DI question

Wondering how many gallons of water you guys are getting out of a refillable DI cartridge?

 

I got a little over 14 months from my standard 10" vertical DI chamber, and I don't know that it was exhausted when I replaced everything (but didn't replace the RO membrane.)

That's about 100 gallons per month, including daily 2G or so top offs, and monthly 20 G water changes for 14 months, so. . . . .call it 1,200 G.

 

wow, thats a lot more than I had expected!

 

Well once some more folks chime in we'll find out if that's typical.

 

DI life is entirely dependent on your RO membranes efficiency, your CO2 level in your tap water and how much water you make. No two people will get the same. Other things like how fresh the resin is, what blend it is, how well it is packed in the cartridge and how it is stored wet or dry also have an effect on DI life and performance.

I use a rough guideline of 3000 to 4000 total TDS per 16 oz or 1 pound of fresh high quality normal nuclear grade DI resin. That means if you have a RO only TDS of 10 going into the resin you can expect 300 to 400 gallons of 0 TDS water per 16 oz or about 25% more with a properly packed 20 oz cartridge.

Only buy resin from a trusted source and then no more than you can use in 6 months time. It has a shelf life even when vacuum packed and stored in the refrigerator. Make sure you use the best resins, nuclear or semiconductor grade and only name brands like Dow, Resintech or Purolite or from someone like Spectrapure who custom blends high quality resins for optimal performance.

Here in Phoenix we have high CO2 in our tap water so resin does not last as long as some places. With Purolite nuclear grade I get 150 gallons per 20 oz refill. With the Spectrapure resins which are blended in Tempe AZ I get over 1500 gallons out of the same 20 oz cartridge. Big difference.
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I just noticed you are in Yuma. With Colorado River water don't even consider anything other than Spectrapure MaxCap and SilicaBuster DI resins, they were designed for our water here in AZ.

 

hmmm 300-400 gallons, that will be fine for top offs and water changes for us. I am trying to figure out the most economical way to initially fill our 240 and 100 storage tank. Think I will just pay the water guys to come fill them. They RO all of their stuff and it comes out very low TDS. Not to mention I don't have to spend 3 days making water lol.

 

I wouldn't. I never rely on anyone else when it comes to water quality for my reefs. Low TDS is not no TDS. Remember Colorado River water is some of the worst around.
Even if you go through a DI cartridge, no big deal, Spectrapure has them on sale for $18 or much less if you buy in bulk. That way you never have to question if it was the water that caused a potential problem.