City vs Well for RO/DI - Large Water Volumes for Large Reef Tank

tanglovers · 04/18/2007, 10:40 PM

Hi All,

My fiancee and I have began looking to purchase our first house. Once we move and get settled one of the beginning steps is to upgrade our 220 to a 1000-1200 gallon reef tank and setup a 400-500 gallon seperate fish only system. With that being said we beleive very highly in doing frequent small water changes (10% weekly). I also breed clownfish on the side which consumers a large amount of water as well. I am planning my needs for water will be 1000-1500 gallons per month between it all.

Now we live ina rural area where about 2/3 of the houses we are looking at have well and septic setups. What are the concerns with these setups? I can not imagine this much saltwater going down the drain to be good for the septic or the environment if a "grey line" is used. With this much water demand I also imagine there is a chance of running a well dry much sooner - right?

What do most of you guys have? Anyone out here running large setups off a well? Obviously would run it through an RO/DI unit and I understand a booster pump might be needed.

Any other input? Would it be best to just make sure our house is on city water?

Any suggestions/experience would help.

Thanks!

chris wright · 04/19/2007, 03:55 AM

Im looking at doing the same thing. What i strongly reccomend is talking to a good plumber about the issuses of using well/bore water.

What my plumber has told me is,

The water is hard, ie this will reduce the life of the plumbing fittings themselves, taps and washers etc. Having said that though, the minerals in the water could be taken out of the water by a RO/DI unit. I have read on RC that some are ussing well water.

Get the water tested to know the composition of the water. Your local water authority or mining laborities lab should be able to help. Once you have this information, approach your plumber and get an opinion. Even go as far to compare city water to the well water. Where I am, Ive been told ( have yet to run a test), that the only problem is the calcium quantity in the water. Its what is hard on the plumbing, but may benefit the tank.

Good luck and hope this helps.

asm481 · 04/19/2007, 04:12 AM

When I purchased my RO/DI from the filter guys for my move to a well they told me the biggest unknown for the well was CO2 concerns. It would use up DI in a couple hundred gallons. As it turns out all is good on this well just a big prefilter for sediments. Wells vary a lot from spot to spot.

chris wright · 04/19/2007, 04:48 AM

A good enough reason to test the water first I believe

asm481 · 04/19/2007, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by chris wright
A good enough reason to test the water first I believe

Problem with testing for CO2 is that as soon as it hits air it will drop some CO2. Don't know till you try it is what I was told as all wells vary.

tom obrecht · 04/19/2007, 05:45 AM

I personally had alot of the issues you are asking about. High tds readings, co2 in the water ect. After alot of time and research I managed to get a unit installed that got my water down to zero tds. Co2 was an issue for me so I built my own degassing chamber that Spectrapure has on their site. Here's a link.

http://www.spectrapure.com/CO2_SYSTEM.pdf

Co2 will burn di resin quick so if you have it it will be benficial to deal with it.

I'm not an expert on septic systems but from what I have heard there shouldn't be a problem. However they weren't going through as much water as you're proposing.

chris wright · 04/19/2007, 06:01 AM

Thanks for the info and link. Ill certainly be looking into it.

tom obrecht · 04/19/2007, 06:40 AM

Here's another link to the one I listed earlier in case it doesn't work.

http://www.spectrapure.com/faq_p0.htm#calcc02

Rueg · 04/19/2007, 06:55 AM

You don't need a dedicated chlorine cartridge on a well. I dump the waste saltwater from water changes outside and not down the drain. Too much saltwater could kill the bacteria in the septic tank. I use 3 DI cartridges and the DI resin does get used up quite fast, but the DI resin is several years old so hard to say. I don't remember it being used up as fast when it was newer.

seamonkey2 · 04/19/2007, 07:20 AM

since you have a choice, run it out of the well, and dump the waste water from the RODI back into the well, basically no wasted water

and yes have a little area cover with rocks and dump the SW on it, not down the septic syst.

good luck

Jose

tanglovers · 04/19/2007, 09:11 PM

Thanks for all the input guys! If I have the option (find a house we like) on city water this is going to be a huge plus. If we can not then we will have to get water tested etc for the well and go from there. Time will tell but at least now we have some more information and a better idea some of the more common thins to check out.

reeftankjunkie · 04/19/2007, 09:25 PM

I run my ro/di on a well, but I have a standard carbon prefilter on the line before it comes into the house. when I had my water tested, it was high in iron, but after the carbon prefilter, the iron is almost down to nothing. The only problem I have is that the water is so cold, I have to run about a 50' section before the ro/di unit of the 1/4" line coiled in a bucket of water with a heater in it and it improves the flow. As far as the waste water, it is run out into a flower bed, and works great,

Rueg · 04/19/2007, 09:50 PM

Also, our well water has tested high for nitrates - 11mg/l, so they say it should not be used for infant formula preparation and pregnant mothers shouldn't drink it. We are pretty much surrounded by farm fields.

We use the waste water form the RO unit in the summer for watering plants and flowers. We have a separate little pressure tank set up for drinking water from the RO unit. Just use the RO/DI for the aquariums.

