RO/DI Suggestion

[Curry02]

Already tired of lugging water from the LFS. Been reading up on some RO/DI units. Just wondering if anyone can recommend a unit that I can use... Here are the requirements:

 

EASY install - no complex plumbing - I don't mind if it hooks up to the faucet itself - dont care if it does 25 gpd or 50000gpd

 

Relatively "cheap"... maybe around 125-150ish?

 

MUST provide not only RO/DI but DRINKING water... I drink A LOT of water...

[nikeSB]

check out the brs build your own systems

[Rick Shaw]

check out the brs build your own systems

 

+1

[Curry02]

check out the brs build your own systems

 

Giving that a look now... thanks!

[Rick Shaw]

Its a great company with high quality service.

[AZDesertRat]

If you are looking for one with a full pressurized drinking water kit you won't find a reef quality system with that for $150. You can find a reef quality RO/DI system where you can add a DI bypass valve for maybe $8-$10 and fill pitchers or jugs of drinking water though.

Reef and drinking systems are different, the reef system will contain higher quality filters and things like a TDS meter and pressure gauge you may not find with a drinking water system when low TDS is not as critical so monitoring the TDS and filter condition is not as important.

I would hesitate with going with an ebay quality system which advertises reef/drinking as you give up things like water quality, filter quality and lifespan and usually end up spending more in the long run to upgrade it.

 

Look at something like the Reef/Residential found here: www.buckeyefieldsupply.com or maybe the CSP-DI found here and add a drinking water kit which can be found most anywhere: http://www.spectrapure.com/email/customer-...eciation.html#1

 

You will spend $150 to $200 on a reef RO/DI and another $75-$150 for the add on drinking water kit depending on if it has an approved air gap faucet or not and the quality of the components. You might find a good price on the add on drinking water kit on ebay even. Or this is another company i use for drinking water systems, not so much for RO/DI but RO only and drinking: http://www.h2osplashwaterfilters.com/

 

Seeing you are in NY, be very careful with your prefilter and carbon block micron sizing. NY waters, while they have low TDS are very high in suspended solids so filter selection is critical for membrane life. In your case you may want to look at something like Spectrapures ZetaZorb. Its pleated so it has 10x the surface area and is very popular in your area.

[Curry02]

If you are looking for one with a full pressurized drinking water kit you won't find a reef quality system with that for $150. You can find a reef quality RO/DI system where you can add a DI bypass valve for maybe $8-$10 and fill pitchers or jugs of drinking water though.

Reef and drinking systems are different, the reef system will contain higher quality filters and things like a TDS meter and pressure gauge you may not find with a drinking water system when low TDS is not as critical so monitoring the TDS and filter condition is not as important.

I would hesitate with going with an ebay quality system which advertises reef/drinking as you give up things like water quality, filter quality and lifespan and usually end up spending more in the long run to upgrade it.

 

Look at something like the Reef/Residential found here: www.buckeyefieldsupply.com or maybe the CSP-DI found here and add a drinking water kit which can be found most anywhere: http://www.spectrapure.com/email/customer-...eciation.html#1

 

You will spend $150 to $200 on a reef RO/DI and another $75-$150 for the add on drinking water kit depending on if it has an approved air gap faucet or not and the quality of the components. You might find a good price on the add on drinking water kit on ebay even. Or this is another company i use for drinking water systems, not so much for RO/DI but RO only and drinking: http://www.h2osplashwaterfilters.com/

 

Seeing you are in NY, be very careful with your prefilter and carbon block micron sizing. NY waters, while they have low TDS are very high in suspended solids so filter selection is critical for membrane life. In your case you may want to look at something like Spectrapures ZetaZorb. Its pleated so it has 10x the surface area and is very popular in your area.

 

Thanks for all the info, much appreciated!!

 

I think i'm going to go with the spectepure setup. Turns out my dad actually has a spare standalone drinking water system saved in the garage from when we re-did our kitchen and my sink is already setup for it so I just need the RO/DI. I will look into the ZetaZorb. Hopefully I can get everything ordered today.

 

Thanks again

[FindingBlemo]

I really like my MightyMite and it fits in your price range perfectly! Check it out before you make a decision.

[AZDesertRat]

Thats great. If you already have the drinking water kit its easy to install and would only require a few parts like a tee and check valve if you don't already have them and you are up and running.

Spectrapure has tons of diagrams on how to install the kit on a RO/DI here:

http://www.spectrapure.com/support_hud_addons.htm

 

You won't find a better system than the CSP-DI or MaxCap for the price anywhere.

