Substitute to RO/DI Water

Samcorp · 05/10/2009, 07:46 PM

Okay guys, I have a question about RO/DI water.

I really don't want to spend 100-300$ on a RO filter for my 90 gallon reef tank.

So I was wondering if any of these substitutes for RO/DI water is possible:

Using Seachem Prime on Tap Water

Boiling Tap Water

I live VERY close to a dam with lake. It is about 4 houses down in my neighborhood before I can get to the dam, a VERY short distance. There is a newer water system there, which within the past 10 years there were 2 new water tanks installed.

Can any of these substitutes be used? I really am on a limited budget.

Thanks,

Sam

spw4949 · 05/10/2009, 08:03 PM

RO/DI water is the most pure water source you can get, nothing, IMO compares.

Samcorp · 05/10/2009, 08:04 PM

But, is there any type of water that can ALSO be used for reef tanks?

Superstretch18 · 05/10/2009, 08:09 PM

Honestly, using anything other than RO/DI is being penny wise, pound foolish. You'll spend MUCH more money down the road trying to fix the problems caused by any one of those water sources.

If you can't afford a unit right off the bat, try buying water from your LFS, buy R/O filtered water at the supermarket or get distilled water. In the long run, these will all be more expensive than just buying your own water, but if you can't spring for the expense right now, these are your best options...

Samcorp · 05/10/2009, 08:13 PM

How much would a easy R/O filter cost, versus the price of R/O filtered water at supermark/LFS? Is distilled water the same as R/O water?

aquamanSD · 05/10/2009, 08:19 PM

You can get a nice ro/di unit for a little over a hundred bucks including shipping. I got mine on ebay for $125 and free shipping and it works great.

Flipper62 · 05/10/2009, 08:57 PM

You can use distilled water & be fine. The only thing is that over a short period of time, the money that you have spent on distilled water will have paid for the RO/DI unit.

Here is a rough break down on a 90 gallon tank.

20% water changes every 2 weeks ( distilled water .80 cents a gallon.....18 x .80 = $15.00 with tax.

around 1 gallon a day for top off water ( aprox ) 14 gallons every 2 weeks.....14 x .80 = $12.00 with tax.

So doing the math, your spending about $54.00 a month for Distilled water. In less then 4 months you have just bought a RO/DI system.

You can get a Ocean Reef +1 RO/DI system from TheFilterGuys for $199..00

AND YES.......you do want a RO/DI system.....Not just RO. The DI filter is what will give you the 0.0 TDS reading.

Samcorp · 05/10/2009, 09:11 PM

Well. I found a filter online:
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-6st-100GPD-R...QQcmdZViewItem

Versus:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Reef-6st-100GPD-...QQcmdZViewItem

One is 30$ cheaper. Whats the big difference, the tank? Do you need a tank for a RO/DI filter? Is this filter good? I looked at the seller and he was a powerseller who mainly sells RO/Di filters it seems.

Toddrtrex · 05/10/2009, 09:45 PM

About those RO/DI units linked. I don't like the fact that they have horizontal DI units -- too easy for water to pass through it.

And I really question this comment about the RO membrane --- "To removes 98% to 99.99% of all chemical and harmful dissolved elements and 99% of all bacteria "
The best (( easily available to reefers )) offer 96-98 % rejection rate.

And I don't like that the prefilter and carbon are 5 micron, I personally only use 1 or even 0.5 micron ones.

aquamanSD · 05/10/2009, 10:17 PM

I have the same type of ro/di similar to the one in the pic. My DI lays horizontal and i leave it and it works great. But they just snap in so you could stand them up if you want. I also run the 5 micron carbon filters and they work fine also. Finally changed them after one year and i go thru tons of water with my 500 gallon system. The TDS was reading 3-4 on the ro/di output before i changed the filters after one year. Not bad considering its 144-160 going into the ro/di. It says 0 now again since i changed the carbon filters and DI resin. Also its the same 100 gallon membrane still and it said it removes 98 to 99% also. Not saying the membrane filters what it says but it works fine for me, even with the 5 micron filters.

Flipper62 · 05/10/2009, 10:23 PM

Toddrtrex,

I agree, The horizontal DI unit is a bad thing. There is no way that the water can be filtered correctly for 0.0 TDS if its mounted horizontal.

