Reverse Osmosis - what are you using?

[Icemud]

Hey everyone, even though I am a soil grower, this question I figured was most fitting in the Hydro area and I would love to have some input before purchasing a reverse osmosis system....

Using City water with measured ph of 8.3 and ppm of between 330 and 400.

Goals...
Would like to reduce ppm as low as possible, regulate ph to neutral, and remove chlorine, chloromines...

Would like to make about 10gallons a week for plants and another 5 for drinking...

Also looking for somthing that would be portable with a kitchen sink type mount....


1. What systems are you guys using?

2. For someone who is unfamiliar with RO systems...what should I look for when purchasing, and what should I leave out...

3. Would your recomend a DI?

 

[animal1x]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

Happy New Year Ice. We have well water with a very high sodium content. Water softener doesn't do anything about salts so it doesn't even touch it. Didn't really know what to do. Finally got around to calling Culligan(they put our softener in years ago). They wanted something like $900 bucks for a little bitty 3 gallon tank of a thing that took three hours to fill, you couldn't really use it until the little tank got full and pressurized so I said no thanks. It did fit under the kitchen sink out of sight and had it's own little faucet set of a thing too, but it wasn't what I was looking for. I pretty badly wanted to start an indoor garden and with TDS like we had, it was either some kind of RO unit or buy my water. Called Home Depot, Lowes, couple local places, finally bit the bullet and went the hydro shop and found this unit:

Hydro-logic Stealth RO 100 | Sunlight Supply, Inc. - Indoor Gardening Supplies, Grow Lights, Hydroponics, and Lighting

As far as mounting it, if you can read, see colors well enough to tell blue from black, and are able to put two screws in a piece of wood, you can mount this. Now, it is just a tad bulky, you ain't gonna mount it under sink all hid nice and neat. I have it mounted on the wall next to my washer in the laundry room in the basement. It is supposed to be able to handle up to 100 gals a day. I will never use that much RO water, but it handles every water need I have and we use it for a lot of stuff in the house now too.

They are not very fast but they are steady at it. It takes me about 4 hours to fill up a 6 gallon water can. I only go through about 12 gals twice a week, so we are not over using it, but the guy at the hydro store said it was better for the unit if you used it more often and kept water moving through the unit and the filters instead of letting it sit still and stagnant for more than a day or two.

If the 100 gal a day unit isn't enough they have an almost identicle unit that handles 200 gals a day.

Animal

 

[TorturedSoul]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

Nice. How much wastewater is discharged in making a given quantity of RO?

 

[Icemud]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

Thanks animal for your reply... the stealth grow 100 I was looking at and seems that I can pick it up for around 190$ online...but I also have found a few other options and really dont know what would be best...

I have found some aquarium ones ranging from 60$ and up some 4 and 5 stages with DI, and really I don't know whats best....

I definitely want to make sure it filters out choromines and chlorine and brings my ph near neutral and tds below 50.... I also would like one that doesn't waste tons of water... and needs to hook up to a kichen style sink....

 

[animal1x]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

Nice. How much wastewater is discharged in making a given quantity of RO?

I'm not sure, TS. I would say at least 3 or 4 gallons of waste for every gallon of clean water. So you're gonna' either pay for it at the store in jugs or you pay for it with the electric and wear and tear on your pump. If you live in the city and pay for your water, that water bill can end up being pretty steep. Now, this unit does come with a valve and installation instructions that cuts your waste water in about half, but again, you will pay for it in filter changes. We have only had ours since Sept of this year and so far it seems to be doing the job. We have only replace one filter so far and I don't think we really needed to change it. There is a schedule for each filter, each one gets changed at a different interval. Filters range from about $15 bucks to about $85 bucks or so.

Thanks animal for your reply... the stealth grow 100 I was looking at and seems that I can pick it up for around 190$ online...but I also have found a few other options and really dont know what would be best...

I have found some aquarium ones ranging from 60$ and up some 4 and 5 stages with DI, and really I don't know whats best....