[Curry02]

Thats great. If you already have the drinking water kit its easy to install and would only require a few parts like a tee and check valve if you don't already have them and you are up and running.

Spectrapure has tons of diagrams on how to install the kit on a RO/DI here:

http://www.spectrapure.com/support_hud_addons.htm

 

You won't find a better system than the CSP-DI or MaxCap for the price anywhere.

 

Thanks again everyone. I just placed my order for the spectrapure unit! I forgot to order the zetazorb filter but I'll make sure to order that when I send for replacement filters.

[jm82792]

Can I easily enough do a DI bypass for the CPS-DI?

I need a RO unit and my parents want to stop spending 30 cents a gallon on RO water

They don't mind hooking it up to the sink and fill up in 5 gallon bottles.

Would having 1 PPM chlorine be an issue,

by not having enough of it you could have microbial issues correct?

 

Thats great. If you already have the drinking water kit its easy to install and would only require a few parts like a tee and check valve if you don't already have them and you are up and running.

Spectrapure has tons of diagrams on how to install the kit on a RO/DI here:

http://www.spectrapure.com/support_hud_addons.htm

 

You won't find a better system than the CSP-DI or MaxCap for the price anywhere.

[AZDesertRat]

All it takes is a 1/4" tee and ball valve to bypass the DI.

RO units, actually the carbon filter, are designed to remove chlorine, the carbon block in the CSP-DI is good for 20,000 gallons of water at 1 ppm chlorine.

[jm82792]

Well when they give me a quote for shipping I'll see.

If it's UPS the shipping will be as much as or atleast 50% of the RO Unit,

if it's USPS then shipping will be reasonable.

[Curry02]

Got my unit a few days ago works great.

 

The TDS unit says the water from my hose is 000 TDS...

 

Water in: 000 TDS

 

Water out: 000 TDS

[AZDesertRat]

No.

The inline probes are set so the IN probe is measuring the TDS after the RO membrane and the OUT probe is measuring the TDS after the DI so you get RO only TDS and final or RO/DI TDS. The incoming tap water TDS is not measured since you only have two probes. This is where a handheld TDS meter comes in handy, you can measure the tap water, RO, RO/DI, storage reservoir or topoff reservoir, the grocery store, bottled water, vending machine etc.

If yours are both registering 0 TDS the membrane and DI are working well. I doubt the RO only is really 0 TDS but it is very low so shows as 0.

[Curry02]

No.

The inline probes are set so the IN probe is measuring the TDS after the RO membrane and the OUT probe is measuring the TDS after the DI so you get RO only TDS and final or RO/DI TDS. The incoming tap water TDS is not measured since you only have two probes. This is where a handheld TDS meter comes in handy, you can measure the tap water, RO, RO/DI, storage reservoir or topoff reservoir, the grocery store, bottled water, vending machine etc.

If yours are both registering 0 TDS the membrane and DI are working well. I doubt the RO only is really 0 TDS but it is very low so shows as 0.

 

Ohhh ok good to know. Thanks!

 

I was gonna start drinking water from the hose

[AZDesertRat]

TDS in much of NY is very low, often in the 50-100 range from the tap but TSS or total suspended solids, big stuff like silt, sediment and particulates can be quite high. This is the reason they are building new treatment plants like the $1 billion Croton WTP project which supplies 10% of the NYC area water supply up to 290 MGD. They are also planning other WTPs too:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_rel...s/99-05pr.shtml

 

They have been operating under EPA fines for years.

[Curry02]

TDS in much of NY is very low, often in the 50-100 range from the tap but TSS or total suspended solids, big stuff like silt, sediment and particulates can be quite high. This is the reason they are building new treatment plants like the $1 billion Croton WTP project which supplies 10% of the NYC area water supply up to 290 MGD. They are also planning other WTPs too:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_rel...s/99-05pr.shtml

 

They have been operating under EPA fines for years.

 

I have always heard we had good water. Yea I read about that project. I'm actually going to be working for the DEP pretty soon. lol.

[AZDesertRat]

For raw untreated water in a location so populated its fantastic. The problem is newer EPA regulations are much more stringent when it comes to viruses and pathogens so it must be treated now. Simple disinfection will not meet the 3 log removal requirements today.

[Curry02]

For raw untreated water in a location so populated its fantastic. The problem is newer EPA regulations are much more stringent when it comes to viruses and pathogens so it must be treated now. Simple disinfection will not meet the 3 log removal requirements today.

 

Very true. I was always under the belief that we had pretty bad water.