RO/DI output pressure?

Quick question.

Brainstorming with my soon to be father in law about putting in an RO/DI system for his Discuss tank (and i'll prob go over there for my water ;D ). Will the output side of the system have enough pressure to push the water about 20ft vertical?

Here's the system we're looking at...

Water General: Aquarium Water Purification Systems
RD-102 model...

While we're on it. anyone had any experience with this model?

 

Can't help but will give you a BUMP.

 

I'm making a guess and would have to say no way. It'd be better to make a storage unit to fill and then pump the water up from there imo.

Srry no xp with that unit.

 

storage tank or add a booster deal.. im just guessing though..

 

lol glad everyone's as clueless as me then... And that we were all thinking along the same line...

Thanks for the help guys.

 

I have this unit and have not had any issues. I consistently get 0 ppm output. When it starts to creep over, I know it's time to replace the DI resin. Definitely a good unit for the money. My local water pressure is only about 45 psi, so I only get about 1-1.2 gallons an hour. As for the output going 20 feet, I don't think you'll have any issue there as the output pressure is predicated on the input pressure. Basically, the unit doesn't determine the output pressure, your local water supply does, and a properly plumbed system, with municipal feed, should have no issues.

Let me know if you have any other questions on this unit.

Scott

 

Ok let me take a stab at this. By my calculations you will need 31.55psi to get 5 psi at the top. The top is open discharge so you actually only need 1 psi for flow, but going with 5 psi to be safe. This doesn't include friction loss but it would be minimal at 20 feet prob 1 to 2 psi. Here is the math behind it, this is used to determine TDH (total dynamic head) in pumps for lakes and irrigation.
2.31xpsi needed at highest point, So 2.31x5=11.5 now take 11.5 and add elevation so 11.5+20=31.5psi. Now add in friction loss which I'm not 100 percent on the tubing you'll be using but like I said it will be minimal. Friction loss in tubing and pipe is measure per 100'. 1 psi is equivalent to 2.31 ft of vertical head.

 

Yes 20 feet is no problem, thats only 8.66 psi pressure drop.
The unit you have is a middle of the road drinking water quality system, its marginal for reef quality but can be upgraded or improved upon easy enough. First thing is take the DI filters off the bracket on top and mount them on the wall next to the unit so they fill from the bottom. Horizontal filters channel or short circuit and are very inefficient. Run the line from the RO into the bottom of the first DI then run a line from the top of that one to the bottom of the last one and exit the top with the treated water. That one improvement alone will work wonders. At 6 months when the filters need replaced and the system disinfected, replace the filters with better quality ones so they do a better job of protecting the RO membrane. You could also toss the little DI's at that time and replumb the system so you have one 1 micron or less prefilter, one 1 micron or less carbon block, then up to the RO membrane and back down to the last vertical canister that can be reconfigured as a real DI filter so its like all the better systems on the market. Thats how most of them configure their reef systems. Its easy to do and might cost $10-$12 in parts. I would install a inline pressure gauge at that time too for troubleshooting and maybe an inline TDS meter but I prefer handheld TDS meters over inlines.

 

Rodi

+1 On all of the above, I would also change out to a Spectrapure 90gpd Membrane and you are ready to Rock...
Bill

 

thanks for the input guys. I'm a newb to these systems. In the event that my father-in-law has a little more $$ to play with, is there a good system that anyone suggests that's not much more than this? Sounds like this will fit our needs but at the same time, if we have the money, might as well do it right from the beginning.