RO water

[Oleta]

Hey Folks,

Why is it recommended to use RO water when filling a saltwater tank?? I guess that's something I should have asked before I put 30gal of tap in the tank, but better late than never..

[kelstorm]

the use of RO water is such that it reduced the amt of impurities from the tap into the tank.. however, the water source depends from location to location.. so, u might want to take a look at the quality of the water in your location before deciding whether to get one...

[vinz]

Out of curiosity, is the water quality in Singapore good enough for marine tanks? (I know peanuts about Marine tanks... haven't started reading up on them yet).

[kelstorm]

in my case, i just turn on the tap and dump the water in.. too lazy to go thru RO.. [] but i doubt RO is necessary in SG.. however, it is good coz RO removes most impurities in the water.. and thus, ensuring that the water quality remains good without any addition from outside source... anyway.. the government had ensure that the water is drinkable.. and the NEwater is based on RO too..

the only benefit for using RO is that it helps to ensure that precious stocks will survive.. and this is especially so for those with delicate corals.. fishes, generally, are more tolerant than corals.. and i am able to do that sort of topping up water coz me only have fishes inside my tank.. no corals.. a bit drab.. but personal conviction lor.. no hard corals.. and have started to wean off soft corals as well...[]

[Oleta]

Thanks, Kelstorm.. I'm hoping that my area's water is going ot be alright for the tank.. It's already at the right pH and that would be just spiffy if I didn't have to lug water home every couple of weeks, LOL

[Cedric]

Hi! I though you guys might be interested in our NEWater composition. It seems to be very much better and quite suitable to be used without the need of RO. The only problem is that they will be using chloramine instead of chlorine. Chloramine thats a much longer time to dissipate and much much stronger too! Also, it is unlikely we will get to use it directly as potable water as end consumers.

Cheers!

==============================================================================

Water Quality Parameters NEWater USEPA / WHO Standards

A) Physical

Turbidity (NTU) < 0.1 5 / 5
Colour (Hazen units) < 5 15 / 15
Conductivity (µS/cm) 30- 130 Not Specified(- / -)
pH Value 5.4 - 6.7 6.5-8.5 / -
Total Dissolved Solids (mg/L) 16.3 - 41.3 500 / 1000
Total Organic Carbon (mg/L) 0.11 - 0.17 - / -
Total Alkalinity (CaCO3) (mg/L) 5 - 16 - / -
Total Hardness (CaCO3) (mg/L) < 5 Not available

B) Chemical (mg/l)

Ammonia (as N) 0.05 - 0.6 - / 1.5
Nitrate (as N) 0.2 - 2.0 10 / 11.3
Chloride (Cl) 3 - 15 250 / 250
Fluoride (F) 0.15 - 0.4 4 / 1.5
Phosphorus (as P) <0.003 - 0.05 - / -
Silica (SiO2) 0.2 - 0.6 - / -
Sulphate (SO4) 0.045 - 0.6 250 / 250
Anionic Surfactant (LAS) NA NA
Residual Chlorine (Cl, Free) <0.01 Not available
Residual Chlorine (Cl, Total) 0.01 - 2.6 - / 5
Cyanide (CN) <0.05 0.2 / 0.7

C) Metals (mg/l)

Aluminium 0.09-0.12 0.05-0.2 /0.2
Antimony (Sb) <0.02 0.006 /0.005
Arsenic (As) <0.0017 0.05 / 0.01
Barium (Ba) < 0.004 - 0.017 2 / 0.7
Beryllium (Be) < 0.004 0.004 / ND
Boron (B) 0.01 - 0.09 - / 0.9
Cadmium (Cd) 0.0002 0.005/0.003
Calcium (Ca) 0.04 - 0.2 - / -
Chromium (Cr) <0.007 0.1/0.05
Copper (Cu) <0.002 1.3 / 2
Iron (Fe) < 0.004 0.3 / 0.3
Lead (Pb) <0.0005 - 0.002 0.01
Manganese (Mn) <0.003 0.05 / 0.5
Mercury (Hg) < 0.00003 0.002 / 0.001
Molybdenum <0.004 - 0.018 - / 0.07
Nickel (Ni) <0.003 -0.013 - / 0.02
Potassium (K) 0.5-0.8 - / -
Selenium (Se) <0.001 0.05/0.01
Sodium (Na) 3 - 10 - / 200
Zinc (Zn) 0.006 - 0.041 5 / 3