I also looked at the links & the units are NOT 0.0 PPM units. It states that if you need a 0.0 PPM unit.....Please check out our 0.0 PPM units. They are also more money.

Buyer Be Ware......Read the entire description before buying

Toddrtrex · 05/10/2009, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Flipper62
Toddrtrex,

I agree, The horizontal DI unit is a bad thing. There is no way that the water can be filtered correctly for 0.0 TDS if its mounted horizontal.

I also looked at the links & the units are NOT 0.0 PPM units. It states that if you need a 0.0 PPM unit.....Please check out our 0.0 PPM units. They are also more money.

Buyer Be Ware......Read the entire description before buying

Oh wow, I didn't notice that, nice catch.

Their "0 PPM" unit has 3 DI chambers, going to be expensive to replace those. Heck, I get a TDS of 0 from my Buckeye unit with only 1 DI chamber.

Flipper62 · 05/10/2009, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Toddrtrex
Oh wow, I didn't notice that, nice catch.

Their "0 PPM" unit has 3 DI chambers, going to be expensive to replace those. Heck, I get a TDS of 0 from my Buckeye unit with only 1 DI chamber.

This is what I'm talking about.......I think that people DONT do their research.........They just see...$88.00.

Sisterlimonpot · 05/10/2009, 11:30 PM

an alternitave to RODI is Kold Ster-il. it doesn't work as well but the selling point for most is that it doesn't waste any water.

aquamanSD · 05/10/2009, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Flipper62
Toddrtrex,

I agree, The horizontal DI unit is a bad thing. There is no way that the water can be filtered correctly for 0.0 TDS if its mounted horizontal.

I also looked at the links & the units are NOT 0.0 PPM units. It states that if you need a 0.0 PPM unit.....Please check out our 0.0 PPM units. They are also more money.

Buyer Be Ware......Read the entire description before buying

I didn't catch that either... Really makes you wonder about that 98% and better membrane now, lol. If it take 3 DI stages to get 0 then there is seriously something wrong. I bet the filters are cheap

Flipper62 · 05/11/2009, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by aquamanSD
I didn't catch that either... Really makes you wonder about that 98% and better membrane now, lol. If it take 3 DI stages to get 0 then there is seriously something wrong. I bet the filters are cheap

Hhhhmmm..........Ya Think...???

You get what you pay for.

Everyones Hero · 05/11/2009, 12:06 AM

I was running my tank for about 9 months with well water & I didn't have any problems. I finally got a RO/DI unit along with a TDS meter. My tap water has about 120ppm dissolved solids.
---

Do you have well water or is it city water? City water usually has chlorine & other chemicals in it.

With well water I'd be most concerned about it having traces of copper & other harmful contaminates. I just happened to get lucky but it's nice to have the peace of mind knowing there's nothing bad going into my tank.
---

Ultimately you're better off waiting for a month or two before you start up your tank & saving up to get an RO/DI. This is a very expensive hobby & if you don't do things right the first time you'll probably end up spending more money on buying better equipment, paying to fix problems, & wasting more time trying to correct problems as they occur down the road.

EnglishRebel · 05/11/2009, 06:04 AM

You can't go wrong by shooting an email to The Filter Guys here thefilterguys@charter.net. They are great at answering your questions and can make a recommendation that suits your needs.

dwd5813 · 05/11/2009, 06:21 AM

emailing one of the sponsors here or visiting their forums and asking questions will gather you a lot of very useful information. best of all it fits your budget - FREE!

honestly, i feel like a rodi system should be among the very first things one purchases when gathering equipment. we all love to shop new tanks and lights and what not but THE most important thing you will put in your tank is water, plain and simple. save up if you need to, but imo, do not skip out on this piece of equipment. there will be plenty of times you have questions about what's going on in your tank and the peace of mind that comes with knowing and being able to verify that your source water is not the cause is invaluable. certainly worth the less than 200 dollars it'll take to get you set up.

Samcorp · 05/11/2009, 08:35 PM

Hi everyone. I have finally decided that I will be buying a RO/DI unit.

