damn this is getting confusing. I guess I should have stated that I'm trying to keep the cost down as much as I can and will be looking to spend around $150 - $180 for the unit. I don't care much if it's a 50 GPD or 75 GPD but I do want the best quality I can get for the $$.
Would I be shot by anyone here if I decided on the Air, Water & Ice Typhoon?

Thanks again for the input. It's very educational and headache enducing!



Edit = spelling.

[AZDesertRat]

The Typhoon does not come with a TDS meter, you will need one, thats another $25. It does not come with an inline pressure gauge, you wil want one trust me, thats another $15. no RO bypass valve, another $10, no flush valve, no adjustable flow restrictor, thats another very good thing to have. The prefilter is 10 microns, you want 1 micron or less. It has tow carbon blocks, you only need a single 0.6 micron Chlorine Guzzler. Add it al up and there is a big difference.

Take a look at the 75 GPD Premium I suggested earlier, they are a long time RC Sponsor and take care of their customers besides offering the best value.

[seagirl]

Originally posted by rustypixel
I appreciate everyone's input and replies, but damn this is getting confusing. I guess I should have stated that I'm trying to keep the cost down as much as I can and will be looking to spend around $150 - $180 for the unit. I don't care much if it's a 50 GPD or 75 GPD but I do want the best quality I can get for the $$.
Would I be shot by anyone here if I decided on the Air, Water & Ice Typhoon?

Thanks again for the input. It's very educational and headache enducing!



Edit = spelling.

The rat knows all when it comes to water. When in doubt, listen to him. The Typhoon III is the one you want if you go AWI. It comes with the handheld tds meter, flush valve, ro only. I have been using it for a few years now and love it. You can have them add an inling gauge to your Typhoon III if you call them to place your order.

[findingnemo2]

I got one from Melevsreef.com
I just love it and it is within your price range. http://www.melevsreef.com/ro_di.html Good luck!

[Logzor]

+1 buckeye field supply

Great company and Russ knows everything there is to know about ro/di systems.

[EvMiBo]

Originally posted by AZDesertRat
The Typhoon does not come with a TDS meter, you will need one, thats another $25. It does not come with an inline pressure gauge, you wil want one trust me, thats another $15. no RO bypass valve, another $10, no flush valve, no adjustable flow restrictor, thats another very good thing to have. The prefilter is 10 microns, you want 1 micron or less. It has tow carbon blocks, you only need a single 0.6 micron Chlorine Guzzler. Add it al up and there is a big difference.

Take a look at the 75 GPD Premium I suggested earlier, they are a long time RC Sponsor and take care of their customers besides offering the best value.

seriously. why would you not buy the 75gpd premium from www.buckeyefieldsupply.com ??? The TDS meter alone sold it for me.

The rat knows water.

[Reefer08]

What about the filter guys???? The one for 199 looks nice

[AZDesertRat]

More money and not as good a unit.

[rustypixel]

I appreciate everyone's input and replies to what, to me, is a confusing subject that has gotten more confusing. While I would love to get the Spectrapure model, it's out of my price range and I am looking at everything else that has been recommended/suggested. I was wondering if someone here could explain the benefits and/or necessity of a TDS meter, inline pressure gauge, a flush valve, an RO bypass valve and an adjustable flow restrictor. I don't know what these are/do and I'm just trying to learn all I can before I make a final choice.

Thanks again and again.

[AZDesertRat]

A TDS meter is the way you determine the condition of both your RO membrane and your DI cartridge or resin. I prefer the handheld variety as it gives you more options or testing locations and is more accurate than an inline type which is dedicated to two testing points only. You test your tap water TDS, then the RO only TDS and finally the final RO/DI TDS. The first two numbers tell you how well the membrane is performing, it should be in the 96-98% removal range when new and probably changed out when it gets down to 90+/- % efficient depending on your tap water quality. The RO/DI TDS number tells you when the DI resin or cartridge needs changing, it should read 0-1 at all times, when you first start to see a rise it time to swap resin.
The inline pressure gauge tells you the pressure available to the RO membrane, it is placed after the prefilter and carbon block and will tell you if you have a plugging or fouling condition and filters may need changed. Ideally you want 50+ psi available to the membrane for best performance.
A flush valve is a way to lighten your wallet a little, theer is no proven benefit to them that I am aware of. Theoretically what they do is flush the solids away from the membranes surface keeping it clean. The problems are no one uses them the way they need to be useed, each and every time you stop the unit withoiut ever missing a flush, once you miss even one and dissolved solids begin to solidify and collect on the membranes surface no amout of flusing in the world will ever clean it off. The best proven method to keep a membrane is peak condition is to use the adjustable of capillary tube type flow restrictor and maintain a 4:1 waste ratio always. This continously carries any contaminates away and keeps things clean.
The RO bypass valve is a tee and ball valve installed between the RO membran and DI filter that allows you to use RO only water for other uses like drinking, pet watering etc. If you have major uses for RO water you may want an optional drinking water kit with the faucet and pressure tank, I do this myself since I have mine plumbed to my icemaker and a couple of RO faucets around the house, RO water is great to drink.
The adjustable flow restrictor as mentioned above regulates the continous flush water surrounding the membrane and it what creates the pressure to drive water through the membrane(that is simplified but close to how membranes function). Most units you see come with a factory set non adjustable restrictor, the problem is they are only guesstimates and are not accurate at 4:1. Everyones water pressure and temperature vary so a one size fits all does not work in every application. Since you want exactly 4:1 you get the adjustable one and fine tune the waste for best performance and membrane life.

I think that covers them all, if not just speak up.

[rustypixel]

Umm... yeah, that about covers it. Your time posting the information is appreciated. I' guess it's time to make a choice.
Just wanted to thank everyone one last time for all of the input and valuable information and suggestions.

Thanks!

[AZDesertRat]

No problem, glad I could help, or confuse as the case may be!

[rustypixel]

You helpfully confused me! But in a good way!

Thanks.

[mattyg]

To confuse us even more, what about chloramines? AZDesertRat, I am a fellow NW Phoenician and have been told we have chloramines not chlorine in our water.

[AZDesertRat]

Phoenix does not use chloramines at any of their treatment plants and I am not aware of any other Valley cities using it either. Glendale does use chlrorine dioxide at their Pyramid Peak plant and Peoria feeds ozone as a primary oxidizer at their Greenway plant but no chloramines.
Chloramines have really been blown out of proportion, extra carbons are not needed at normal drinking water disinfectant levels. If you use a single high quality carbon block such as the Matrikx+1 Chlorine Guzzler followed by RO and a good full sized vertical DI system you will have no problems.