I definitely want to make sure it filters out choromines and chlorine and brings my ph near neutral and tds below 50.... I also would like one that doesn't waste tons of water... and needs to hook up to a kichen style sink....

I really didn't know what it was I wanted either until I looked at the Stealth 100 unit. I do know that the Stealth 100 and 200 (and probably others) have a filter that is supposed to filter out iron and sulpher in well water and chloramines in city water. All I can tell ya is to keep doing what you are doing. Ask, go look, research, figure out where and how much room ya got, and try one on.

Good luck.

Animal

 

[Icemud]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

Anyone using a DI filter or De-ionizing filter?

For those that are running organic, what filters are you using?

 

[OrganicTreees]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

also looking for some more information on this. I'm running an organic garden now and am getting ready to start using my own soil mixes and RO water is a must , so I'm looking to see what everyone else is using for RO systems.

 

[Icemud]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

I'm looking into this website called "bulkreefsupply" where you can build your own customized R/O filter, and the prices so far are the best I have found... I've been looking into the cholamine removal and it seems that you need Activated Carbon to remove choromines, as well as dual layers is more effective... I also read that a D/I or de-ionizing filter helps bring your ppm down to 0ppm but I also want to use my R/O unit for drinking water...

I have read that it is not good to drink D/I water for a couple reasons...first, since there is no chlorines or disinfectants in the water after the Reverse Osmosis membrane...bacterias can build up in the D/I unit because there is nothing to kill them off at this point, unles UV sterilazation is added after it...

The other reason they say not to drink D/I water is it can cause a rapid death of cells in your body, and possibly even kill you.. The reason is this water is so pure, that it is a powerful solvent and will dissolve anything it pretty much touches, including plastics, metals and of course vital minerals and nutrients from your body... I have read especailly in cases where someone is dehydraded, such as after a workout, drinking D/I water can be extremely harmful... Now I also have read conflicting information about this but seems to make sense to me...

I think I am going to have a R/O system built with a valve, so I can have D/I water for plants, and non- D/I water for drinking/cooking applications...

I priced it out on there site and for a custom made, kick ass quality 4 stage R/O with D/I its going to run around 180$...with inline dual TDS, flush kit and all the bells and whistles...

I also have been considering some more portable units, but seems to me, that the larger units would last longer, probably be easier to find filters for, and give me slightly less waste water....

Seems that R/O units, depending on your ppm and water pressure, can waste a lot of water... I am hoping that everything works ok...I plan on ordering this week...

 

[jammie]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

if you have access to a gutter or downspout, you could filter rainwater. ph 6.0, ppm usually less than 10 after filtering through 15 layers of cheesecloth.

 

[Icemud]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

if you have access to a gutter or downspout, you could filter rainwater. ph 6.0, ppm usually less than 10 after filtering through 15 layers of cheesecloth.

It rains about 5x a year here in Southern Cali.... not valid for me..

 

[Icemud]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

Alright everyone...after much debate and tons of searching around forums, websites and articles, I have decided on a Reverse Osmosis System and just placed my order...

My concerns were...

Price...had to be under 200$..

Availability of drinking/RO water and selection of DI water for plants

GAC or chorine block carbon, for filtration of chlorine and chloromines(not always removed in r/o itself)

DI resin filter to remove any additional salts in the water, and De-Ionize it to control ph..


So, I found my system on Bulkreefsupply dot com. They have pre-made options or a section where you could build your own. I decided to build my own so I could select my own filters and setup, avoiding all the bells and whistles that were un-needed.

I went with this setup..in this order...

kitchen sink diverter valve
1 micron particle filter
.7 micron carbon block filter
chloroplus GAC filter
75GPD 98% rejection rate R/O membrane

(inbetween r/o membrane and DI i have a 3 way valve to select between DI water for plants, and R/O water for drinking...I've read its not good to drink D/I water.)

D/I resin filter

This total system out the door was around 186$ and is way better than anything I have seen advertised in the hydro market for a smaller home system without a tank...

