Ro/di

[d2hpeter]

Pardon me, new to this area.

this system,KENT MARINE HI-S MAXXIMA 60GPD RO/DI, seems to be better than the filter/UV set that i got from Amway to filter my tap water for comsumption, which cost around $1300.

Just wonder, since the output from this RO/DI is so pure, is it possible to purify water for human consumption too? in addition to get the right water for seasalt mix?

[solonavi]

RO/DI not recommended for human consumption. Its is basically stripped of all minerals. That's the reason (I stand corrected) why NEWater is not provided to household but mixed into reservoir.

Check out these link on why marine guys uses RO/DI, http://www.melevsreef.com/why_rodi.html ,http://www.reefcentral.com/modules.p...showpage&pid=2

Cheers
JC

[Justikanz]

Yes, RO water (NEWater) is pure H2O. No minerals inside at all. It has to be mixed with some salts for human consumption andaquarium use. However, that said, we do not obtain a lot of opur salts from the water we drink as we eat quite a lot of different stuff... Thus, it IS safe to drink RO water for a long term basis, IF we have a balanced diet... and uses the correct toothpaste (tap water has flouride to strengthen our teeth).

DI water is basically water that has the heavier metals and ions replaced with the smaller ions like sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl-). There are other ions and minerals in the water itself and it is not as pure as RO water. However, as it removes the calcium etc, it generally is also softer and is used in aquariums.

BUT both waters must be mixed in with SOME tap water so the meinerals are balanced.

[d2hpeter]

seems that i can use the RO/DI system for getting pure water for my marine tank and also remove unwanted contaminants from tap water for drinking.
then the $500 plus of investment may be a good one.

[Justikanz]

I thought it is a requirement to use RO water for topups in marine tanks?

RO water for water changes would need to be mixed with some tap water.

Our tap water is safe for human consumption... Don't have to waste using the RO system to generate pure water to drink lah... Waste a lot of water one, you know? Your water bill will increase a lot if you use RO water for everything!

Think out of 100% of water going through the RO filters, more than 70% of the water has to be thrown away to generate the remaining <30% pure water... The ratio could be worse...

Oh, RO DOES NOT EQUAL DI.

[d2hpeter]

I thought it is a requirement to use RO water for topups in marine tanks?

RO water for water changes would need to be mixed with some tap water.

Our tap water is safe for human consumption... Don't have to waste using the RO system to generate pure water to drink lah... Waste a lot of water one, you know? Your water bill will increase a lot if you use RO water for everything!

Think out of 100% of water going through the RO filters, more than 70% of the water has to be thrown away to generate the remaining <30% pure water... The ratio could be worse...

Oh, RO DOES NOT EQUAL DI.

noted, thanks for advice.

[mordrake]

I thought it is a requirement to use RO water for topups in marine tanks?

not requirement la, highly recommended

anyway, unless you don't mind wasting water, i would recommend to use a DI filter instead. works just as well and no water wastage.

[bezz]

For info, I have a RO unit installed in my house 4-5years back and have been drinking RO water since then. The water does taste better.

[solonavi]

Nice but mind me asking how much water are expelled by ur RO unit?

JC

[Justikanz]

The water tasted 'better' because the Sodium, Iron ions etc were removed... Thus, no saltish taste or iron taste...

Yes, have you did a comparision of the water bill? Let us know...

[bezz]

It was installed by my uncle who had a friend selling this 'new' RO unit when it was introduced a few years back. My uncle bought a few units to support him but he still went out of business after a few years mainly because RO units cost alot back then.

As for water bills, only saw a slight increase of about 10% at most. Since the RO unit is only use for drinking direct from tap. Cooking and other uses are still from normal tap.

BTW, we have changed the filter 3 times, since getting the unit, everytime my uncle will do it (he retiree so very free)

[XnSdVd]

Guys I'm going to point out that RAIN WATER doesn't contain any salts either. It would be distilled if it weren't for all the dust particles and pollutants that get diffused into it as it falls.

And hey, that's safe for consumption isn't it?

[solonavi]

Hi Bezz, the unit u have doesn't sounds like a RO unit. Could it be a DI unit instead?

Any RO unit will definitely expell some water (concentrated). The rest of the water are "distilled" water. Below is a pix I got from http://www.aquadirectinfo.com/ro/whatis.htm that has a great explaination of how RO works.

Extract:
To avoid excessive brine side concentrations, the permeate volume recovered, in a low pressure system, is usually kept in the range of 1- to 30 percent of the feed stream volume. For example, if for each five gallons of water fed to the membrane, one gallon of permeate is recovered, the membrane is operating at 20% recovery.



Cheers
JC

[bezz]

Hi Bezz, the unit u have doesn't sounds like a RO unit. Could it be a DI unit instead?

Actually I'm not sure. It has a large tag that says RO unit Maybe its a DI with an RO sticker on it.