04/18/2007, 10:40 PM	#1
tanglovers Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Zeeland, MI Posts: 946	City vs Well for RO/DI - Large Water Volumes for Large Reef Tank Hi All, My fiancee and I have began looking to purchase our first house. Once we move and get settled one of the beginning steps is to upgrade our 220 to a 1000-1200 gallon reef tank and setup a 400-500 gallon seperate fish only system. With that being said we beleive very highly in doing frequent small water changes (10% weekly). I also breed clownfish on the side which consumers a large amount of water as well. I am planning my needs for water will be 1000-1500 gallons per month between it all. Now we live ina rural area where about 2/3 of the houses we are looking at have well and septic setups. What are the concerns with these setups? I can not imagine this much saltwater going down the drain to be good for the septic or the environment if a "grey line" is used. With this much water demand I also imagine there is a chance of running a well dry much sooner - right? What do most of you guys have? Anyone out here running large setups off a well? Obviously would run it through an RO/DI unit and I understand a booster pump might be needed. Any other input? Would it be best to just make sure our house is on city water? Any suggestions/experience would help. Thanks!

04/19/2007, 09:50 PM	#13
Rueg Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: DeForest, WI Posts: 641	Also, our well water has tested high for nitrates - 11mg/l, so they say it should not be used for infant formula preparation and pregnant mothers shouldn't drink it. We are pretty much surrounded by farm fields. We use the waste water form the RO unit in the summer for watering plants and flowers. We have a separate little pressure tank set up for drinking water from the RO unit. Just use the RO/DI for the aquariums. Last edited by Rueg; 04/19/2007 at 09:55 PM.

04/19/2007, 03:55 AM	#2
chris wright Moved On Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Orange Australia Posts: 835	Im looking at doing the same thing. What i strongly reccomend is talking to a good plumber about the issuses of using well/bore water. What my plumber has told me is, The water is hard, ie this will reduce the life of the plumbing fittings themselves, taps and washers etc. Having said that though, the minerals in the water could be taken out of the water by a RO/DI unit. I have read on RC that some are ussing well water. Get the water tested to know the composition of the water. Your local water authority or mining laborities lab should be able to help. Once you have this information, approach your plumber and get an opinion. Even go as far to compare city water to the well water. Where I am, Ive been told ( have yet to run a test), that the only problem is the calcium quantity in the water. Its what is hard on the plumbing, but may benefit the tank. Good luck and hope this helps.

04/19/2007, 04:12 AM	#3
asm481 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Kenosha Wisconsin Posts: 593	When I purchased my RO/DI from the filter guys for my move to a well they told me the biggest unknown for the well was CO2 concerns. It would use up DI in a couple hundred gallons. As it turns out all is good on this well just a big prefilter for sediments. Wells vary a lot from spot to spot.

04/19/2007, 04:48 AM	#4
chris wright Moved On Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Orange Australia Posts: 835	A good enough reason to test the water first I believe

04/19/2007, 05:45 AM	#6
tom obrecht Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: WI Posts: 3,014	I personally had alot of the issues you are asking about. High tds readings, co2 in the water ect. After alot of time and research I managed to get a unit installed that got my water down to zero tds. Co2 was an issue for me so I built my own degassing chamber that Spectrapure has on their site. Here's a link. http://www.spectrapure.com/CO2_SYSTEM.pdf Co2 will burn di resin quick so if you have it it will be benficial to deal with it. I'm not an expert on septic systems but from what I have heard there shouldn't be a problem. However they weren't going through as much water as you're proposing.

04/19/2007, 06:01 AM	#7
chris wright Moved On Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Orange Australia Posts: 835	Thanks for the info and link. Ill certainly be looking into it.

04/19/2007, 06:40 AM	#8
tom obrecht Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: WI Posts: 3,014	Here's another link to the one I listed earlier in case it doesn't work. http://www.spectrapure.com/faq_p0.htm#calcc02

04/19/2007, 06:55 AM	#9
Rueg Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: DeForest, WI Posts: 641	You don't need a dedicated chlorine cartridge on a well. I dump the waste saltwater from water changes outside and not down the drain. Too much saltwater could kill the bacteria in the septic tank. I use 3 DI cartridges and the DI resin does get used up quite fast, but the DI resin is several years old so hard to say. I don't remember it being used up as fast when it was newer.

04/19/2007, 07:20 AM	#10
seamonkey2 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Schertz, TX Posts: 234	since you have a choice, run it out of the well, and dump the waste water from the RODI back into the well, basically no wasted water and yes have a little area cover with rocks and dump the SW on it, not down the septic syst. good luck Jose

04/19/2007, 09:11 PM	#11
tanglovers Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Zeeland, MI Posts: 946	Thanks for all the input guys! If I have the option (find a house we like) on city water this is going to be a huge plus. If we can not then we will have to get water tested etc for the well and go from there. Time will tell but at least now we have some more information and a better idea some of the more common thins to check out.

04/19/2007, 09:25 PM	#12
reeftankjunkie Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Milner Georgia Posts: 68	I run my ro/di on a well, but I have a standard carbon prefilter on the line before it comes into the house. when I had my water tested, it was high in iron, but after the carbon prefilter, the iron is almost down to nothing. The only problem I have is that the water is so cold, I have to run about a 50' section before the ro/di unit of the 1/4" line coiled in a bucket of water with a heater in it and it improves the flow. As far as the waste water, it is run out into a flower bed, and works great,