Yay for Clean Water!!!

[MechanicalEngineer]

Sooooo...I obtained all new filters, DI resin, and a new membrane.  Here's the results:

Tap water:    684
RO/DI water:  024

That 24 is coming from the fact that we have carbon/sediment filters that have a slightly too high micron rating since we got them free with the RO/DI unit.  Regardless, considering that I don't have ANY nuisance algae problems, I'm really lucky.  I can't wait to see what this better water quality will do for my tank! 

Special thanks goes to Joel at Aquariums Etc. for letting me pick his brain and for the TDS meter, Scott for picking his brain and the DI resin, and to Buckeye Field Supply for the membrane at the Frag Swap.

So...

Yaaaaaaaay!

Now to sit and wait.  I kinda miss not having a 1-1 ratio of "clean" water to waste water.   

[slandis3]

whats the rating on your carbon block? I get mine from Lowe's and I get 0 tds. I'm using an EBay 75g per day membrane, and  Kent DI resin.

[verper]

Good to here.  You should be able to get that below 10ppm with some tweaking.

[MechanicalEngineer]

I'm down to 11ppm now.  I figure it's the output line since it's clear tubing...probably has some of that lovely slime coating in it. 

I have no clue what my micron ratings are for my sediment and my carbon filters.  All I know is that they're reversed as to the micron rating they should be.

[Joel]

That's great news Nikki, I bet you'll see even better aquarium results.

I'd like to share how I do my ro / di units that for very little money made my water even better.  What I do is that I have two sediment filters and two carbon blocks. I bought a couple of those cheepie hardware store filter housings and a sediment trap and carbon filter for them. These are typically rated at 10 microns and are the norm for drinking water. I add this set up to my existing ro unit and set it so the water follows the following path. The water from the tap first goes thru the 10 micron sediment trap, then it runs thru the 1 micron rated trap. From there it goes thru the 10 micron rated carbon block and then thru the 1 micron rated carbon block. From there it goes thru the ro membranes and thru dual di units. One could argue that I would get the same results if I just used the 1 micron rated filters but that's not what my TDS meter tells me. I also get longer life out of my ro membrane and my di resins. The 1 micron rated filters last much longer too because much of what they would have traped is removed by the 10 micron units. For very little money and effort, I am getting better water and longer life out of the other filters & membrane.

Joel

[ohioreef]

If you are down to 11ppm I don't really think putting in smaller carbon blocks will help much. Throw on a DI stage to polish the last bit out and you'll be good to go.

[verper]

That's good advice Joel.  I do something similar but only with the carbon.  I probably would have tried the two sediment filters if our water quality hadn't changed for the good at the beginning of the year.  My carbon blocks are 5 micron and .6 micron and they seem to do very well.  Don't need the bigger pore size in Tipp 

[MechanicalEngineer]

Thanks for the advice!  I might try that set-up a little later Joel.  Thanks! 

[Emily]

We have someone coming to check our water fresh from the tap on Tuesday.  They are checking every part of the water.  I am curious as to how bad it really is.

[MechanicalEngineer]

Down to 2 ppm!  Weeeee!!   

Emily, who are you having test your water?  Are you paying for it?  We had some business come out that was supposedly doing a "free" test on the water...they tested our water...said we had bad water, but refused to tell us why it was "bad."  I hope it is someone better than what we had! 

[Emily]

I can't remember who it is.  They come tomorrow so I will find out again.  It is free (probably for some kind of study).  They said they will tell us everything, but we will see.  All I know is they are not getting a dime from me.