RO/DI remove chloramine?

[AMSR]

Hi,

 

I have a relatively new RO/DI unit from Kent (one of the 35gpd Hi-S) models. I have been using it for my new tank. I know that the tap water in my area has chloramine in it. I just assume that the RO/DI unit takes that out, but I wanted to ask to be sure? Also, I'd like to test the water in general to make sure its getting the rest of the stuff. Whats the best way to go about doing that? Just use my normal aquarium test kits for nitrate etc... but what about metals and other stuff?

 

thanks

 

Aaron

[bbleifus]

Hi,

 

I have a relatively new RO/DI unit from Kent (one of the 35gpd Hi-S) models. I have been using it for my new tank. I know that the tap water in my area has chloramine in it. I just assume that the RO/DI unit takes that out, but I wanted to ask to be sure? Also, I'd like to test the water in general to make sure its getting the rest of the stuff. Whats the best way to go about doing that? Just use my normal aquarium test kits for nitrate etc... but what about metals and other stuff?

 

thanks

 

Aaron

I just installed a RO/DI unit also. I use a tds meter. My water from the tap reads around 750 TDS after it goes through the ro unit it reads 49 and then after the DI unit it read 0.5 TDS. For all practical purposes the water is as pure as you need it for your tank. It removes all dissolved solids.

[Marco]

hello....im extremely new here but saw your post and thought i could help you.

i own a water purification company in south africa and have a dvision that deals just with marine aquarium r.o. units

 

the short anwser is no.......the r.o. unit will remove chloromine but will be extremely damaged shortly

 

membranes are ot designed to handle chloromine...........unlike chlorine, chloromine needs a much longer contact period with carbon to be absorbed....so i suggest you go and get yourself another carbon pre-filter (the more the better) in order to protect that membrane

[HecticDialectics]

hello....im extremely new here but saw your post and thought i could help you.

i own a water purification company in south africa and have a dvision that deals just with marine aquarium r.o. units

 

the short anwser is no.......the r.o. unit will remove chloromine but will be extremely damaged shortly

 

membranes are ot designed to handle chloromine...........unlike chlorine, chloromine needs a much longer contact period with carbon to be absorbed....so i suggest you go and get yourself another carbon pre-filter (the more the better) in order to protect that membrane

 

 

Marco's on the right track. Chloramine will definitely screw up the ro membrane. If your local water has a high chloramine content, you should buy some high quality carbon catridges like the Matrikx 1 20,000G capacity from places like buckeyefieldsupply or twopartsolution. I'd recommend two carbon cartridges... if the kent is only a 4 stage and has one carbon, you can buy a hookup to add another carbon cartridge in there.

 

You can test for chloramine with just about any chlorine/chloramine test kit you could probably find at any pool supply place or hardware store like Home Depot or Lowes.

[Drez]

I just installed a RO/DI unit also. I use a tds meter. My water from the tap reads around 750 TDS after it goes through the ro unit it reads 49 and then after the DI unit it read 0.5 TDS. For all practical purposes the water is as pure as you need it for your tank. It removes all dissolved solids.

 

750 TDS sounds really high, are on well water? That must burn through DI resin really quick.

 

Keeping you pre-filters up is key to anyone with an RO/DI, they're way cheaper than new RO membranes.

[AMSR]

750 TDS sounds really high, are on well water? That must burn through DI resin really quick.

 

Keeping you pre-filters up is key to anyone with an RO/DI, they're way cheaper than new RO membranes.

 

 

Well it says:

 

Monochloramine 2.4 mg/l avg

 

Is that high? Relatively speaking? Looks like there is also nitrates, nitrites, etc.. in there.. Fun..

[Marco]

excuse all the typo's on my last post...but it was really late here in south africa....

that t.d.s of 750 is extremely high.......very close to borderline for use with a r.o.membrane designed for marine aquarium application......we use filmtech membranes and they start to give in at a t.d.s of abot 800

here in south africa, our municiple water varies from 50 to about 300

with your t.d.s comming out the r.o at 45....that suggests you will need heavy pre-filtration before your r.o........

and for sure, your de-ionised resin will not last long at all ......normally the t.d.s comming out of a good r.o. unit should be around 2 to 10.....then the resin copes nicely......but a t.d.s of 45 will hammer it quickly.......

keep an eye on this as phosphates are likely to catch you by suprise one of the days........

[AMSR]

OK so I tested the water after it came out of the RO/DI unit, and its registering 0.25ppm Ammonia. Is this even possible? I guess the RO/DI units isn't getting the ammonia out? I'm post conditioning again, but this seems weird. Anyone seen something like this before?

[waterfaller1]

OK so I tested the water after it came out of the RO/DI unit, and its registering 0.25ppm Ammonia. Is this even possible? I guess the RO/DI units isn't getting the ammonia out? I'm post conditioning again, but this seems weird. Anyone seen something like this before?

Chloramine is going to show a result of ammonia. Ordinary carbon blocks will not remove chloramines. This is what you want: catalytic carbon {and run two of them}

here is an example

 

http://www.aquariumwaterfilters.com/index....=50&Itemid=

 

 

Here is a good article

 

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-11/...ature/index.php

[Daemonfly]

Activated carbon can do it, but it's all dependent on contact time, which there probably isn't enough of in many filter setups. The catalytic stuff is much better though.

 

 

But.... for workable long-term use, with the low cost of bulk carbon blocks for filters these days, it might just work if you setup multiple carbon block filters before the RO membrane. Perhaps 3-5 AC filters(just a guesstimate) Series or parallel? Not sure, series would increase overall time the water is in carbon, but in parallel, each filter would have water running much slower, but could be easily imbalanced. I'd say plumbing series would be better. This should increase contact time long enough for the chloramines to get broken down.

 

 

I'd test it, but luckily I only have to deal with chlorine so far.

[AMSR]

Activated carbon can do it, but it's all dependent on contact time, which there probably isn't enough of in many filter setups. The catalytic stuff is much better though.

But.... for workable long-term use, with the low cost of bulk carbon blocks for filters these days, it might just work if you setup multiple carbon block filters before the RO membrane. Perhaps 3-5 AC filters(just a guesstimate) Series or parallel? Not sure, series would increase overall time the water is in carbon, but in parallel, each filter would have water running much slower, but could be easily imbalanced. I'd say plumbing series would be better. This should increase contact time long enough for the chloramines to get broken down.

I'd test it, but luckily I only have to deal with chlorine so far.

 

Yeah this is turning into a pain the butt.... :-/