exaporated water
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MT79
Aquarium Advice Addict
Are you talking about distilling water? I'm not sure exactly how you would do that, or if it would work or be worth the trouble(for some reason I think someone else posted about this before and was told it would not work- try a search). If you you need new filters get them ASAP before the RO membrane is damged. A few things will affect the output of an RO unit. Water temperature, water pressure, as well as the TDS of the tap water. If your tap water is too cold there is a method to warm it using a bucket of warm water and 20 feet or so of tubing from the input wrapped in and submerged in the bucket.
atomicbiscut
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2007
- Messages
- 48
im not really sure on this whole RO/DI water to begin with. ive always just used tap,every1 i know has used tap,my LFS used tap on everything until about a year ago. they only switched to using a RO/DI unit because people kept asking them about it.
does RO/DI help?i guess. necessary?no. i would rather spend 100$ on sumthing else.
does RO/DI help?i guess. necessary?no. i would rather spend 100$ on sumthing else.
MT79
Aquarium Advice Addict
It's totally dependent on your tap water. If it's high in NO3, or PO4, for example, you will need an RO or RO/DI(for reefs at least- delicate animals, and the high light drives algae outbreaks). Some can get by w/out one, and for some it's as necessary as any other filteratomicbiscuit said:
Ziggy953
Aquarium Advice Addict
I totally agree with MT79, the $100 you save on not buying a RO/DI unit can really impact the health of your system. A build up of PO4 and NO3 can cause such a mess in a tank. I thought the same thing before I started out in this...then I did my research and priced the stuff I wanted in my tank and realized that $100 filter was worth every penny!
ive looked further into this and havent found out nething! my Ro/DI unit isn't making that much water AT ALL so i am not interested in buying a replacement. if i evoporate the water by boiling it it will be the purest form of water there is. I will get new filters and see if that works, but until then could i do what i described. am i making sence?
Kurt_Nelson
Aquarium Advice Addict
You say that your RO/DI unit is not making "much" water. How much exactly, is much? Are you sure it's hooked up correctly and operating correctly? As someone noted earlier, is it just old membranes? It doesn't make much sense to buy a unit and then toss it if it's just an issue of it not being hooked up correctly.
You can't use an RO/DI unit like a tap... unless you have a storage tank. We're talking "gallons per day" for RO/DI units. Seems like most do at least 50-100 gallons/day and that seems like it'd be enough to deal with top off issues.
As far as making your own distilled water, I suppose you could. They actually make small distillation units for the home - my mother-in-law has one for drinking water. Don't remember what it cost her, but they're not cheap. I'm sure an RO unit is cheaper. As far as boiling off water yourself and catching the condensate, I think you're looking at a much slower process than RO, not to mention all the electricity or gas you're going to pump into your stove to boil a ton of water! How about just buying distilled water in those 5-gallon containers at the supermarket? Seems like a lot less of a hassle, and not as likely to burn down your place from leaving a stove on all the time!
You can't use an RO/DI unit like a tap... unless you have a storage tank. We're talking "gallons per day" for RO/DI units. Seems like most do at least 50-100 gallons/day and that seems like it'd be enough to deal with top off issues.
As far as making your own distilled water, I suppose you could. They actually make small distillation units for the home - my mother-in-law has one for drinking water. Don't remember what it cost her, but they're not cheap. I'm sure an RO unit is cheaper. As far as boiling off water yourself and catching the condensate, I think you're looking at a much slower process than RO, not to mention all the electricity or gas you're going to pump into your stove to boil a ton of water! How about just buying distilled water in those 5-gallon containers at the supermarket? Seems like a lot less of a hassle, and not as likely to burn down your place from leaving a stove on all the time!
Ziggy953
Aquarium Advice Addict
There are a few things that effect how well your RO/DI unit performs. How cold the water is that is going into the unit and how much water pressure is going into it. Are you on a well or city water?
MT79
Aquarium Advice Addict
As I said in my previous post, I'm pretty sure, even if you could somehow collect enough condensation/water to fill your needs, it still would not be that useful. For some reason, I don't think distilling water like that will remove everything(or something like that). But I can't remember exactly what/why. If I can find the post I'll link it. You should be able to just rebuild the RO unit w/ new filters, and a membrane , if necessary, to achieve it's rated performance. FWIW a 24gpd is able to keep up w/ my needs on a 55 gal w/ MH lighting. I Fill a trash can w/ RO once a week for top-offs and fresh SW.
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