Countertop water distillers as a water source?

[AlmightyJoshaeus]

Hello everyone! Up until this point I have been using distilled water from the grocery store for topoffs and water changes on my saltwater tanks; however, that costs me over $32 a month. I am interested in finding a cheaper alternative, especially since I plan on doubling the water changes on the NPS garden once I start adding more NPS corals than the sun coral already in there. Would a decent countertop distiller work? I was hoping to pay about $70-$100 on one. Thanks!

[ReefGoat]

Do you partake in amphetamines by any chance? Of course I'm just messing with you but damn bruh. Give yourself a break every now and then before your brain explodes lol. 

[xthunt]

How much electricity and time would one use to make enough for water changes and top offs? For $60 you can get a 4 stage RO Buddie. 

[AlmightyJoshaeus]

I calculated it and the electrical costs for my tanks currently - assuming a 750 watt distiller and a 5 hour distilling time - would be about $9.60. Much more reasonable than simply buying the water.

7 minutes ago, ReefGoat said:

Do you partake in amphetamines by any chance? Of course I'm just messing with you but damn bruh. Give yourself a break every now and then before your brain explodes lol. 

I graduated ninth in my class...it's quite hard to get my brain to explode 🙂

[xthunt]

How much water is made after 5 hours?

[AlmightyJoshaeus]

About a gallon

[AlmightyJoshaeus]

So far the only argument against the countertop distillers I have definitely seen is cost, which doesn't seem half bad for the small tanks I'm working with...

[xthunt]

Don’t know if it would save any more than using an RO filter. I’ve had my RO Buddie for over a year, for $60, I’ve made much more than 60 gallons with it (considering distilled is $1/gal). The resin looks to be only halfway used. I just replaced the carbon and sediment filters ‘just cause’. Originally I was planning on running it until the ppm goes up then throwing it out for a new one, but maybe replacing those 2 filters will stretch it out a bit more. 

 

I looked up reviews on countertop distillers and a lot of people mention the heat and noise coming from them, another thing to consider. 

 

If you decide to get one, let everyone know what you think of it. Pros and cons.  

[AlmightyJoshaeus]

I know. I am just worried about RODI units...while they are cheaper in the long run, neither of our sinks have high water pressure and I am worried about finding an adaptor to attach the unit to either of our sinks. Plus I have heard that portable RO units are junk...and I don't want to try to attach one to our plumbing.

[xthunt]

I bought an adapter at Lowe’s to connect mine to the sink faucet. It’s called something like sink/faucet-to-hose adapter. Keep the unit under the sink, run the input to sink, and waster and ro lines to a tub to fill. 

 

Get the distiller, and let everyone know about it. 

[AlmightyJoshaeus]

OK. Thanks 🙂

[Lula_Mae]

5 hours ago, AlmightyJoshaeus said:

About a gallon

Five hours for a gallon?  And I thought 30 minutes/gallon with my RODI was bad lol.

 

5 hours ago, AlmightyJoshaeus said:

I know. I am just worried about RODI units...while they are cheaper in the long run, neither of our sinks have high water pressure and I am worried about finding an adaptor to attach the unit to either of our sinks. Plus I have heard that portable RO units are junk...and I don't want to try to attach one to our plumbing.

As stated before, my sink does not have high pressure at all but still manages to get the job done.  I have a SpectraPure, which is definitely not junk (it's one of the best-regarded ones out there).  I got it secondhand but the way the adapter is attached, I'm pretty sure it came with the unit and I know SpectraPure also has some listed on their website.  I suspect a lot of companies make sink adapters for their units.  I'm a renter and did not want to try plumbing it in anywhere because I didn't want to risk damaging anything.  It's also silent if noise is any kind of concern.  Good luck on your decision.

[Clown79]

19 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

Five hours for a gallon?  And I thought 30 minutes/gallon with my RODI was bad lol.

 

As stated before, my sink does not have high pressure at all but still manages to get the job done.  I have a SpectraPure, which is definitely not junk (it's one of the best-regarded ones out there).  I got it secondhand but the way the adapter is attached, I'm pretty sure it came with the unit and I know SpectraPure also has some listed on their website.  I suspect a lot of companies make sink adapters for their units.  I'm a renter and did not want to try plumbing it in anywhere because I didn't want to risk damaging anything.  It's also silent if noise is any kind of concern.  Good luck on your decision.

