3 stage RO worth the 20 bucks?

Found a 3 stage RO with a tank for 20 bucks? worth it ? lol Its not RODI but hey better than paying 150 for a new one right

 

If affordability is priority I am sure its better than tap water. But you will still be putting low tds water into your tank, not 0 tds water which I do believe most would prefer.

 

i can add a DI for 15 and filter for lets say 30 which is 65 still under the 140 of a new system, heck even thrown in a in line carbon filter too which makes it a 4 stage lol

 

I suppose that is true. AZ may chime in

 

Im with you if you can do it for less than retail I'd go for it

 

where do you guys get the filters?

 

Spectrapure

 

For $20, think of it as buying some empty housings. The pressure tank is great for drinking water but has no place in the reef hobby as they tend to store concentrated TDS which eats DI resin. If you are looking for a drinking water tank though it may be an OK deal but you will end up replacing all the filters and the membrane at a cost of around $85-$90 (sediment $12, carbon block $13, membrane and flow restrictor $39-$44 and taste and odor inline carbon $15), plus an add on DI kit for another $35 or more then an inline pressure gauge for around $15 and a handheld TDS meter for another $25.

I would imagine since it is a drinking water system it probably has white or blue opaque housings and not clear which really isn't that big an issue but it probably has the old style compression fittings too which tend top leak.

To keep it a drinking water system you might get away with keeping the existing RO membrane and replacing the sediment and carbon filters and you could get by with lower end, higher micron rated filters for around $30-$35 but I would still invest in a TDS meter for $25 since its the only way to tell if your RO membrane is functioning or not.

Many of us get our replacement filters here:
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They even have a reef quality RO/DI for $120 which includes the pressure gauge so would only need the TDS meter for $25.

Other places I recommend checking out too are www.buckeyefieldsupply.com and RO DI | Saltwater Aquarium Water Filters | Reverse Osmosis Booster Pump .

 

Thanks im looking into maybe a new one but i have a question, can use 5 micron sediment filter or must it be 1 micron ?

 

The lower the micron of the filters the more life you should get of your Ro membrane. I believe most spectrapure systems use .5 micron filters. .5 not the 5 you see at local stores.