D) Bacteriological

Total Coliform Bacteria
(Counts/100 ml) Not detectable Not detectable
Enterovirus Not detectable Not detectable

[kelstorm]

your country water ph is so high???[:0]

[Cedric]

Figure the cut and paste was no good, might as well provide the URL. Look at it, I believe for most of us, we will not need a RO unit as our water seems pretty good!

Current Tap Water Quality

NEWater Quality

Hope this helps!

[kelstorm]

very chiem leh.. all the metals.. should have pay attention to my chemistry lecture in secondary.. hahaha...tks cedric.. for bring in the info.. for a moment, i was thinking who might have the info of all the impurities that is inside the NEWater...[]

[Marlin]

Hi Kelstorm

- Can you please advise me what is a RO ? Is it a product by itself that purifys the Tap Water or is it a process by itself ? Thanks alot.

Cheers
Marlin

[Spiff]

Reverse osmosis (RO), sometimes known as hyperfiltration, is an efficient method of removing salts, chemical contaminants (such as nitrate, fluoride and carbonates), micro-organisms and heavy metals (primarily lead and copper), from tap water creating essentially, pure water. The principal employed is the reverse of natural osmosis.

Water is forced through a semi-permeable membrane by a high-pressure pump. Purified water permeates the membrane and is collected while concentrated water, containing dissolved and undissolved impurities, is discharged to the drain. The process allows the removal of more than 95% of "contaminants" and particles as small as ions from the water.

Most reverse osmosis systems use a process known as crossflow to allow the semi-permeable membrane to continually clean itself. Not all water passes through the membrane. Some is required to flow over the membrane sweeping away rejected impurities. Therefore, from one stream of water, an RO machine produces one purified stream called "permeate" and a second stream called "concentrate", "brine", or "reject". The percentage pure water collected depends on such things as the membrane polymer type, membrane condition (e.g. age, cleanliness), and driving pressure, but is normally only around 5% of the source water content.

Although bacteria are too large to pass through RO membranes, RO technology should not be used for bacteria control. Bacteria can grow through a membrane over time. To counter this effect, the membrane should be replaced periodically alternatively, an in-line Ultra Violet (UV) chamber can be added to most RO systems. Additionally, a carbon post filter can sometimes be attached to remove undesirable odours or colouration. This is a very popular combination of filtration technologies to achieve the highest levels of purification.

Reverse osmosis water is one of the purest forms of water that can be gained without the use of chemicals or heat. It is also a much cheaper to produce than bottled water, yet has a similar or a higher level of quality. However, the initial cost of the RO unit, the amount of concentrate produced and the time taken to collect RO water often makes these systems unattractive to the hobbyist (systems typically only produce 20-30 gallons of pure water per day).

[Marlin]

Hi Spiff,

- Thanks for the enlightment, have learn much from it. Thanks. How much does this system cost and where to get it ?

CHEERS
Marlin

[Oleta]

Kelstorm,

My entire area has a water pH of 8.0-8.3 naturally from the tap.. It can be a great big pain with my tropical tanks but it's quite handy when it comes to saltwater or cichlids []

[kelstorm]

oleta, it is like dispensing saltwater!!!

marlin,
such a system is hardly used in singapore.. at least that is what i know.. but it is not impossible to find.. u might want to enquire at some of the LFS.. such as petmart or aquamart... i recalled seeing one at aquamart some time back... but if u are in singapore, the water quality is one of the best in the world.. so, u can be pretty sure that it is good enuff...

[ach]

Petmart only has DI units, they call it tap water purifier.
Use RO/DI water n u will see so much difference!, but its n investment, compared to chiller RO/DI units is cheap, $250 - $300. When i started i was advised by others to go for minimum of DI units, cost abt $75 at petmart.