Buying RO / DI - I know nothing

[fkshiu]

Originally Posted by Myka

You do know that RO/DI water isn't suitable for drinking, right? You have to unhook the DI part to just get RO for drinking, and buy the drinking water add-on. You can buy a pressure tank so you get RO water on demand, then just hook up the DI part when you want to make water for your reef. Or you can just use the 20 litre jugs (which are actually 5g, not 6).

All you need is a t-connector to divert the RO water through a "taste" cartridge for drinking water - dead simple. I've installed my RO/DI under the kitchen sink upstairs connected to a tap. I run another line downstairs to laundry room within reach of the aquarium.

As mentioned, you can drink RO/DI to your heart's content. It just tastes bad which is the reason why household units have that taste cartridge which is usually filled with coconut husks. The DI water is instantly re-mineralized when it hits your saliva in any event. It's not some kind of vampire water that'll suck you dry. That misconception comes from the fact that you should NOT keep DI water in a metal container. It will react with the metal and cause rust in the container and contamination of the water.

[Snaz]

Thanks for the help guys. Looking further into that Costco link Macky provided I came across this interesting fact.

"While standard reverse osmosis systems waste 15 or more litres (4 gallons) per every 4 litres (1 gallon) produced. The new patented "Zero Waste" reverse osmosis system wastes no water. "
http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product....835&lang=en-CA

Is this correct, how do standard RO units waste water? Surrey residents are metered for water use so wasting four gallons to produce one seems costly and not very "green".

[hillegom]

I see that link to costco has a pic of the unit. This is a new system and I have not seen one yet. I guess it doesn't waste water as it uses the pump, electrically operated, to push all the water through the RO membrane. But this would coat the membrane with all the "bad" molecules you would normally pass out to the drain. So I would check to see how long of a life the membrane is rated for.
Normaly, Ro units make one gallon of good water and 4 gal down the drain. This will flush all the bad things down the drain, and this will lengthen the life of the RO membrane .
You could always plumb the drain water outside and water the lawn. Good only in the summer though!

[macky]

The Watts RO zero waste system sends the waste water into the hot water line to be used for washing clothes, showering, etc. The bad part is that it only makes RO water when it is able the send the waste water into the hot water line(hot water has to be on and running). Therefore, the amount of RO water produced depends on how much hot water you use.
I chose to buy the one that wastes because I didn't think that the amount of RO water produced by the zero waste model would be enough for all my drinking water and tank water.

[Myka]

If you guys really believe RO or even RO/DI water is ok to drink, go check out what the World Health Organisation says about it.

[subman]

After reading as much as I could take and then trying to navigate the WHO website. I can't see any where that says Ro water bad! RO/Di on the other hand seems to be a great debate and after further understanding why it's bad for us, it make me not want to use it at all for my tanks or anything for that matter.

[hillegom]

RODI is good for tanks. You start out with just pure water, and then add salt. So the water then is perfect, no phosphates, or heavy metals