Compare RO/DI Units

[chromakey]

Good Day:

I have been looking for a RO/DI unit for my two small saltwater aquariums and for home use.

I am considering:
Vertex Puratek,
Aquasafe Systems, and
Spectrapure.

I was wondering if anyone has good experiences with one type over another.

Thanks,

Michael

[somewherebeyondthesea]

Good Day:

I have been looking for a RO/DI unit for my two small saltwater aquariums and for home use.

I am considering:
Vertex Puratek,
Aquasafe Systems, and
Spectrapure.

I was wondering if anyone has good experiences with one type over another.

Thanks,

Michael


I too have been wondering abouth these units! looking forward to the replys!

[The Guy]

I too have been wondering abouth these units! looking forward to the replys!
I have the Aquasafe system, I use a 55 gallon storage tank for the RO tank water and also have a drinking water tap.
http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee386/clownlover1/001-4.jpg

[albert_dao]

The Vertex unit makes all of those other ones look like they were engineered by grade school students.

Seriously, best value out of an aquarium-related product on the market, BAR NONE.

[Liquid30]

+1
I'm very happy with my Vertex. Worth every penny.

[Interior_Reef]

I agree with Albert. Vertex All the way.

[mike31154]

Most RODI units marketed for our use consist of pretty much generic components as far as the hardware goes. After that it comes down to extra features such as booster pumps, TDS meters & pressure gauges included or not and the quality of the filters supplied with the system. Clear acrylic housings are nice for the pre filter stages to provide a visual cue of when the sediment stage might need service. Vertically mounted DI stage is considered more efficient than a horizontal mount.

50 & 75 gpd membranes are preferable since they are more efficient at bringing TDS down than a 100 gpd membrane. This is good if you don't like replacing costly DI media too often, since the TDS out of your RO stage will be lower.... at the cost of longer time to produce water. If you're patient & plan ahead, I'd say that's more cost effective than producing water a fraction faster.

So bottom line to me is, brand name doesn't mean that much. Knowing what your tap water consists of by getting a water report & what the TDS is using a handheld TDS meter before you buy will better enable you to choose the best system for your needs without getting into a brand contest.

From what I gather, you lucky folks on the west coast have very low TDS tap water to start with, so you may not need the most costly, elaborate set up to produce pure water for your tank.

[reefwars]

The Vertex unit makes all of those other ones look like they were engineered by grade school students.

Seriously, best value out of an aquarium-related product on the market, BAR NONE.

got my vote:)

[Coleus]

the vertex come with booster pump, nice tds meter, auto flush in one package so it got my vote as well.

[fireguy98]

I have been running a Vertex for over a Year now. I love it! Very solid piece of equipment. Tds meter booster pump and auto flush all in one. I highly recommend this system.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2

[Treebeard]

Really? I just bought and installed a Spectrapure MaxCap 90 from Reef Supplies. I had in installed in less than 30 minutes and was cranking out 0 ppm TDS water in bucket-fulls in no time. I can assure you it does not look like it was engineered by grade school students. Seriously.

The Vertex unit makes all of those other ones look like they were engineered by grade school students.

Seriously, best value out of an aquarium-related product on the market, BAR NONE.

[mike31154]

It's fine to offer a system with a booster pump.... but if your house water pressure is better than 60-70 psi, you don't really need one. In my area the water pressure delivered to the house is between 110-120 psi and the plumbing code calls for a PRV in the house to regulate/reduce that to the standard 60 or so psi for home plumbing. By tweaking the PRV I have 100 psi going into my no name RODI system. Why would I want the added complexity & expense of a booster pump?

As I mentioned in my previous post, a little pre planning & research into what comes into your house can save you from spending extra money you don't need to. I suppose I should add that my no name system was purchased from an outfit in Ontario that's no longer in business. Despite that, it's still a great set up for my needs with standard 10 inch, clear pre filter housings, a DOW filmtec 75gpd membrane that's still going strong after almost 4 years & thousands of gallons produced with a tapwater TDS of approx 210-220. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put together (or design if you wish) a RODI system using generic components that have already been designed & have been on the market for many moons. It really boils down to the quality of a single component, the membrane itself & possibly the carbon block.

I'm not really a fan of the auto flush feature either. I flush manually before & after each production run & that's served me very well over the years. Auto flushing too often uses up your carbon while wasting water down the drain. I've also found that at each flush, there is a TDS spike which takes a few minutes to get back down. All the while, your DI will be working harder to give you that 0 TDS you want for your aquarium.

[albert_dao]

Really? I just bought and installed a Spectrapure MaxCap 90 from Reef Supplies. I had in installed in less than 30 minutes and was cranking out 0 ppm TDS water in bucket-fulls in no time. I can assure you it does not look like it was engineered by grade school students. Seriously.

Yes, seriously.

What makes you think the Vertex isn't 100% better than the Spectrapure for the same money?

