RO system to control water parameters worth it?

[bradquade]

I was going to attach a y splitter to the cold water washing machine tap and hook it up that way

This is exactly how I have my setup connected and it has worked well for the last 3.5 years. My splitter has an on/off valve for each split as well.

I don't know why, but I was a little worried at first about making RO while running a cold cycle in the washer. It doesn't seem like an issue for the RO filter or washing machine though.

 

[Aquajack]

Well I have a system on its way. Thanks all for the valuable input.
Also picked up a 160L drum (I think that's around 42G) from market place.
Just need the pump, float valve, hose and miscellaneous fittings and we'll be good to go. Possibly a heater.

This property was out the middle of nowhere. After driving down a long pot holed driveway, I ran into the Aussie stereotype lol, 3 or 4 large kangaroos hopping about in his front yard.....and no that is NOT the usual thing.

 

[JayP]

Well I have a system on its way. Thanks all for the valuable input.
Also picked up a 160L drum (I think that's around 42G) from market place.
Just need the pump, float valve, hose and miscellaneous fittings and we'll be good to go. Possibly a heater.

This property was out the middle of nowhere. After driving down a long pot holed driveway, I ran into the Aussie stereotype lol, 3 or 4 large kangaroos hopping about in his front yard.....and no that is NOT the usual thing.

I use a standard aquarium 300w heater in my drum, connected to an inkbird temp controller of course.

 

[gnatster]

I ran into the Aussie stereotype

So did the Mustang traveling at 250 KPH at Bathurst this past weekend.

 

[Aquajack]

I use a standard aquarium 300w heater in my drum, connected to an inkbird temp controller of course.

I've not long ago setup an inkbird in the tank the RO will be used for. They are a neat little bit of tech

 

[Minninips]

• Because I prefer large water changes, I needed a way to get the incoming water "lower" in the tank, because I was constantly digging up my substrate and uprooting plants (the tank is 60cm tall). Turns out, you can just rearrange the parts in an FZone Lily Pipe set to make the perfect low-disturbance water adding pipe!

I somehow missed Rocco's post! The answers with diagrams is so helpful, thank you!

Does your water change lilly pipe live in your tank or do you only set it in during refill? This actually made me think about the pipes included with the Oase Biomaster. I'll have to look to see if I can put something together that accomplishes the same thing you're mentioning. The uprooting and general disturbance is an annoyance, so this would be a great addition to the water change process!

 

[Akshay]

Hi all,

First of all thanks so much for the amazing threads and input from all the super knowledgeable and experienced scapers on here.

My question and apologies if this has been specifically discussed previously, but I'm wondering if an RO system would be a worthwhile investment for a high tech planted tank.

My town water which I currently use is not on the grid with the main city water supply that I used to access. Our town water is sourced from a creek, not a huge reservoir, and can vary from time to time, more than I would like. For example, the PH can be anywhere from 7-8, KH when measured some months ago was 4dKH, is now 6. GH 7dGH.
I know they are still within reasonable bounds though.

I could look at ways to just lower KH using HCL for an example but that doesn't fix the stability of the water supply for the other elements.

I'm also not able to obtain a water report.

I've just put in a plant order for my new scape (which I think I'll start a journal on soon) that includes plants like Syngonanthus macrocaulon which prefers lower KH.

Ro a good investment or am I over thinking it?

Yes its a v good investment , i live in a place where the tap has crazy amounts of No3 (80ish ppm) hence was forced to do full RO even for tanks like 230 gallons
The overall plant health, vigor, color makes the effort 100% worth it

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Does your water change lilly pipe live in your tank or do you only set it in during refill?

Only during refill! it sits behind the stand normally.

 

[Noahspapa]

Hello Minninips,

I use a 55 gallon plastic drum to store my RO water. I use the 600 GPD Waterdrop RO unit to generate my RO water. Using this was a game changer because it fills quickly enough that I can keep the barrel dry and then just fill it when I need water. I takes less than 2 hours to fill.

So, it all starts with the waterdrop RO system. I run that through the standard 1/4” tubing to a tee. One output of the tee goes to the waterdrop faucet on my laundry tub. The other end goes through:
1) a manual shut off valve that is mounted in a position that is easy to get to
2) another shutoff valve controlled by an IR sensor mounted inside/on the side of the barrel used as a secondary shut valve to prevent overflow

And finally to a classic fill/float valve that is mounted on the barrel.

When I want water I open the manual valve and turn on power to the waterdrop system. In an hour or two I have a full barrel.

