RO Water Filters

[Sneaker]

What are some recommendations for RO water filters that some of you use for your tanks...

Are their any favorite cheap and easy to use filters that any of you recommed?

 

[fishfreek]

Shoot for a minimum of three stages. Carbon, Sediment and RO membrane. Filters with more than three stages will offer you enhanced filtration but the bulk of the work is done by three stages.

RO filters are sized by the amount of water they can filter per day. The more common capacities are 25,50,75 and 100GPD models.

Ebay is a good source for cheap RO units but I would also suggest looking at some other quality products like those by our sponsor AquaFX. The higher end units often come with TDS meters inline so you know when your membranes are starting to slip as well as pressure guages so you know the inlet pressure. RO units operate effecently at a specific inlet pressure range and if your to far below that then your GPD output will be affected.

 

[Sneaker]

Cool, I will look into the AquaFX, thank you for the information on the three main stages I need to worry about.

I was looking into having 5 gallon jugs delivered to the house but it'a about $9 per 5 gallons.

I think the RO is the best investment in the long run.

 

[fishfreek]

I think the RO is the best investment in the long run.

An RO filter is exactly that. An investment. Those that look at it as an expense are the ones who never get one because of the price.

 

[xxmoorishmanxx]

is the water less expensive when its produced via ro, than it is bought, i know there is a lot of waste water produced, i thought it cost more to run ro becasue of this

 

[fishfreek]

How much is your city charging you for water? My water bill isnt affected by my RO running. On a properly configured setup you have 1 gal of good water for every 4-5 gal of waste water. Now there is no reason you cant use this waste water in benifital ways. We use it to fill our washer. Use it to water your plants, water for the dog/cat, water outside plants, etc.

Other cost factors are less obvous. What about the gas to get the water all the time? What about the cost of all those buckets to transport the water in? What about the opertunity cost of having to take time to drive out to the store to get water all the time? What if you have a serious emergency and its friday at 10pm and you just cant wait till the store opens up at 9am the following morning to get some water to mix up saltwater that will be ready for use at the earlest sat evening nearly a full 24 hours after you realized you had an emergency.

 

[fishfreek]

Oh and those places that sell water would not sell it at a loss. So they have already factored the cost of producing the water into their fees.

 

[Sneaker]

I live in Chicago and they charge for water at a flat rate of I think $25 per month or something like that but in Chicago if you are renting "like I am" you never see water bills, the landlord pays them.

Water is usually included in the rental in 96% of the time.

I am mostly interested in the convenience factor of doing RO water at home and not having to pay for delivered water. Plus I need it to combat my small green algae problem and provide good quality water for the fish and corals.

 

[seafan]

Ebay stores are awsome for RO units. Can save you up tp 100$.