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Glacier water system vs lfs ro?


HOTWATER

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Hey all!

 

I've been making trips to the lfs now for the last 6mo now for Claimed Rodi and salt water for my 30gal jbj. I recently found literally around the corner at the gas station a glacier water purification system its serviced every other week and here's the purification process :

 

Activated carbon filter

Micron filter

Reverse osmosis

Post carbon filter

Ultraviolet light sterilizer

 

I've read before "you need the DI section in an Rodi unit to make the water safe and pure for reef life"

What do the more experienced reefers feel about using the RO Glacier water? The lfs is 8mi round trip from the house and I save $2.75 for 15gal of RO buy using the glacier station. (I buy 15gal a time)

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Unless you test the tds yourself don't buy into the hype that the systems claim to offer. Although the filters are claimed to be cleaned or changed daily, quality control is never as good as you having you're own functional system. RO systems are easily one of the must haves in this hobby if you plan on being a control freak which we all are.

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Thanks both for the replies, the main reason I haven't bought a Rodi unit is because I'm renting a home and am now out of lease and on a month by month basis. Is the unit dificult to install? And will it leave any problems uninstalling when I leave?

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I use the garden hose adapter as I'm in the same rental boat. Set it up on the back porch and run the trash line to the gravel. When I'm done I haul it back inside. Just don't run the trash line to the same spot in the lawn. I over watered a spot that died from swampiness. I'm reseed ing right now before land lord sees it

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If you plan to stick with reefing and possibly buy a larger tank in the future then I would buy a descent RO/DI system. It was the best investment I made. The units are easy to install! There are adaptor in most hardware store that can split garden hose lines or even allow you to connect them to feed water for a toilet. Personally mine is on a Y-splitter with one port for the RO and the other for the washer.

 

As far as price if concerned, if you don't mind buying a returned or open boxed item then you can usually get a pretty good deal through some one the manufactures or just watch the sites for a descent sale to post. Also the cost of homemade RO/DI is typically <$1.00 per gal, depending on where you live. For me its about $0.33 when I make it. Essentially the system will pay for itself by saving you a lot of money!

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As the others have stated, having your own RO/DI will really help out and pay for itself in the long run. I would highly recommend getting one even if you're renting.

 

Something else to consider.... Every LFS is different, if you trust yours, cool. However, there are plenty that will sell you RO/DI that likely has a higher TDS than the glacier water stations. I would invest in a cheap little TDS meter from amazon and test for yourself. I think you can get them for about 10 bucks or so. I'd be willing to bet that the glacier water is likely pretty good, and that the LFS water may in fact be about the same, if not worse.

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Water vending machines are usually RO only so lack the important DI step to get the finished water to 0 TDS. They are intended for drinking water and it is the TDS that makes water taste good. The post carbon filter also adds some TDS back to the treated water if it is a granular carbon.

 

The average cost to make your own RO/DI water is about 5 cents a gallon, well under what you will pay at a LFS or vending machine. This nickel includes replacement filters and DI resin as well as average water and sewer charges and best of all is you control its quality.

 

A handheld TDS meter is your best friend. It will tell you what you need to know both with purchased water and when making your own. Don't skimp on the TDS meter though, expect to pay $20-$25 for a quality handheld meter such as the HM Digital TDS-3, TDS-4TM or AP-1. All are ATC temperature compensated so very accurate at low ranges where it counts and they all have a built in digital thermometer so serve dual purpose. Don't get the TDS-EZ as it is not ATC and make sure you are getting the genuine meter, there are a ton of imported clones and copies on ebay and elsewhere that look like the real thing visually but do not perform the same.

 

You can pick up a reef quality RO/DI from the ebst name in the business for only $125 here: www.spectrapure.com . At 15G a week it won't take long to pay for itself not to mention not having to travel and waste your time doing so too.

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