# RO Water Systems



## mikeatkc (May 1, 2005)

Hi guys,

I'm planning on buying a RO + DI system from ebay. It looks like I can choose from a system that goes through 2 DI's, but without a 4 gal tank and drinking water capabilities, OR a system that has 1 DI, an extra carbon filter for drinking water, and a 4 gal tank.

Quite honestly, I don't think I'll be drinking from the filter even though I know it's fully capable of producing "pure" water. Thus, I'm leaning towards the 2 DI filter system. Yet the only reason I'm debating about this is b/c of the 4 gal tank that comes with the 2nd sytem. (I'll attempt to post an image.. first time







)

So I was wondering if any of ya'll use a comparable system to the 2nd one and whether u find that tank useful. I figured I could use the 4 gal tank to quickly top off my tank or for a small water change. But no matter how I look at this pic, it feels like the water doesn't go through the DI filter at all to get to the tank. The way I see it, there are three exits that water will actively flow through. 1) From the "for aquarium" exit that passes through the DI filter. 2) The "for drinking" exit that passes through the #6 carbon filter. 3) That blue tube that goes to the tank that bypasses the DI and #6 carbon filter.

View attachment 106197


Thanks for the advice!!

Mike


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

look on ebay for "ro unit" you will find plain and simple ro/di units. i got mine for $60 and works just as good as the one by an aquarium company that cost $300. i have a tds meter so i know that for a fact. what you want to do is get a float valve and a trash can. it will fill up to wherever you put the valve on the can then shut off.


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## mikeatkc (May 1, 2005)

illnino said:


> look on ebay for "ro unit" you will find plain and simple ro/di units. i got mine for $60 and works just as good as the one by an aquarium company that cost $300. i have a tds meter so i know that for a fact. what you want to do is get a float valve and a trash can. it will fill up to wherever you put the valve on the can then shut off.


Thanks for the reply illnino. I did a search on "ro unit" and didn't get much back. The seller that sells the two units I mentioned above were selling them for a reasonable price and had great feedback, so I went ahead and bought the 2 DI unit. Hopefully, it'll work well. Water changing is gonna be quite different than what I'm used to. I've been using some no drip system that's been the best investment I made for my fresh water tank.. but I can foresee a lot of bucket filling and salt mixing in my future.

Now I gotta take a quick lesson in plumbing. The unit I got has this valve that i'm supposed to put between my cold water line.. lol. It's no a needle piercing valve.. so I guess that's good.


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

i like the needle valve, its just a little more permenant.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

wish I could get on ebay, from my pocket pc, I'd be buying a lot of stuff including a diy ro/di system.


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

there is a library near you, right??


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## Canso (Jun 19, 2005)

i just bought one 6 months ago.......... click here......... 
the only thing I noticed is the 2 DI on top should be placed vertical flowing up from the bottom because the water just flows over the top of the crystals or they need maintenance that I'm not willing to do because they are so small. Just remember that you waste 2/3 of what you make, and mine takes 24hours for 60 gal. at 50psi. And after 6 months of not touching it, I still get under 5ppm. I use a large res. and float switch, very handy.


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## Canso (Jun 19, 2005)

now that i look at your picture the blue tube flows both ways. into the presure tank and back out thew the carbon filter #6 to the tap, so there is only 2 outlets. one uses extra carbon for drinking water and the other uses DI for aquarium water. that drinking water tank is not big anough for aquarium use its only 2-3 gal. with low presure so it would take a while to even drain the little tank into the aquarium. does this make sense? that unit without the tank is smaller then the average computer printer. so that tank is small.


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

illnino said:


> i just bought one 6 months ago.......... click here.........
> the only thing I noticed is the 2 DI on top should be placed vertical flowing up from the bottom because the water just flows over the top of the crystals or they need maintenance that I'm not willing to do because they are so small. Just remember that you waste 2/3 of what you make, and mine takes 24hours for 60 gal. at 50psi. And after 6 months of not touching it, I still get under 5ppm. I use a large res. and float switch, very handy.


I have no idea what 5ppm is or 50psi to save my life.

though I'm sure it hs something to do with how fast the system runs or the out put of ro water it puts out.

But how can you tell I your water is purified, just by doing water tests


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## Canso (Jun 19, 2005)

the water out of my tap is 148parts per million (ppm) of total dissolved solids (TDS), which is everything from calcium, nitrates, phosphates, rust and even trace elements like iron, magnesium, copper, the list goes on. after RO the water is extremely pure at 5parts per million (5ppm).you measure TDS with a digital meter &#8230;click here&#8230;. 50 psi is the pressure in my house plumbing, the higher the psi (pressure per square inch) the more efficient your filter will work (less waste water and faster production)

ppm - parts per million
psi - pressure per square inch
TDS - total dissolved solids


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## Trillion (May 10, 2004)

dang well thatll be useful when I get my system.

So you can just dump the tap water in and in so many words it comes out the other side ro/di.

that's good to know.

thanks for the info though man, that's very nice of you.


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