I use the spectrapure too. Great rodi.

 

I have hard water, high tds, chlorine and chloramine treated tap water and after 5 stages I have 0 tds. Takes about 6 hrs to make over 10g.

 

Mine is attached to my faucet and detached once water is made.

[banasophia]

Are you in any FB reefing groups? May be interesting to post the question around there to see if anyone is doing it...

[Lula_Mae]

32 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

I use the spectrapure too. Great rodi.

 

I have hard water, high tds, chlorine and chloramine treated tap water and after 5 stages I have 0 tds. Takes about 6 hrs to make over 10g.

 

Mine is attached to my faucet and detached once water is made.

Sounds about right.  It takes at least 30 minutes a gallon from me.  I'm looking into a booster pump but not ready to drop that kind of cash haha.

[Clown79]

30 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

Sounds about right.  It takes at least 30 minutes a gallon from me.  I'm looking into a booster pump but not ready to drop that kind of cash haha.

No kidding. They aren't cheap.

[AlmightyJoshaeus]

Just conferred with a distiller vendor...she said water from the distillers she sells comes out at 1-2 ppm TDS. Sounds similar to my prior experiences with distillers...is 1-2 ppm too high?

3 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

Five hours for a gallon?  And I thought 30 minutes/gallon with my RODI was bad lol.

You don't have to be with the distiller most of the time it is distilling...they shut off automatically when they are done. If one is paranoid, they can set it on a timer to be doubly safe.

[MrObscura]

It sounds like you'd be better off with an rodi unit. 0 tds, faster, possibly cheaper(long term at least), etc. 

[AlmightyJoshaeus]

Bummer 😞

[Lula_Mae]

1 hour ago, AlmightyJoshaeus said:

Just conferred with a distiller vendor...she said water from the distillers she sells comes out at 1-2 ppm TDS. Sounds similar to my prior experiences with distillers...is 1-2 ppm too high?

You don't have to be with the distiller most of the time it is distilling...they shut off automatically when they are done. If one is paranoid, they can set it on a timer to be doubly safe.

I'm thinking more about the length of time it'd take to do enough water for changes. If it's five hours for one gallon, that's a long time. 

[banasophia]

5 hours ago, AlmightyJoshaeus said:

Just conferred with a distiller vendor...she said water from the distillers she sells comes out at 1-2 ppm TDS. Sounds similar to my prior experiences with distillers...is 1-2 ppm too high?

You don't have to be with the distiller most of the time it is distilling...they shut off automatically when they are done. If one is paranoid, they can set it on a timer to be doubly safe.

I would think that would depend on what the 1-2 ppm of TDS is comprised of.

 

3 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

I'm thinking more about the length of time it'd take to do enough water for changes. If it's five hours for one gallon, that's a long time. 

With my two nano tanks, I use 6-7 gallons/week, so my thought was that if it worked to produce pure enough water, you could run it each night to make a gallon and have enough by the end of the week.

 

@AlmightyJoshaeus, did you come across how many gallons of tap produce one gallon of distilled? For me, part of the attraction is the decrease in water waste.

[AlmightyJoshaeus]

About 1-1 ratio of tap to distilled...maybe a little steam escapes, but almost all the water gets turned into distilled water. Very little water waste.

[banasophia]

4 minutes ago, AlmightyJoshaeus said:

About 1-1 ratio of tap to distilled...maybe a little steam escapes, but almost all the water gets turned into distilled water. Very little water waste.

Okay, yes, that’s what I was thinking... that’s the part that interests me about it, that it would eliminate the water waste I would get with an RODI filter, and the plastic waste I would generate if purchasing distilled from the grocery store. Of course it would be using electricity instead...  I posted about it in two good FB groups I’m in, we’ll see if anyone chimes in there with experience using one of these. 

[banasophia]

Oh thanks for reviving this thread... I did end up using a home water distiller for a while, and also a 4 stage RODI filter... in both cases the water produced was 0 TDS but the water harmed my livestock within a few water changes... never found out what the contaminant was, but I upgraded to a 7 stage RODI filter and the water is good. 
 

Are you using your distiller to make water for a tank?