I will snap some photo's for everyone after the shipment arrive's...I don't expect it for about a week...

I also will take before and after ppm and PH readings to show what the system removed...

I'm excited...No more 2x a week trips to the grocery store for water...stacks of plastic bottles around my apartment, and less trips to the recycling place. :

 

[HiTimes4Me]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

Nice purchase bro I was thinking of getting a r/o system too I'll have to check out the place you got yours

 

[Icemud]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

Nice purchase bro I was thinking of getting a r/o system too I'll have to check out the place you got yours

It had the best prices overall, with company backing...there were plenty of el-cheepo ones on ebay and amazon but I couldnt really trust where they came from, and there was no support either, so I chose this place. I looked at all kinds, from ones advertised for saltwater to hydroponics to regualar home use and this option was pretty cool where you could pick what you wanted, and they build it for you.

Make sure if you are doing organic or don't want chloromines, you need a GAC filter or dual carbon filters to help remove chloromines, because R/O doesn't completely from what I read...

 

[HiTimes4Me]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

Thanks for the advice but I have well water I was more concerned about iron mainly but in your opinion if my ph is already neutral and I just want to filter the iron would I need the whole r/o system or could I just add another filter to my house's plumbing?

 

[Icemud]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

I honestly don't know about well water. I think R/O systems have certain restrictions on too high of PPM water going in, there efficiency I believe drops...but when I did my research I was looking mainly into filtering city water.

You may want to look into a dual D/I filter... Deionization filters use some type of resin that attracts ions to it, pretty much stripping your water of any salts/minerals and other things that may be in your water....

You might want to give a call to one of the customer service people a call at one of the r/o supply places and see what they recommend. From what I found, you also might want to look in saltwater tank forum's because it seems that water quality is vital to there hobby, and so I found a lot of great info regarding R/O systems there...

Sorry I couldn't help more..

 

[HiTimes4Me]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

Its all good brother

 

[animal1x]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

Nice unit, Ice, real nice unit. I think I like the one you ordered better than the I went and got!! I know mama would have really appreciated the sink diverter and pressurized tank.

Animal

 

[SSNUGS]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

There is another product out there called a Tall Boy filtration system. I use it and it cost 154.00 it is a duel carbon and sediment filter system that removes all chlorine and chloromine and well as other heavy metals and sediments. The tap water at my place comes out at 350ppm and a ph of 7.5 the filter will get the ppm down to 75 to 100 ppm and the ph i have to manage myself with a ph down product. The filters are replaceable and they don't need to be change until 50k gallons have passed through them. The replacement filters run about 35 to 45 bucks depending on your retailer. There is no water waste with this system.

 

[PrairiePoet]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

There is another product out there called a Tall Boy filtration system. I use it and it cost 154.00 it is a duel carbon and sediment filter system that removes all chlorine and chloromine and well as other heavy metals and sediments. The tap water at my place comes out at 350ppm and a ph of 7.5 the filter will get the ppm down to 75 to 100 ppm and the ph i have to manage myself with a ph down product. The filters are replaceable and they don't need to be change until 50k gallons have passed through them. The replacement filters run about 35 to 45 bucks depending on your retailer. There is no water waste with this system.

Everywhere I see them listed (Tall Boy Filtration) the filters are rated for 7,500 gallons. A bit less than 50,000 gallons.

 

[Icemud]

Re: Reverse Osmosis..what are you using?

Well the Tracking shows that it should be arriving today!!!! I will post the details, photo's and test results for everyone after it arrives and I install it today...

Can't wait..!! No more trips to the store 2-3x per week for water!!!

I looked at that tall boy system, its good for removing chlorine and some sediment, but doesnt' quite remove it all... For almost the same price I got a better sediment and carbon filter for chlorine/chloramine removal, plus R/O which will brink my ppm down to around 10ppm, and then a D/I which should bring my water down to 0ppm... with no chloromines