Is this source water good enough for use?

Amway Espring

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Contaminant list
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I have this at home now, it costs significantly more than RO unit :-/

 

which brand do u have?

 

Amway espring?

http://www.quixtar.com/products/product.aspx?itemno=100189

This one?

 

Usually home purifiers are not as good as RO/DI units made for our hobby. If you have this and an RO unit your water should be awesome for your tank.

 

By as good you mean it doesn't remove EVERYTHING? this purifier is said to remove contaminents but not minerals.. Wish i could but dad wouldn't agree becuase he thinks RO water is not suitable for human consumption. i used to use bottled distill water for WC/ top off etc, but now i've upgraded i cant anymore

have you guys taken a look at the contaminent list? i've tested the TDS before, it's about 30

 

NO.
Its a drinking water taste and odor filter with a UV sterilizer. While the carbon does remove volatile organics, copper, fuel byproducts etc. it does nothing for calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, phosphates, silicates, nitrates, etc.
The minerals it does not touch make water taste good but are not all desirable in a reef system, at least at the levels found in tap water.

You can get pretty much the same exact treatment with only the second stage of a good RO/DI system, the carbon block.

The idea of an RO/DI is consistency, you get the same clean pure water every time as long as you maintain it properly. Start out with pure water and every thing you need and in the right quantities is contained in a good salt mix.

 

alright, i'll try to find a way to use RO water . i have a question though, if i install the ro filter to a water source, can i switch it back to normal ( with the previous water flow prior to using the filter ) easily? because the water source nearest to my tank is also used to wash the car and gardening etc.

Also, are the 2 or 3 stage filtration system found
HERE
http://www.reefgeek.com/care_&_maintenance/Water_Purifiers/Aqua-FX_RO_Water_Filters/

sufficient?

 

An RO or RO/DI is not a whole house type treatment system usually, you screw an adapter on the hose bib or faucet which can be valved off or removed when not in use so you still have normal tap water for other uses. One simple hook up uses a wye splitter which converts a hose bib or faucet to two outlets and some have ball valves built in so you can switch from one to the other like pictured here:
Garden Hose Wye#

You really want RO/DI if possible not just RO since its the DI that does the final polishing treatment. RO by itself is better than tap but still can have significant levels of some contaminants.
I don't know what shipping is like for you but there are some killer deals to be found here, even better than the $149 3 stage RO only you linked to. For the same $149 you get RO/DI plus a 90 GPD tested membrane, better quality prefilter and carbon block, dual inline TDS meter and custom blended DI resin in a refillable canister/cartridge.
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At a bare minimum you want 3 stages with RO and 4 with RO/DI. Seperate prefilters and carbon blocks make up the first two stages, the RO membrane is the third and DI would be the fourth. Making a single filter do double duty as both a sediment and a carbon filter is not wise as it does neither particularly well and can lead to premature membrane failure.

 

+1. The RO/DI would be used for the tank only. It does not hook up to the whole house. Your Father would not have to drink the water from it if he didn't want to.
That being said, if your water tests at 30ppm and is ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate free, that is fine. I use tap in all my systems at ~80TDS and have 0 problems.

 

RO units are pretty expensive here it's hard to find deals like the usa, to get a RO/DI unit like those would need at least 350usd after conversion , if i order from usa shipping wil also be more than100usd itself,

but i'll try to get my hands on one soon! anyway around how long do i have to change anything in the filter? half a year? one year? if my source water is not very dirty at all