Reverse Osmosis

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ronrca

Guest
#21
#21

Ok! I think I know now! What I think Im going to do is setup a 35-45g barrel with auto shutoff floats (like your toilet), connect the ro filter directly to the water and get a magnetic control switch and timer. That way when I use the water from the barrel, it will fill up automaticly. Hows that sound?

I know I saw a link on the message board to a float system but you think I can find it now. Nope! I dont even think I bookmarked it.  :'(
 

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ronrca

Guest
#24
#24

A, ha! I found it!
http://www.simplydiscus.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=necessities;action=display;num=1018638924

http://clix.to/Apisto
 

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dattack

Large Fish
#25
Oct 22, 2002
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#25
Man, I just got a 4 stage oceanus system RO/DI today at www.aquaticreefsystems.com  .  If you mention that you are a reefcentral member, it's 15% off.  However, let me just say that it was more like 30% because they had to price match what I found elsewhere.

*thumbsupsmiley*
 

catfishmike

catfishmike

Superstar Fish
#26
Oct 22, 2002
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Sin City, again...
#26
wow all of you are very fourtunate.i could never afford RO water is too expensive where i live.the waste water alone would cost me 40 to 60 us dollars a month or so i estmate.i knew someone who used to have an RO for their drinking water it came with 50gal.holding tank so most the stuff you need should be found pre-fab.as for the tap water purifier says right on the box produces 80 to 125 gal.of purified water depending on your water.your water is even harder than mine and mine is like 300 grains pre million or whatever it is(17 drops of reagent before it changed) i would geuss more towards 80 than 125 but thats a geuss.after purification the water is 5.5 ph(read that somewhere so don't quote me) if anyone has tried one of these filters you should tell us all
 

catfishmike

catfishmike

Superstar Fish
#29
Oct 22, 2002
2,614
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36
Sin City, again...
#29
no alterego's here,mad mike huh why is that. i live in las vegas,nevada.that's why water is so high.it would be cheaper if california took less of our water.after X amount of gallons of  water are used you are charged a premium on water 10cents a gallon i think.i do 3to4 water changes in a month 16 gal.a week 64gal. a month.the bill wouldn't be so bad but i like long showers too.thats a good idea to divert the waste water,save every drop.
 

Backdraft Bagel

Backdraft Bagel

Large Fish
#32
Oct 22, 2002
627
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#32
Ronrca - I update my RO unit page with some pix of the connection piece and whatnot, if you're still interested in seeing how it connects to the faucet.

http://watergardens.coolnessdojo.com/pr_rofilter.php
 

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ronrca

Guest
#33
#33

Cool! Thanks for sharing! What about filling the can? How long does it usually take and do you have to manually shut it on and off?
 

Backdraft Bagel

Backdraft Bagel

Large Fish
#34
Oct 22, 2002
627
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#34
Hehe it takes forever! The water comes out like drip ... drip ... drip ... one drop at a time. I let it go overnight to fill the thing.

I do have to manually shut it off - but, I've heard of people making float-switches (look inside your toilet, same principle).
 

Backdraft Bagel

Backdraft Bagel

Large Fish
#35
Oct 22, 2002
627
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#35
and a minor update, ronrca -

just recently output of RO water went to about nothing ... opened up the two mechanical filters and discovered supreme clogginess. read the manual, sure enough about every 6 months for the two mechanical filter media, 2 years for the RO membrane.

additionally i checked on the cost of the two filter media: $6 for the pre filter and $15 for the carbon unit. not too bad.

for now i rinsed the mechanical filters off a bit (minor improvement only) and tomorrow i will call the pet shop where i bought it to see if they have the parts. i hope so ... my discus need a water change soon. i might buy an extra of each, just so i always have one on hand.
 

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Dave C

Small Fish
#37
Oct 22, 2002
41
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members.shaw.ca
#37
ronrca,

If I were you I'd skip the Tap Water Purifier.  I've done the math before and it ain't worth it.  From owners of the TWP I've spoken with they get on average about 75g at the most from one cartridge, many get only 50g.  The unit can be had for $35 at PetSolutions and the cartridges are $17.  If you do daily water changes the cost will kill you.  As an example let's say you use 10g of product water per day for water changes...