Compare:

http://www.reefsupplies.ca/online-store/MaxCap-90GPD-RODI-w-dual-tds-ASO-and-membrane-flush-by-Spectrapure.html

• Four stage RODI
• Two Dual-Probe Inline TDS meters
• Manual flush valve for longer membrane life
• Auto shut-off with float valve

Okay, so consider that the Vertex has that plus the following:

• 1:1 water ratio
• Automatic backflush control and membrane monitoring
• Solenoid controlled back-pressure sensor
• 100% unit shutdown when unpowered
• Local Canadian support

http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/product-info.php?product_ID=vt-ro100di

For the $20 difference, I'd say that is a much better value and a much better product.

[albert_dao]

It's fine to offer a system with a booster pump.... but if your house water pressure is better than 60-70 psi, you don't really need one. In my area the water pressure delivered to the house is between 110-120 psi and the plumbing code calls for a PRV in the house to regulate/reduce that to the standard 60 or so psi for home plumbing. By tweaking the PRV I have 100 psi going into my no name RODI system. Why would I want the added complexity & expense of a booster pump?



The booster pump is to achieve the 1:1 ratio, not to boost PSI...

[Treebeard]

Albert, I am not disputing the fact that the Vertex is also good. I am making the point that the Spectrapure is also a good unit and your statement that it is poorly engineered.

[albert_dao]

Oh, okay. Umm, let's replace the phrase "poorly engineered" with "behind the curve".

<___<

>___>

[intarsiabox]

The booster pump is to achieve the 1:1 ratio, not to boost PSI...
The Vertex website seem to indicate that the pumps is used to boost low source water pressure. Here is the quote directly from Vertex's website.

"Each Deluxe Puratek RO/DI system is furnished with a Vertex™ HP-100 Booster Pump, enabling the setup to operate at the lowest source water pressures."

Maybe I'm interpreting it wrong?

Out of curiosity, do you still work for Proline (Vertex's distributor)? If so maybe you know the answer to this. I understand that some units use some of the DI water it creates to backflow the membrane and some (probably most) just use pure tap water through the membrane. What method does the Vertex unit use for flushing?

[albert_dao]

The Vertex website seem to indicate that the pumps is used to boost low source water pressure. Here is the quote directly from Vertex's website.

"Each Deluxe Puratek RO/DI system is furnished with a Vertex™ HP-100 Booster Pump, enabling the setup to operate at the lowest source water pressures."

Maybe I'm interpreting it wrong?

Out of curiosity, do you still work for Proline (Vertex's distributor)? If so maybe you know the answer to this. I understand that some units use some of the DI water it creates to backflow the membrane and some (probably most) just use pure tap water through the membrane. What method does the Vertex unit use for flushing?

I don't work for them anymore (over six months).

Ignore what the site says. It enables increases in PSI, but is mainly there to improve the water/waste water ratio.

I'm not sure what function is used for the backflush, unfortunately.

[gregzz4]

On the Vertex RODI, it looks like the flush valve bypasses the flow restrictor to flush the membrane, so I'd say it's still using waste water for the flush
The flush is just higher volume past the membrane, so it's not a 'back flush' per se

[intarsiabox]

Thank-you both for the replies!

[chromakey]

Thanks for the information.

I am planning to use for drinking/cooking as well.

Has anyone added a small reservoir tank like the Aquasafe models?

For drinking does everyone use a final polishing carbon filter?
The company mentioned this adds 50/75 ppms of carbon. He didn't recommend using this for the aquarium water.

How do most people tie into the water supply line?

Thanks,

Michael

[mike31154]

I simply installed a JG Y connector & 2 shut off valves downstream of the RO membrane. Close the valve on the line to the DI stage, open the other valve & fill a standard 5 gal water bottle with the line from the RO membrane. Use it for cooking, drinking, making beer/wine etc. I pretty much always wait until I've filled the 5 gal container with RO water before producing DI water. This ensures the TDS out of the membrane has plenty of time to get as low as possible & stabilize. During the summer I generally get 1 TDS out of the membrane, but during the winter with colder water I often get a 0 TDS reading out of the RO. I figure this routine has probably lengthened the life of my DI media.

As far as tying into the water supply, I added a copper tee & ball valve into the cold water line to my washing machine. Reduced & adapted to the RODI size tubing using some JG type parts from Can Tire. Here's a photo;

https://tsl4pa.blu.livefilestore.com/y1poEMjPOdiMAeAFMxUkdtZ4_RWyZdDonVuf_zwpgp3x05ptC8 JkoeeRHQGYainwa_n8QebwdbkZBM/RODIConnection.JPG?psid=1

[Xadieu]

I've been using aquafx unit with no problems at all, it makes more water than I need. I just don't really see the point in spending more money than you need to just to have that brand name when both products achieve the same exact end product, in this case 0 TDS water. If you're buying leds I can see a big discussion on this.