any suggestions on an R/O system

[Aerowen]

Hi i need a suggestion for an R/O system i have been looking online but the sheer amount of choices is mind blogging. What do you guys use and how do you like it? I am gettii tired of buying distilled water- Thanks

[rbursek]

Thefilterguys.biz, give them a call. great product, price, advice, and customer service.

[Gtstricky]

I highly recommend The Filter Guys also. They are sponsors and have a thread here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=439

They have been a great help. They shipped it very fast and have answered a few questions I have had. Look no further :)

[Playa-1]

I'm happy with the one that I got from The filter guys.

http://www.thefilterguys.biz/ro_di_systems.htm

[yoitsme]

Ditto on thefilterguys.
Whoever you chose, your best off staying with an RC sponsor. BEWARE ebay for this one.

[bitz]

I would also suggest Air Water Ice. I went with the 5 stage Reef Keeper 75 gpd variety. It arrived this week and it is very well built and heavy duty. I would suggest an RO/DI system over just RO.

http://www.airwaterice.com/

[Gtstricky]

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

[HumanIMDB]

AZDesertRat helped us when we were picking out our system. We went with the SpectraPure MAXCAP 90. The SpectraPure MaxCap UHE 100 is the best of the best, but it's very pricey.

After ordering the system and running it to make up water for the initial fill of our tank, we had some issues getting filters for it "quickly". We found a local (Winnipeg, MB) distributor of RO/DI supplies, Arch Distributors. They are extremely knowledgeable and passionate about water filtration technology. We discovered that we could have probably built a system that matches the SpectraPure system for a fraction of the cost, but hindsight is always 20/20.

What you are looking for is the following specs:
<b>First Stage</b> - Sediment Filter - Depending on your water supply TDS, you will want to go with 1 Micron or 5 Micron for the first stage to get rid of most of the sediment. If you have good water from the tap, you could run with .5 Micron but we found ours clogged very quickly.

<b>Second Stage A</b> - Smaller Sediment Filter or Carbon Block - If you have high TDS and find that your first stage is getting clogged quickly, you can up the filter size of the first stage and put a smaller one in your second stage (.5 or .2 Micron). Else, this stage is the .5 Micron Carbon Block.

<b>Second Stage B</b> - .5 Micron Carbon Filter - You will want to check your water supply for <a href="http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/waterfaqs/f/faq0050.htm" target=_blank>Chlorine or Chloramine</a> and buy the appropriate Carbon filter.

<b>Third Stage</b> - TFC Reverse Osmosis Membrane

<b>Forth Stage</b> - Deionization Filter

<b>Fifth Stage</b> - Deionization Filter

We really like the inline TDS meters and the pressure gage on the SpectraPure.

We also had to use a Booster Pump to maintain 80 PSI at the RO Membrane.

We found that the SpectraPure products are all rebranded from one of the major manufactures of Water Filters, <a href="http://www.pentekfiltration.com/" target=_blank>Pentek</a> we believe. If you buy the Pentek versions, you are getting the same product but could possibly save yourself some money. If we upgrade our system, we will likely go this route.

We're currently running a 1 Micron Sediment Filter then the .5 Carbon Block in stages one and two. If we find that we are still clogging these filters quickly, we're going to add another pre-filter, probably do 1 Micron Sediment Filter, .5 or .2 Micron Sediment Filter, and then a .5 Carbon Block before the RO Membrane. If we add another pre-filter, we'll add a Pressure Gage or two to monitor the pre-filters.

Hope this helps.

[SSpiro]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12349292#post12349292 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by yoitsme
Ditto on thefilterguys.
Whoever you chose, your best off staying with an RC sponsor. BEWARE ebay for this one.

Why..?

[HumanIMDB]

I'm assuming he meant to say "starting off" not "staying off" for the RC Sponsors.

There are several nightmare stories from people who purchased their filter from someone on EBay...personally I don't like using EBay, but that's just me. :)

Find a store that has knowledgeable staff, good customer service, and great products. You might pay a bit more for it but you will likely save money in the long run.

[SSpiro]

My understanding was that it was the filters that made the most difference, not necessarily the equipment itself.

[Amoore311]

Filterguys or AirWater&Ice are your best bets.


I personally use AirWater&Ice. They have fantastic customer service, quick shipping times, and the product is top notch.

I have the Typhoon III 75 GPD Unit.