This is a little offtopic, but in the other thread I posted (link: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...0#post14993500) I posted a picture of 2 pumps which are (i'm pretty sure) the same pumps. They are called "Model 7 UL" something on the back. I'm pretty sure their mag drives? Can someone confirm this?

Is there a way to make these pumps not as loud? There older I can tell. But I think they are a bit loud.

mat167 · 05/12/2009, 12:24 AM

Smart purchase, for sure.

Those look like mag drives to me as well. As for making them quieter, you might try setting them on a support made of eggcrate so the vibrations don't go directly to the glass. Other than that I don't know what to suggest, sorry.

snorvich · 05/12/2009, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Toddrtrex
About those RO/DI units linked. I don't like the fact that they have horizontal DI units -- too easy for water to pass through it.

And I really question this comment about the RO membrane --- "To removes 98% to 99.99% of all chemical and harmful dissolved elements and 99% of all bacteria "
The best (( easily available to reefers )) offer 96-98 % rejection rate.

And I don't like that the prefilter and carbon are 5 micron, I personally only use 1 or even 0.5 micron ones.

Todd is right. Don't cheap out on RO/DI or you will be very sorry in the long run. There is NO substitute that is cost effective.

Stray32 · 05/12/2009, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by snorvich
There is NO substitute that is cost effective.

This is the key point to this entire discussion. There ARE alternatives to RO/DI water. I have tested both bottle RO and Distilled water for TDS, and the reading was about 2, which is quite good and more than suitable for a reef tank.

However, with the money you spend on bottled water, especially if you have a large system, you could have bought an RO/DI unit in less than a year's time.

I bought my RO/DI from Bulk Reef Supply - the 75 GPD model and it works great.

Samcorp · 05/12/2009, 05:31 PM

What is a base of 2?

A base of 2 is quite expensive on the 75 gpd filter, 150$

Whats the minimal base required?

sebrofjr · 05/12/2009, 07:56 PM

I chose to get a 5 stage RO unit first, then add the DI unit after if your looking to break up costs.

The great thing about this too.... you always have seriously good drinking water available at all times (from the RO). I hate to sound smug, but its hard to handle the taste of tap water now.

05/10/2009, 07:46 PM	#1
Samcorp Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 400	Substitute to RO/DI Water Okay guys, I have a question about RO/DI water. I really don't want to spend 100-300$ on a RO filter for my 90 gallon reef tank. So I was wondering if any of these substitutes for RO/DI water is possible: Using Seachem Prime on Tap Water Boiling Tap Water I live VERY close to a dam with lake. It is about 4 houses down in my neighborhood before I can get to the dam, a VERY short distance. There is a newer water system there, which within the past 10 years there were 2 new water tanks installed. Can any of these substitutes be used? I really am on a limited budget. Thanks, Sam

05/10/2009, 08:03 PM	#2
spw4949 Registered Member. Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Albany, N.Y. Posts: 1,594	RO/DI water is the most pure water source you can get, nothing, IMO compares. __________________ Steve Current Tank Info: 46 gal bowfront, mixed reef, 2x250W current outer orbit w/4x39W T5 ,10 gal fuge....38 gallon aggressive FOWLR, 10 gallon sump.

05/10/2009, 08:09 PM	#4
Superstretch18 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Gainesville, FL Posts: 571	Honestly, using anything other than RO/DI is being penny wise, pound foolish. You'll spend MUCH more money down the road trying to fix the problems caused by any one of those water sources. If you can't afford a unit right off the bat, try buying water from your LFS, buy R/O filtered water at the supermarket or get distilled water. In the long run, these will all be more expensive than just buying your own water, but if you can't spring for the expense right now, these are your best options... __________________ -Shaun- ...like making a pen that works in space. Yes, you spent $1 billion NASA and got it to work, good job. But totally impractical when the Russians spent a few cents and simply used pencils... Current Tank Info: TBD

05/10/2009, 08:19 PM	#6
aquamanSD Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: South Dakota Posts: 168	You can get a nice ro/di unit for a little over a hundred bucks including shipping. I got mine on ebay for $125 and free shipping and it works great. __________________ Kevin Current Tank Info: 380 Gallon, 240 sump, 4x400 MH, vho actinics, MRC Skimmer, 1/2hp chiller, Tunze's

