LFS brand RO/DI

The reason many systems have two carbons is they use cheap carbon and a very coarse sediment filter. They are depending on the carbon block to act as a sediment or particulate filter which is assinine since a carbon block is more expensive than a sediment filter. You need to understand how carbon adsorbs chlorine and volatile organics. Carbon is made up of billions of tiny microscopic pores or cavities all throughout the depth of the block. When it has to act as a sediment, particulate or colloidal material filter the pores become clogged or fouled rendering it useless for its sole purpose of adsorbing chlorine.

Most good reef quality systems use a single low micron sediment filter and a single 0.5 or 0.6 micron carbon block. The first three brands I recommended all do.

The Spectrapure system uses a 0.5 micron absolute rated sediment filter. That means it is as much as 50 times more effective than many other filters and traps everything down to and including 0.5 micron before it gets to the carbon block so the carbon can function as intended, adsorbing chlorine. The combination of the two is much much better than 3 or even 10 less efficient filters. In addition, everything you place in front of the RO membrane has an associated pressure loss or head loss which reduces the efficiency of the membrane. The less you place in front and the higher the pressure you can provide to it, the better it functions.

There is no comparison whatsoever and I have not even seen the LFS unit. I can tell you from experience, its nowhere near the same quality even without seeing it. Get the LFS specifications and I can go into much more detail on the differences. Also see if the LFS unit uses the old style compression fittings or if it uses John Guest style speed fittings, many lesser quality systems do not and that is another big difference. Then look at the brand name of the filter housings and if they are ANSI/NSF rated for drinking water. It all adds up.

 

Are they canisters on the bottom or are they clipped on top to the membrane?

 

The spectrapure is cheaper anyways, so judging by the depth of your knowledge and from the opinion I gather I might as well just go with the spectra and assume it will be of equal or better quality.

 

It has a standard 10" 0.5 micron vertical sediment filter, a 10" vertical 0.5 micron 20,000 gallon carbon block, a specially treated and tested high rejection rate 90GPD RO membrane and a standard size 10", 20 oz vertical refillable vertical DI, all in ANSI/NSF rated cansiters.

Talk to the hundreds who have bought one over the last few months, the ydon't come any better and there are few equals if any.

 

They are clipped to the top RO membrane

 

Horizontal DI's channel and short circuit so provide poor treatment since not all wate rand resin come into contact with each other. Plus most only hold 6-9 and sometimes 12 oz of resin when packed properly. The verticals hold 20 oz and they fill from the bottom and drain from the top so all resin and water contact each other, no short circuiting. Another important point is resin shrinks slightly with usage so even a tightly packed horizontal will eventually have voids and gaps while the vertrical will settle down and still work well.

 

Sounds like you know what your talking about, is there anything else with the spectrapure that I will need? It doesnt say anything about having a auto shutoff I dont believe, is that something you believe is a necessary ad on?

 

If you are going to automate the RO/DI like with a float valve or float switches and solenoid valve then you will want an ASOV and 1 psi check valve. They do not come standard with that unit since Spectrapure does not believe in packaging and charging for a bunch of stuff many users will nevere need. If you contact them, they can probably install the ASOV and check valve for you since they build the units one at a time to order and they are not sitting on a shelf or in a shipping container from China. They are like $12 and $4 I think?

If you do not plan to hook the unit to an ATO or storage reservoir then an ASOV is not needed since you shut the wate roff when done.

 

Yeah, my water general would only use the top half of the DI and the bottom would stay blue. Waste half a pound every change(2 cylinders). I got a DI addon kit to replace them and the DI lasts it seems like 4x longer before the TDS starts going up and uses almost all of the DI. I still don't like the unit and will probably replace it soon with one of the units AZ mentioned earlier.

 

Ok that is some really great information, I appreciate it all. With the spectra any idea what the change increments on the RO and the DI are roughly? I believe the standard of DI is 6-12 months, and RO is every few years. Also the carbon block on this particular system is well suited for chlorinated water?