Money down the drain??? - Page 3

ReefEnabler · 10/31/2007, 05:22 PM

"I wanted to store DI water in pure state for top-ups and mix with salt (in seperate container) when needed. Is that alright?"

I am no expert yet, but that sounds good to me. It's not necessary but can make things more convenient. I will be doing something similiar with my RODI system.

a 50G tank will collect RO water. There will be a float valve and solenoid, and an overflow drain near the top of the tank as an added precaution. Directly below will be a 50G mixing tank, so I will not have to use a pump to transfer the water.

The mixing tank will be next to the refugium and frag tank. It will actually be part of the actively circulated water loop, but on a ball valve. It will overflow back to the sump just like the refugium. The idea here is that you could easily do a water change without turning off any equipment in the sump/display tank. Here's the basic steps that would entail:

1)Turn off the valve thats pushing water from the sump to the mixing tank.
2)Turn the valve thats drains the mixing tank into waste water line.
3) Turn the valve on the bottom of the RO tank to fill the mixing tank with fresh RO water
4) mix salt /whatever
5) turn on a pump, and wait a day or so.
6) After that, simply turn the ball valve back on to pump sump water through the mixing tank, and it should slowly mix in the new water all by itself and circulate it through the overflow.

that isn't to say you wouldn't occasionally drain water from the main display tank when doing water changes (like for siphoning out detritus), but for the most part it would make water changes very easy since you wouldn't even have to shut off the main filtration.

Artisan Corals · 10/31/2007, 07:05 PM

There is no membrane in a De-ionizer. It just has ion exchanging resins which pull the impurities out of the tap/well water. It doesn't require a membrane or any other pre-filters to obtain a higher purity than RO alone. (It is equal to RO/DI-so why use the RO).

It is better to add some supplements after some aeration. The reason is that the de-ionized water is looking for replacement ions to replace the ones the resins removed. This can cause it to pull pollutants out of the air or the storage container. It is also better to add these supplement so that the water you are adding to the tank does not quickly reduce the minerals in the tank water. You alway want to add water with close properties to the tank water i.e. temp, pH, minerals. This same concept is true with R.O. water.

Artisan Corals · 11/01/2007, 03:09 PM

I am receiving a lot of Private Messages for information on the Kati Ani De-ionizers that efficiently replace RO systems. There are two e-tailers that have a lot of information on their site. Please check these sites out first and I will be glad to answer any additional questions.
www.premiumaquatics.com
www.thefilterguys.biz

agent007 · 11/01/2007, 09:01 PM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Artisan Corals
There is no membrane in a De-ionizer. It just has ion exchanging resins which pull the impurities out of the tap/well water. It doesn't require a membrane or any other pre-filters to obtain a higher purity than RO alone. (It is equal to RO/DI-so why use the RO).

RO/DI is still new to me, so thanks for clarifying the DI resin

I use RO for drinking water. So far I'm quite happy with the system.

I'll look into dosing the storage bin with Ca and Alk. The possibility of the storage bin container leaching impurities into the water makes me wonder if I should store the DI water at all or perhaps store it in a container less likely to taint the DI water.

Artisan Corals · 11/02/2007, 05:32 PM

Laboratories almost exclusively purify their water with De-ionization (not RO/DI). In a lab setting, you would only be "allowed" to store de-ionized water in glass or one type (I forget which type) of plastic containers. However, we are de-ionizing water for a hobby not a laboratory, so plastic containers are common for water storage. It would be better to store water in glass aquariums than plastic totes, but this is not practical for most situations. The compromise is to add supplements as soon as practical to stabilize the de-ionized water.

11/01/2007, 09:01 PM	#54
agent007 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: New Joisee, US Posts: 200	[QUOTE]Originally posted by Artisan Corals There is no membrane in a De-ionizer. It just has ion exchanging resins which pull the impurities out of the tap/well water. It doesn't require a membrane or any other pre-filters to obtain a higher purity than RO alone. (It is equal to RO/DI-so why use the RO). RO/DI is still new to me, so thanks for clarifying the DI resin I use RO for drinking water. So far I'm quite happy with the system. I'll look into dosing the storage bin with Ca and Alk. The possibility of the storage bin container leaching impurities into the water makes me wonder if I should store the DI water at all or perhaps store it in a container less likely to taint the DI water. Last edited by agent007; 11/01/2007 at 09:14 PM.

10/31/2007, 05:22 PM	#51
ReefEnabler Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 3,760	"I wanted to store DI water in pure state for top-ups and mix with salt (in seperate container) when needed. Is that alright?" I am no expert yet, but that sounds good to me. It's not necessary but can make things more convenient. I will be doing something similiar with my RODI system. a 50G tank will collect RO water. There will be a float valve and solenoid, and an overflow drain near the top of the tank as an added precaution. Directly below will be a 50G mixing tank, so I will not have to use a pump to transfer the water. The mixing tank will be next to the refugium and frag tank. It will actually be part of the actively circulated water loop, but on a ball valve. It will overflow back to the sump just like the refugium. The idea here is that you could easily do a water change without turning off any equipment in the sump/display tank. Here's the basic steps that would entail: 1)Turn off the valve thats pushing water from the sump to the mixing tank. 2)Turn the valve thats drains the mixing tank into waste water line. 3) Turn the valve on the bottom of the RO tank to fill the mixing tank with fresh RO water 4) mix salt /whatever 5) turn on a pump, and wait a day or so. 6) After that, simply turn the ball valve back on to pump sump water through the mixing tank, and it should slowly mix in the new water all by itself and circulate it through the overflow. that isn't to say you wouldn't occasionally drain water from the main display tank when doing water changes (like for siphoning out detritus), but for the most part it would make water changes very easy since you wouldn't even have to shut off the main filtration.

10/31/2007, 07:05 PM	#52
Artisan Corals Registered Member. Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 25	There is no membrane in a De-ionizer. It just has ion exchanging resins which pull the impurities out of the tap/well water. It doesn't require a membrane or any other pre-filters to obtain a higher purity than RO alone. (It is equal to RO/DI-so why use the RO). It is better to add some supplements after some aeration. The reason is that the de-ionized water is looking for replacement ions to replace the ones the resins removed. This can cause it to pull pollutants out of the air or the storage container. It is also better to add these supplement so that the water you are adding to the tank does not quickly reduce the minerals in the tank water. You alway want to add water with close properties to the tank water i.e. temp, pH, minerals. This same concept is true with R.O. water.

11/01/2007, 03:09 PM	#53
Artisan Corals Registered Member. Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 25	I am receiving a lot of Private Messages for information on the Kati Ani De-ionizers that efficiently replace RO systems. There are two e-tailers that have a lot of information on their site. Please check these sites out first and I will be glad to answer any additional questions. www.premiumaquatics.com www.thefilterguys.biz

11/02/2007, 05:32 PM	#55
Artisan Corals Registered Member. Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 25	Laboratories almost exclusively purify their water with De-ionization (not RO/DI). In a lab setting, you would only be "allowed" to store de-ionized water in glass or one type (I forget which type) of plastic containers. However, we are de-ionizing water for a hobby not a laboratory, so plastic containers are common for water storage. It would be better to store water in glass aquariums than plastic totes, but this is not practical for most situations. The compromise is to add supplements as soon as practical to stabilize the de-ionized water.