05/10/2009, 08:57 PM	#7
Flipper62 Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Naperville, Il. Business Owner, President & CEO Posts: 3,045	You can use distilled water & be fine. The only thing is that over a short period of time, the money that you have spent on distilled water will have paid for the RO/DI unit. Here is a rough break down on a 90 gallon tank. 20% water changes every 2 weeks ( distilled water .80 cents a gallon.....18 x .80 = $15.00 with tax. around 1 gallon a day for top off water ( aprox ) 14 gallons every 2 weeks.....14 x .80 = $12.00 with tax. So doing the math, your spending about $54.00 a month for Distilled water. In less then 4 months you have just bought a RO/DI system. You can get a Ocean Reef +1 RO/DI system from TheFilterGuys for $199..00 AND YES.......you do want a RO/DI system.....Not just RO. The DI filter is what will give you the 0.0 TDS reading. __________________ If todays automobile had followed the same development as the computer, A Rolls Royce would cost $100.00. It would get a million miles per gallon, but it would explode once a year killing everyone inside." Current Tanks... 90 gal Reef... My awesome Office BioCube....( 180 was on hold ..no time ) ... The 180 gal has been sold...Yay..yay..yay. Hobby Experience: 19 years Reef...22 years FW

05/10/2009, 08:04 PM	#3
Samcorp Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 400	But, is there any type of water that can ALSO be used for reef tanks?

05/10/2009, 08:13 PM	#5
Samcorp Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 400	How much would a easy R/O filter cost, versus the price of R/O filtered water at supermark/LFS? Is distilled water the same as R/O water?

05/10/2009, 09:11 PM	#8
Samcorp Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 400	Well. I found a filter online: http://cgi.ebay.com/New-6st-100GPD-R...QQcmdZViewItem Versus: http://cgi.ebay.com/Reef-6st-100GPD-...QQcmdZViewItem One is 30$ cheaper. Whats the big difference, the tank? Do you need a tank for a RO/DI filter? Is this filter good? I looked at the seller and he was a powerseller who mainly sells RO/Di filters it seems.

05/10/2009, 09:45 PM	#9
Toddrtrex Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Carol Stream, IL Posts: 23,162	About those RO/DI units linked. I don't like the fact that they have horizontal DI units -- too easy for water to pass through it. And I really question this comment about the RO membrane --- "To removes 98% to 99.99% of all chemical and harmful dissolved elements and 99% of all bacteria " The best (( easily available to reefers )) offer 96-98 % rejection rate. And I don't like that the prefilter and carbon are 5 micron, I personally only use 1 or even 0.5 micron ones. __________________ Click my name and then "visit toddrtrex's homepage" for tank pictures Current Tank Info: 210g reef and 65g reef

05/10/2009, 10:17 PM	#10
aquamanSD Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: South Dakota Posts: 168	I have the same type of ro/di similar to the one in the pic. My DI lays horizontal and i leave it and it works great. But they just snap in so you could stand them up if you want. I also run the 5 micron carbon filters and they work fine also. Finally changed them after one year and i go thru tons of water with my 500 gallon system. The TDS was reading 3-4 on the ro/di output before i changed the filters after one year. Not bad considering its 144-160 going into the ro/di. It says 0 now again since i changed the carbon filters and DI resin. Also its the same 100 gallon membrane still and it said it removes 98 to 99% also. Not saying the membrane filters what it says but it works fine for me, even with the 5 micron filters. __________________ Kevin Current Tank Info: 380 Gallon, 240 sump, 4x400 MH, vho actinics, MRC Skimmer, 1/2hp chiller, Tunze's

05/10/2009, 10:23 PM	#11
Flipper62 Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Naperville, Il. Business Owner, President & CEO Posts: 3,045	Toddrtrex, I agree, The horizontal DI unit is a bad thing. There is no way that the water can be filtered correctly for 0.0 TDS if its mounted horizontal. I also looked at the links & the units are NOT 0.0 PPM units. It states that if you need a 0.0 PPM unit.....Please check out our 0.0 PPM units. They are also more money. Buyer Be Ware......Read the entire description before buying __________________ If todays automobile had followed the same development as the computer, A Rolls Royce would cost $100.00. It would get a million miles per gallon, but it would explode once a year killing everyone inside." Current Tanks... 90 gal Reef... My awesome Office BioCube....( 180 was on hold ..no time ) ... The 180 gal has been sold...Yay..yay..yay. Hobby Experience: 19 years Reef...22 years FW

