I want to filter My ATO water better any suggestions
- Thread starter Gsxkid
- Start date
GraniteReefer
Non-member
City water and only a 4-stage it’s possible the prefilters are no longer mitigating the incoming chlorine/Chloramines and they will eventually compromise the membrane. Like anything maintenance is key and you will have to be changing out a smaller DI cartridge every 100g or so to get truly 0tds especially with a cheaper RO unit. Monitor with a TDS meter the product of the membrane before going into the DI and then again after the DI. Make sure you dont have it plumbed wrong too
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Find out what's the TDS throughout these staged of your RODI filter so we can help you.
Incoming water to the RODI filter 1stage
Water going into your RO stage
Water coming out of your RO stage or water going into your DI stage
Final production water
Incoming water to the RODI filter 1stage
Water going into your RO stage
Water coming out of your RO stage or water going into your DI stage
Final production water
highfive52
FISH and CHIPS
The water here in nh is horrible. All sorts of crud. I went with 7 stage and added another to it. Lordy the water is horrible.
BiGGiePauls33
Current BRS President
You can look up your towns water and what they put in it to treat it also.
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Final TDS of 79 is not what you want to use. Might as well stop spending money on filters and use straight up tap.
What is your RO doing? a decent inexpensive RO should have 95-98% rejection rate. That means your 250tds coming in should have 10-5tds coming out of it. Which can be easily clean up to 0 with the DI stage.
Something is awfully wrong with your RODI filter set up.
What is your RO doing? a decent inexpensive RO should have 95-98% rejection rate. That means your 250tds coming in should have 10-5tds coming out of it. Which can be easily clean up to 0 with the DI stage.
Something is awfully wrong with your RODI filter set up.
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For comparison, Westford's water is 280tds. after my Spectrapure RO, it drops to 3-4. Which then the DI cleans it up to 0 then to another DI stage. I use dual stage DI to mitigate the cost.
coralfishreef
Well-Known Member
Can you post some photos of your RODI unit?
I just ordered another 3 stages from bulk reef supply. I’ll try and grab a picture of my setup tomorrow. I found last years water report for my town. It appears the nitrate level is .255 I’m assuming that’s ppm. Which would probably be why I saw a spike in my nitrate after doing 2 20% water changes. Which was around 80-90 gallons of water .
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Kinda in a tough spot to get a good picture. I also have a custom ATO uses 4 float switches in my sump upstairs . 2 floats for when the level drops open the solenoid to let water through the RO then there’s also 2 that act as a backup in case the other 2 fail they will close and shutdown the solenoid as well. Normally closed solenoid so on a loss of power it fails closed.
lines are routed as follows. Incoming water hits a sediment filter then into a carbon filter then the ro membrane then into the DI resin.
I just ordered the extra 3 stages I’m thinking hit 2 sediment filters then carbon filter- ro and 3 stages of DI. Not really sure what else I can do
lines are routed as follows. Incoming water hits a sediment filter then into a carbon filter then the ro membrane then into the DI resin.
I just ordered the extra 3 stages I’m thinking hit 2 sediment filters then carbon filter- ro and 3 stages of DI. Not really sure what else I can do
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rock-n-reef
Well-Known Member
If the final out is measuring 79 TDS, I would definitely check if the rodi is plumbed correctly. In a 4 stage, you want the line coming into the sediment filter, followed by the carbon block, then to the RO and the output of RO fed into the DI.
Also the TDS probe orientation matters. Checkout 1:25 in the below video that explains how the probe pins need to be positioned inside the push connector fitting.
Also the TDS probe orientation matters. Checkout 1:25 in the below video that explains how the probe pins need to be positioned inside the push connector fitting.
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I like turtles
Nitrate of 0.22?? Can somebody swing over and help him out?
I don't know what unit the report is for the nitrate. If it's PPM, 0.225 is nothing. A typical reef aquarium will have anywhere between 0-100ppm and still look good. I personally want to be my tank is be less than 20ppm. But wouldn't care if it's 50ppm if the tank is all good.
