RO/DI question

Hello,
I recently move to Cape Coral, Florida. I am on a well but I had a whole house RO system installed. When I use my reef RO/DI it takes twice as long as it did in Charleston, SC. It is so slow that I had to buy RO/DI water from the LFS. Any thoughts on whether or not I could get away with just using my water straight from the house RO?
Thanks,
Jim



75 gallon Reef tank 70 lbs of live rock,54.5 pounds of base rock, 60 lbs live sand, 1 Yellow Tang, 1 Clarks clown fish, 1 yellow watchman goby with pistol shrimp,2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, 2 Emerald crabs, 5 drawf hermit crabs, and 4 Nasser snails, 5 Bumble Bee snails, 4 Turbo snails, Sebae anemone, Kenya Tree forest, 1 Yellow Polyp, 1 Mushroom rock, 1 White Spot Star Polyp, 2 button polyp rocks, 1 Pineapple Coral, 1 Favio Brain Coral, 1 Bubble Coral, 1 Xenia Coral, 1 Frogspawn coral, 1 plate coral, orange button polyps, purple button polyps

 

bump

 

what's the tds and is there any copper?

 

good point, I need to check. I know the TDS (salt content?)was really high before the RO but it should be good now. No copper was mentioned when I had the water tested but I need to double check.
Thanks,
Jim

 

So, what's the pressure level of the water going in to the unit? How about the exact TDS number before the filter?

Be specific, or you won't get meaningful answers. We ask for the numbers because "high" means as many different things as there are people who read the thread.

 

I honestly cannot remember what the TDS was before the RO but I think it was around 1100? Regarding the pressure level I do not have a gauge but it seems similar to Charleston. When I moved here my snap faucet adapter would not fit any of my sinks and I could not find any fittings or adapters that would work. So, I am having to use a garden hose adapter. I have the spicket turned all the way on when I use the RODI. Before I moved I could filter 1 gallon every 15 mins. Now it takes about 2 hours to make 5 gallons. Before I had a whole house RO installed the water would barely move through the RODI. I replace the RODI's filters before I moved a month ago.

 

I know temp will change how fast your rodi filter works. I read about people putting a bunch of the hose that gos to the filter in a bucket with water in it and a tank heater to warm up the water before it got to the filter, but I don't really think that would be your problem in Florida

 

Generally speaking a domestic well system will operate in the 30-40 psi range which is sufficient for hosuehold uses but not to run a RO membrane properly. Low pressures do not allow the water to osmose of pass through the membrane. Combine that with colder water temperatures and you basically get nothing.

Find out what your water pressure and temperature are and play around with the calculator at the top of the page here:
www.buckeyefieldsupply.com

You probably need a RO booster pump.

If your pre whole house RO TDS is in the 1100 range, even a very good RO is only going to get that down to say 20-25 or more and thats still too high for reef use. Use your RO/DI too. TDS is not just salt by the way, they call it salts but its basically everything in the water besides pure water ions, its a loose term.

 

Good to know, thanks for the great info!