jamal October 8, 2007 Share October 8, 2007 my source water has a tds over 200 in case any of you were thinking of drinking dc tap. i had problems with the ro water coming out slow and relatively dirty still. it turns out that i had a crappy ro membrane. also rather than paying 90 bux for a new one i went to brk and got one for 55. thanx john and john. also if anyone stores ro water i cant remember where i recently heard this but it is true. get food safe containers. my tds in my storage can is 50+. the chemicals and air leak through the container and contaminate the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami October 8, 2007 Share October 8, 2007 I recently had the same problem when setting up for the first time. I'd hauled many 5-gal buckets of RO water home from work only to find that my TDS was up around 250 ppm. Snooping around, I found that the techs had installed sediment filters only ahead of the RO membrane, resulting in chlorine damage to the membrane. I bought my own RO/DI system from Air, Water and Ice and now I have 0 ppm TDS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller October 8, 2007 Share October 8, 2007 I'm using a light blue food safe trash can from Hechingers. The real key and the untold story is using food grade RO tubing. My source water is over 250 and finishes at 001-002. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal October 8, 2007 Share October 8, 2007 Keep in mind, TDS itself is not necessarily a bad thing. The issue is that us hobby chemists can only determine that something is dissolved in the water (TDS=Total Dissolved Solids), not what is dissolved in the water so we take the safe approach and use filtration to remove it. It could be harmful stuff like copper or beneficial stuff like calcium. The fact that TDS rises after the RO/DI water sits in a rubbermaid trash can or other container is not necessarily something to worry about and since many, many successful reef keepers are using rubbermaid trash cans for long-term storage of RO/DI and marine mix, I'm not going to worry about the TDS rising in the storage container. Then again, I also won't buy some off-brand knock off plastic container from the dollar store and use that for water storage either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamal October 8, 2007 Author Share October 8, 2007 both storage trash cans are rubbermaid brand trash cans and they certainly werent a dollar but i dont mind paying more for better quality that will last Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discretekarma October 8, 2007 Share October 8, 2007 I just installed an RO/DI and it reads that my source water is 001 and my filtered water is 000. This is in Potomac, MD near Falls Rd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal October 8, 2007 Share October 8, 2007 Are you sure about that? The two-stage TDS meters are usually installed after the RO membrane and after the DI resin. The readings you are seeing would be expected if it is installed that way. I can't image having 001 TDS on the input side of the entire unit though unless your entire house is already on an RO unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discretekarma October 8, 2007 Share October 8, 2007 Mine is installed after the RO membrane and before the DI and then again after the DI. I just bought it from Bemmer over the weekend and hooked it up today. That is what it says unless it is broken some how. Are you sure about that? The two-stage TDS meters are usually installed after the RO membrane and after the DI resin. The readings you are seeing would be expected if it is installed that way. I can't image having 001 TDS on the input side of the entire unit though unless your entire house is already on an RO unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal October 8, 2007 Share October 8, 2007 No, that is the correct way. You are measuring the TDS of your RO (001) and RO/DI (000) output, not the TDS of your source water. The TDS of your source water is certainly much higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller October 8, 2007 Share October 8, 2007 Lots of people put the dual monitors after the pre filters and then after the RO membrane. This gives them an idear when to replace the pre filters and then the RO membrane. Many people complain that measuring after the DI gives them a TDS higher than before it went through the DI. I plain to tell when DI resin is exhausted by the color change (if they are color changing resin) We used to just use a carbon filter and then DI resin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal October 9, 2007 Share October 9, 2007 Prefilters do not reduce TDS. If anything, they might actually increase TDS so having the TDS meter installed between the prefilters and RO membrane will not provide an indication of when the prefilters need to be replaced. If anyone is receiving a higher TDS after the DI resin than they are seeing after the RO membrane, something is seriously wrong! I also use the color changing DI resin but I've found that the resin is still useful for quite some time after it has changed color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country October 9, 2007 Share October 9, 2007 Checked my TDS in my brute storage trash can and found it to be 32, checked the meter and it was fine. Finally shined a flashlight in the barrel and found that my cats had decided to drink out of it and had gotten cat litter into the RO water. I keep the trash can covered now and make sure the cats water dispenser stays full. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrubberbandman October 9, 2007 Share October 9, 2007 I'm using a light blue food safe trash can from Hechingers. Talk about a old trashcan...some people on here prolly dont even know what hechingers was!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamal October 9, 2007 Author Share October 9, 2007 used to be a decent quality store but now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller October 9, 2007 Share October 9, 2007 There is no more now, hasn't been for about 8 years. I believe people get confussed by monitoring the water after a "taste filter" which will bring up tds from the carbon. They use the meter to determine if the Di is exhausted is all I could figure. I only test the final exit water and have never gotten lower than 001 before it even hits the trash can. I collect it to test in a food grade glass cup suitable to drink out of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal October 9, 2007 Share October 9, 2007 I worked part-time at Hechinger in Alexandria way back in '91. BTW, the name was bought out recently and Hechinger is now an online retailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrubberbandman October 9, 2007 Share October 9, 2007 I worked part-time at Hechinger in Alexandria way back in '91. BTW, the name was bought out recently and Hechinger is now an online retailer. that i did not know.......interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal October 9, 2007 Share October 9, 2007 that i did not know.......interesting! Yeah, but we didn't know each other then so that's understandable... Oh, you mean you didn't know that Hechinger is now an online store? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller October 9, 2007 Share October 9, 2007 OMG Hechinger.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak October 9, 2007 Share October 9, 2007 OMG Hechinger.com the logo even looks the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal October 9, 2007 Share October 9, 2007 Yep, it's the same company revived with new owners and converted to online sales only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancer99 October 9, 2007 Share October 9, 2007 Prefilters do not reduce TDS. But presumably they increase the life of the RO membrane? -R I'm convinced that the reason Hechinger's went down the tubes was that their customer service was absolutley HORRIBLE....even when it wasn't busy, it was almost impossible to get any help or get a simple question answered. Lowe's and Home Depot seem to have at least partially learned that lesson. -R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal October 9, 2007 Share October 9, 2007 But presumably they increase the life of the RO membrane? -R I'm convinced that the reason Hechinger's went down the tubes was that their customer service was absolutley HORRIBLE....even when it wasn't busy, it was almost impossible to get any help or get a simple question answered. Lowe's and Home Depot seem to have at least partially learned that lesson. -R Yes. They prefilters remove sediment that will clog the membrane and chemicals that might damage or reduce the life of the RO membrane. Hechingers went down the tubes because they could not keep up with the buying power of the bigger guys. Service declined as the end drew near due to cost-cutting and poor management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancer99 October 9, 2007 Share October 9, 2007 Thx YBe, I guess I only experienced Hechinger's in their decline. Our water supplier here in Fairfax County has generously mentioned in their newsletter that the chloramine they add might be detrimental to aquariums. And I read recently on wetwebmedia that you need at least two carbon filters to strip chloramine....mine is an old Sandpoint unit, all the guts replaced, but with just one carbon filter. The tap water coming in is 230-260 (Hanna meter) and coming out is 3-5....do I need to worry about chloramine? Thx, -Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal October 9, 2007 Share October 9, 2007 I'd say yes, you do need to worry about chloramine. The good news is that you can buy and install an add-on chamber and add another carbon cartridge pretty cheap and easy. Get this: http://airwaterice.com/product/WE-H6010CW/...g_with_Cap.html Add fittings to convert to 1/4" tubing and toss in a quality 1-micron carbon cartridge. When buying filter cartriges, RO membranes or resins, I'd recommend purchasing from AWI or TFG rather than taking chances with eBay offers. Manassas City just announced that they will be upgrading our water supply over the next few months and will convert the system to chloramine. Hopefully the word is getting out to all of the fishkeepers in the area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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