The best way for you to test the nitrate out of the water source is to get a freshwater nitrate test. But the way I would do it is to mix the salt in the water, and test that. I usually test the freshly mixed saltwater for PO4, NO3, ALK, CA, and MG just to see what I'm dumping into the tank.
I think you should have someone over to check the RODI. I don't think you're looking at the right thing or have it set up right.
Your city water is usually never the problem....
I don't know what unit the report is for the nitrate. If it's PPM, 0.225 is nothing. A typical reef aquarium will have anywhere between 0-100ppm and still look good. I personally want to be my tank is be less than 20ppm. But wouldn't care if it's 50ppm if the tank is all good.
The best way for you to test the nitrate out of the water source is to get a freshwater nitrate test. But the way I would do it is to mix the salt in the water, and test that. I usually test the freshly mixed saltwater for PO4, NO3, ALK, CA, and MG just to see what I'm dumping into the tank.
I think you should have someone over to check the RODI. I don't think you're looking at the right thing or have it set up right.
Your city water is usually never the problem....
I agree with at a TDS of 240 to 79 is the problem to troubleshoot. (This may be different from the nitrate issue)
assuming you have the TDS installed correctly (and it’s accurate.)
Since the RO membrane is the workhorse of the system.
how often do you flush the membrane?
Do you remove the flow restrictor when you do the above flush?
How many gallons do you estimate you’ve made on that membrane?
assuming you have the TDS installed correctly (and it’s accurate.)
Since the RO membrane is the workhorse of the system.
how often do you flush the membrane?
Do you remove the flow restrictor when you do the above flush?
How many gallons do you estimate you’ve made on that membrane?
coralfishreef
Well-Known Member
The BRS value RODI unit doesn’t come with a flush valve.
You could be encountering TDS creep which could be burning through the DI resin. Try moving the TDS probe from before the sediment filter to right before the DI resin canister so you can see what the TDS is before going into the DI. Your DI resin might be used up and might not be doing anything.
There is an upgrade kit that includes a TDS meter, pressure gauge, and a flush valve. The flush valve is also sold separately. With the float valves automatically turning the RODI on and off, you’d want to manually flush the RO membrane every so often.
For the filters, with city water having chlorine or chloramine, maybe go with 1 pre-filter and 2 carbon blocks instead of 2 pre-filters and 1 carbon block.
There is also an auto flush kit but I haven’t tried it.
www.bulkreefsupply.com
Has anyone tried this?
www.bulkreefsupply.com
You could be encountering TDS creep which could be burning through the DI resin. Try moving the TDS probe from before the sediment filter to right before the DI resin canister so you can see what the TDS is before going into the DI. Your DI resin might be used up and might not be doing anything.
There is an upgrade kit that includes a TDS meter, pressure gauge, and a flush valve. The flush valve is also sold separately. With the float valves automatically turning the RODI on and off, you’d want to manually flush the RO membrane every so often.
For the filters, with city water having chlorine or chloramine, maybe go with 1 pre-filter and 2 carbon blocks instead of 2 pre-filters and 1 carbon block.
There is also an auto flush kit but I haven’t tried it.
BRS Universal Carbon Block Filter - 1 Micron
Why does BRS recommend this? We spent a ton of time researching and testing to find the best carbon block available while still being reasonable when it comes to price. There are other filters that work well however do not last as long. By simply just looking down the center of the carbon block...
www.bulkreefsupply.com
Has anyone tried this?
75 GPD Auto Flush Flow Kit
Never worry about flushing your RODI systems membrane ever again! Membrane flushing is a maintenance task that commonly gets overlooked and forgotten about, but consistent flushing of your reverse osmosis membrane can dramatically improve its life and production rate. The Aquatec Auto Flush Flow...
www.bulkreefsupply.com
I’m gonna be 100% honest here I didn’t know I needed to flush the membrane every so often. I will look at the orientation of the probes and try to relocate them to before the DI resin.
that .225 I was thinking 22 ppm so yeah my bad on that one too. I mean my tank looks fine and everything is growing but I wanted to reduce nitrates and try to keep more than just zoas.
that .225 I was thinking 22 ppm so yeah my bad on that one too. I mean my tank looks fine and everything is growing but I wanted to reduce nitrates and try to keep more than just zoas.