05/10/2009, 11:30 PM	#14
Sisterlimonpot R.C. Fraternity President Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Litchfeild Park AZ Posts: 11,490 Blog Entries: 2	an alternitave to RODI is Kold Ster-il. it doesn't work as well but the selling point for most is that it doesn't waste any water. __________________ Jimmy MASVC President Dishes are done man! Current Tank Info: 300 in progress

05/11/2009, 12:06 AM	#17
Everyones Hero Registered Member. Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Leonardtown, MD Posts: 1,154	I was running my tank for about 9 months with well water & I didn't have any problems. I finally got a RO/DI unit along with a TDS meter. My tap water has about 120ppm dissolved solids. --- Do you have well water or is it city water? City water usually has chlorine & other chemicals in it. With well water I'd be most concerned about it having traces of copper & other harmful contaminates. I just happened to get lucky but it's nice to have the peace of mind knowing there's nothing bad going into my tank. --- Ultimately you're better off waiting for a month or two before you start up your tank & saving up to get an RO/DI. This is a very expensive hobby & if you don't do things right the first time you'll probably end up spending more money on buying better equipment, paying to fix problems, & wasting more time trying to correct problems as they occur down the road.

05/11/2009, 06:04 AM	#18
EnglishRebel Retired Rebel Reefer Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Triad NC Posts: 1,902	You can't go wrong by shooting an email to The Filter Guys here thefilterguys@charter.net. They are great at answering your questions and can make a recommendation that suits your needs. __________________ Alan "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. " Sir Winston Churchill praising those young RAF pilots. August 20th 1940 Click on my name for drop down list and select "Visit EnglishRebels Home Page" for my build thread. Current Tank Info: 60x30x24 200G AO custom glass tank, basement equipment room, 30G and 55G Fuges, LifeReef sump & 30" skimmer.

05/11/2009, 06:21 AM	#19
dwd5813 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: 813 Posts: 2,827	emailing one of the sponsors here or visiting their forums and asking questions will gather you a lot of very useful information. best of all it fits your budget - FREE! honestly, i feel like a rodi system should be among the very first things one purchases when gathering equipment. we all love to shop new tanks and lights and what not but THE most important thing you will put in your tank is water, plain and simple. save up if you need to, but imo, do not skip out on this piece of equipment. there will be plenty of times you have questions about what's going on in your tank and the peace of mind that comes with knowing and being able to verify that your source water is not the cause is invaluable. certainly worth the less than 200 dollars it'll take to get you set up. __________________ order some golf shoes, otherwise we'll never get out of this place alive. what can i say? in dog beers, i have only had one. - dublo8 Current Tank Info: 40B aiptasia farm

05/11/2009, 08:35 PM	#20
Samcorp Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 400	Hi everyone. I have finally decided that I will be buying a RO/DI unit. This is a little offtopic, but in the other thread I posted (link: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...0#post14993500) I posted a picture of 2 pumps which are (i'm pretty sure) the same pumps. They are called "Model 7 UL" something on the back. I'm pretty sure their mag drives? Can someone confirm this? Is there a way to make these pumps not as loud? There older I can tell. But I think they are a bit loud.

05/12/2009, 12:24 AM	#21
mat167 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Montreal, South-Shore Posts: 473	Smart purchase, for sure. Those look like mag drives to me as well. As for making them quieter, you might try setting them on a support made of eggcrate so the vibrations don't go directly to the glass. Other than that I don't know what to suggest, sorry.

05/12/2009, 05:31 PM	#24
Samcorp Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 400	What is a base of 2? A base of 2 is quite expensive on the 75 gpd filter, 150$ Whats the minimal base required?

05/12/2009, 07:56 PM	#25
sebrofjr Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Moncton, NB, Canada Posts: 228	I chose to get a 5 stage RO unit first, then add the DI unit after if your looking to break up costs. The great thing about this too.... you always have seriously good drinking water available at all times (from the RO). I hate to sound smug, but its hard to handle the taste of tap water now.