TWP - Year 1 Cost - $35  + (365days * 10g/day / 75g per cartridge) * $17 / cartridge = $ 860 USD or $ 1,333 Cdn$

This doesn't factor the cost of water.  I pay 0.7¢ Cdn per gallon for water in Winnipeg, Mb, Canada.  So the total cost assuming I'm mixing product water with tap water 50%/50% would be:

$ 1,333 + (365days * 20g * 0.7¢/g/100) = $ 1,384 in year 1.  Following years will only be reduced by the $35 cost of the unit, so they will run about $ 1,330 Cdn.

Conversely I sell 100gpd RO units (and I mention that I sell them, not to offer them to you but so I'm open & honest about my potential biases) for $ 238 Cdn, replacement cartridges for a total of $ 15 Cdn and membranes for $ 70 Cdn.  The cartridges should be replaced every 3,000g or every 3 months and the membrane lasts about 2 years.  Using the previous example of 10g per day mixed 50/50 you'd get the following:

RO - Year 1 Cost - $238  + ($15 cartridge * 4 x replaced) + (365days * (10g RO product + 40g RO waste + 10g tap water) *0.7¢/g / 100) = $ 450 Cdn

For year 2 and on you can factor in the cost of 1/2 membrane that will need to be replaced and get an annual cost of about $250 / year.

The difference in cost increases as your water use increases since you're paying $ 26 Cdn per cartridge for the TWP and getting about 75g of water out of it, which yields 35¢ per gallon.  Whereas with RO, even with the waste factor set at 4g wasted per 1g produced your cost is basically the cost of water or in my case about 3.5¢ per gallon (which is 4 (waste) + 1 (product) * 0.7¢ per gallon).  

So I'd pass on the TWP if I were you.  Mind you unless you currently have a pair of Discus that are laying eggs I'd pass on the RO unit as well.

Dave

http://members.shaw.ca/dclubine/master.htm
 

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ronrca

Guest
#38
#38

Hi Dave,
Good to hear from you again. If you remember, Ive actually e-mailed yourself before. Btw, Dave was a beautiful website on discus and some very beautiful discus. Another plus is that he lives in Canada so anyone wanting to buy some discus in Canada, buy from Dave. His RO units are a very good deal. I believe that he makes his own units personnally. Do you have anything that will fill automaticly and stop also (similar to a toilet tank)?.

Not only does he have discus and RO units, also frozen foods, heaters, medics, etc. at very good prices. How do I know that he has good prices? Example: I bought a 100W (I think) Jager heater locally and it costed me over $40. Check out his Jager 200W heater!! $29  :eek: Big Als at $41.

If anyone wants to know about an automatic water changer, he also has info on that and will help with that.

Im actually in the process of saving up to buy your RO unit. I have been able to convince my wife already. I have also done the math and like yourself came up with the same conclusion. While intially front end low cost, over the long haul, tap purifiers suck more money out of you than RO units.

I was in Manitoba just last month. I really wanted to look you and your brothers petstore up but alas, I was in Steinbach and didnt get the time to do so. Hopefully next time.

Kind up the good work Dave. Im looking forward to dealing  and buying from up (thats as soon as I can save some money up  :( )Thanks Dave!
 

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Dave C

Small Fish
#39
Oct 22, 2002
41
0
0
members.shaw.ca
#39
I checked my email history and do remember when we last yakked.  I don't sell RO shutoff valves.  I've actually never used the Kent Marine type ones that many use where the floating ball pinches the hose and stops the flow.  I considered getting one when I got my unit but it freaked me out to think that the water pressure was still there at the RO unit and a crimped hose was all that was preventing it from running.  It sure seems like it would test the viability of every joint in the water line, any leaks would happen throughout the system.  I use a float switch coupled with a solenoid valve to control my RO unit and they can be bought at Aquatic EcoSystems.  If anyone needs the part #'s I can provide them.  The URL is http://www.aquaticeco.com/aquatic1v1/index.icl?referer=&eflag=2

Dave
 

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ronrca

Guest
#40
#40

I see your cause of concern! What about putting a switch on the incoming water line of the RO unit instead of the outcoming?
 

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