Inside the barrel I keep two submersible heaters to bring the water up to temp and two power heads to circulate the water in the barrel. I keep all powered items on Kasa smart strips.

Then I have a submersible hygger DC pump on the bottom of the barrel connected to a 50’ garden hose I keep coiled next to the barrel. My RO barrel and tanks are all in the basement so no significant lift requirements.

This setup meets my needs - photos attached.

One thing I am thinking of changing is removing the float valve and just running the tubing into the tank directly and just adding a second IR sensor for secondary overflow prevention. I’m finding the float valve to be a bit noisy and it “bounces” so to speak and can trigger an error on the waterdrop system.

I’ll have to add some additional photos when I get back home.

 

[Rob23]

For those of us living in small spaces and unable to tap into the water supply, a 4-stage 50 GPD RODI that fits in a bucket.

View attachment 14344

I like the simplicity of your setup gnatster. What is the part that you are using to attach to the faucet?

Edit: Found the faucet adapter here.

 

[gnatster]

What is the part that you are using to attach to the faucet?

Edit: Found the faucet adapter here.

That would be it. Keep an extra washer on hand; that way, the original one will last for years.

If you are using a portable unit like this, you'll want to install ball valves on the hoses to keep the membrane wet during storage.

 

[snowballs99]

I think there is 1 thing people might forget about when using RO!

My tap water for some reason adds a PH buffer to the tank, so ph is 8.2 out the tap, with a kh of 1.
Plants honestly didn't care though. (I don't keep any extremely picky stems)

The water clarity is really unmatched. You get that true glass box aquascaping look when using RO. But in terms of plants, I don't think there's really a difference unless your doing lean dosing and want to control all the variables.

 

[JacksonL]

When I added a booster pump it doubled the efficiency of my system, and thus also halved waste water.

I also run a small fan to cool the booster pump. This way I can ignore the restrictions that they all seem to quote of only running the booster pump for 2 hours at a time. Without the fan, the pump heats up noticeably but with the fan blowing on it, it does not heat up at all. I can run it all day and all night, no heating up, no problem. I have been doing this once a week for around a year now, so I am convinced it is a reasonable strategy

Do you know what your water pressure is without the booster pump?
Trying to work out if it’s worth adding one to my system, but local water pressure is already reasonably high.

 

[hamfist]

Do you know what your water pressure is without the booster pump?
Trying to work out if it’s worth adding one to my system, but local water pressure is already reasonably high.

Sorry I didn't actually measure it. I just know that it doesn't exactly rush out of the taps.

 

[Aquajack]

I'm about to set mine up this week which includes an inline gauge for the pressure so will be interesting to see if it is reasonable or not.

Incidentally it also has an inline tds meter but I wont hook it up to the source water as that is a bit of a redundant strategy as I already know what that is. I think I'll install it between the RO membrane and DI resin Stage

 

[JacksonL]

I'm about to set mine up this week which includes an inline gauge for the pressure so will be interesting to see if it is reasonable or not.

Incidentally it also has an inline tds meter but I wont hook it up to the source water as that is a bit of a redundant strategy as I already know what that is. I think I'll install it between the RO membrane and DI resin Stage

That is quite clever, it will let you know when the DI resin needs changing.

 

[Aquajack]

That is quite clever, it will let you know when the DI resin needs changing.

Yep and also for the membrane, as it should be giving consistent readings, so when it starts to rise is when I'll need to consider replacement for that one too.

 

[Ed Wiser]

I have been using RO/DI water since the 1980’s I have learned I want to control of my water. I want to know what is actually in my water. I kept Saltwater for years and even mixed my own saltwater mix made by a friend each element separately.
Using RO/DI just makes like simple and keeps you in control

 

[Aquajack]

I've been hanging out to put the Ro system into operation and was just waiting on the last somewhat insignificant part (a shut-off ball valve of all things). Anyways hooked it all up today and ran it for an hour. Worked as intended. Only thing is the pressure is only around 30 which is about half of what I was hoping for and need. So I've ordered a booster pump designed for this system. So more delays!

They say good things come to those who wait.

 

[Aquajack]

Finally received the booster pump (was on back order), so after this weekend will start kicking it into gear. First, just need to work out how all the connections hook up lol. With high pressure and low pressure switches built in, that have their own connections plus the usual inflow/outflow connections, it sounds like it will be a fun little project all on its own getting it up and running. The pressure switches are for the auto-shutoff when the water pressure reduces to a point but also they work with float valves etc at the other end.

I think once fully RO, that will be game changer no. 1.