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DI Resins


bob115

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So since my water softener has been taken off line (cracked pipes) I've noticed my DI resin has been going super fast. I currently have the color changing silica buster resin that came with my spectrapure unit and a good chunk of the cartridge is orange/brown now. Which DI resin has a good performance to economy ratio? I'd prefer to buy from a larger retailer like amazon just to combine shipping to save a few bucks if possible.

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Not sure how much spectrapure charges, but the BRS color changing resin is 59.99 for 1.5 gal or 7.5 lbs. Usually BRS charges a lot for shipping but they are running a special for free shipping on orders over $50.

 

Edit: Do you know the TDS coming out of your membrane (before the DI chamber)? Maybe it's time to replace your carbon block/sediment filter.

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You will not find a better resin than Spectrapure's SilicaBuster. They have spent tens of thousands of hours and years of rsearch developing the blend to be the best you can buy. In their facility they have a test bench which has been running for years with every resin on the planet being tested. They have a huge tank where they can mix up water to resemble any source in the world as far as chemical make up and TDS then run it through the resins for days, weeks or months until it exhausts. I have never seen another vendor who does anything even similar to that.

 

You may want to repiar or replace the water softener, sounds like it was doing exactly as it is supposed to a relieving much of the work the RO membrane is now having to do. What is your tap water TDS, RO only TDS before the DI and final RO/DI TDS? What is your water pressure and your water temperature? What is the calcium carbonate hardness of your tap water?

 

Cheaper resin will actually cost you more as it will not work as well nor last as long, I can guarantee that from past experience myself and I was buying directly from Resin Depot and other wholesalers in full sealed containers.

 

The sediment filter and carbon block have nothing to do with TDS, the RO membrane removes 90-98+% of the TDS and the DI cleans up the remaining amount. The 0.5 or 1 micron sediment and carbon filters protect the membrane from TSS or suspended particles hundreds to thousands of times larger than TDS which is in the 0.001 micron range. I wouldn't waste money on color changing resins, they can be very unreliable and usually by the time they turn you are already passing weakly ionized substances like phosphates, silicates and nitrates into your treated water. Stick with non color changing and a good handheld TDS meter for accuracy and best water quality and DI life.

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Unfortunately I don't have a TDS meter so I'm not entirely sure exactly what my tap water or post RO are like. I do know that the water is fairly hard, and that seems to be corroborated by the DI resin going more quickly. What sort of price range am I looking at for a decent TDS meter?

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$25 for a HM Digital TDS-3, TDS-4TM or AP-1 from most any RO vendor. Beware of ebay and Amazon as there are imported clones that look very much like the real thing but are selling for around $9. They are not the same meter.

 

It is impossible to get the best out of an RO or RO/DI without a good handheld meter and an inline pressure gauge, about $15 at any RO vendor.

 

My suggestions would be Spectrapure, Buckeye Hydro or PurelyH2o for vendors.

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