[an411]

You pay for what you get in this hobby the one thing that I noticed about this site is the sponsors are very good with customer service because this site gets a lot of traffic and they do not want to talked badly on here cause then when people see that they lose business. That is my theory. everyone that i bought from on the sponsor page or who has a dedicated forum for there brand takes care of there matters in a quick fashion. This is just my theory I have nothing against ebay I am a firm believer in tons of stuff on there. I sell tons of stuff on there but reef equipment is iffy.

[HumanIMDB]

What we've learned is that there are basically only three manufacturers of filters and filtration equipment, Pentek being the largest from what we can tell.

All of these places that offer systems just buy the parts either from the manufacturer or through a distributor, put together a configuration that works, and slap their logo on them. Some configurations are better than others, but when you get down to it, they are all using the same parts.

Yes, you are correct that it is the filters that make the difference, not the equipment. However, having good equipment will save you from leaks/problems as well as having the ability to monitor the system's performance.

As with pretty much everything else in this hobby, we're just learning, but we're willing to share what we've learned thus far in hopes that it will help someone else.

AZDesertRat is the Subject Matter Expert when it comes to Water Filtration on RC.

[jkrentz2515]

Anyone have any input on the mightymite from air water ice. I only need 10 gallons a month + topoff. It seems as if it is really easy to setup.

[AZDesertRat]

www.buckeyefieldsupply.com 75 GPD Premium . No one can touch it for price or quality and they are also a longtime RC Sponsor.

You do not need two carbons, thats a hold over from the old days when carbon cartridges were not what they are today, two are a waste if you have a single Matrix Chlorine Guzzler type carbon. You want a prefilter in the 1 micron or less range to protect the carbon block. Larger micron sizes pass solids and colloidal material on to the carbon making it work double duty as a prefilter too. You want to keep the carbon pores open or its worthless. I use a 0.2 micron absolute rated pleated prefilter myself and recommend it or a 0.5 micron absolute rated prefilter.

I use nothing but Spectrapure but some people find it hard to justify the cost. Myself, I ran the long term cost and it saves me money every day as I plan to keep it for years like a fine tool.

[SSpiro]

What's the difference between the premium and standard? Just the pressure guage?

[AZDesertRat]

No, there is actually quite a difference.
1. A 5 micron prefilter instead of a 1 micron prefilter.
2. A 5 micron, 6000 gallon capacity carbon block instead of a 0.6 micron chlorine guzzler 20,000 gallon carbon block
3. Opaque or white housings instead of clear housings.
4. No inline pressure gauge.
5. No TDS meter.
6. No RO bypass valve.
7. No flush valve.


For the few extra bucks you get a bunch more. Oh and I see prices went up $8 to $169 but its still a bargain compared to other units out there. Plus their shipping is very reasonable from what users have told me.

[SSpiro]

Wow.. Huge difference. I think that's the one I'll get.

[shannon h]

All good info here..I suggest that when you buy one..buy one that will make alot more water then what you need. Seem's when I need water I can't make it quick enough. :)

[AZDesertRat]

Buying at least a 75 GPD is wise. A word of caution though. Stay away from the 100 GPD Dow Filmtec membrane as it is not a true 96-98% efficient Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane but is really a 90% efficient Nano Filter. They are much less efficient and will cost you a bundle more in DI cartridges over time. Do not confuse the 100 GPD Dow Filmtec with the 100 GPD GE Water membrane which people like Melev use (www.melevsreef.com). The GE is comparable to the 75 GPD Dow Filmtec, they are essentially the same membrane its just Dow rates their membranes to produce 75 GPD at 50 psi and GE says 100 GPD at 65 psi. Lay the graphs over each other and you will see they both produce 75 at 50 psi, 90 at 60 psi and 100 at 65 psi.

When I say you will go through DI resin faster with the Dow 100, a simple rule of thumb says "For every 2% you increase the RO membranes efficiency you DOUBLE the life of your DI resin". So the difference between 90% and 98% is dramatic. Even the difference between 95% and 98% is significant.

In Phoenix we have very high TDS, often over 1000 to 1200 and never under 600, so we rely on hand tested and guaranteed membranes from www.spectrapure.com . My last membrane averaged 99.23 % efficient over the 18 months I had it. I recently switched to a new 100 GPD MaxCap UHE and its doing just as good and with less than 1 gallon of waste for every gallon of good water produced, it actually running at 1:2 or 67% recovery at this time. Spectrapure guarantees them to be better than 98% efficient and produce at least the rated GPD, usually more.

Some vendors are selling units with a 150 GPD RO membrane that is hit or miss. If you get a good one they are great but the quality control has been lacking so some vendors like Spectrapure no longer sell them.