As some of you know I am embarking on a reef set up. So my second purchase has been a RO/DI unit. I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience with installing these for multi purpose uses. I like the idea of using the waste water for the washing machine, but then my wife also wanted to use it for drinking water. Plus I need it to deposit into a barrel or the like for storage. Would love to here what you guys have done with these. Thanks.
RO/DI Set ups
- Thread starter FishDad
- Start date
I have a portable RO water unit. When I had an outdoor garden, I'd save the wastewater for watering the outdoor plants. Some say you can use it for clothes washing, but I wouldn't recommend it. If you've ever lived where water is very hard, you get hard-water deposits on everything. Using the waste water will make it much worse. We had TDS of over 400 most of the time (including nitrate of 8-10ppm right after a good rain). Yuck!
We use the RO water for making coffee, tea, etc., as well a drinking water.
We use the RO water for making coffee, tea, etc., as well a drinking water.
the only danger of RO water is if you only drink RO/DI and nothing else. you also have to eat something, drink some juice, add some coffee or tea to it so that the RO doesn't end up dehydrating your stomach and gut.
remember, if you use the waste water to water plants, especially potted ones, then you will need to flush their soil with tap water a few times a year to prevent salt buildup in the soil. waste water has a lot of TDS and some of that is salts such as calcium.
remember, if you use the waste water to water plants, especially potted ones, then you will need to flush their soil with tap water a few times a year to prevent salt buildup in the soil. waste water has a lot of TDS and some of that is salts such as calcium.
I drink nothing but RO water (going on 6 years now), except when we go out to eat (rarely). I even discussed it with my doctor and dentist. Both said no issues with drinking only RO water, but dentist said to make sure I use a toothpaste with fluoride, since fluoride was being removed from the tap water.
As far as outdoor plants, rain washed away any mineral buildup. And indoor plants also got rain water when they were put out for some fresh air/sun/rain.
As far as outdoor plants, rain washed away any mineral buildup. And indoor plants also got rain water when they were put out for some fresh air/sun/rain.
When I had 8, I did. I stored it in a 50 gallon dedicated trash can. We had a splitter put on the clothes washer's cold water supply, and hooked it up there.
Now only have 2 tanks until we move into our house, so I only use it by the bucket now for fish. We have it hooked up via a 'snap-on' adapter, that hooks up to our kitchen sink.
We do make 10 gallons at a time and store them in 5 gallon water bottles that we use on our kitchen water cooler. We pull water from that to drink, and to make coffee, tea, and cooking.
Now only have 2 tanks until we move into our house, so I only use it by the bucket now for fish. We have it hooked up via a 'snap-on' adapter, that hooks up to our kitchen sink.
We do make 10 gallons at a time and store them in 5 gallon water bottles that we use on our kitchen water cooler. We pull water from that to drink, and to make coffee, tea, and cooking.
As long as its after the final filtration, you can split it any way you want. We do that now at our kitchen to fill both jugs at the same time, or one jug and one bucket for fish. Doesn't save any time or lugging buckets for us, but just saying it can be done. 
For our basement storage, we used the trash can for 2 reasons. One: we could mix smaller amounts with regular tap water to get the GH/KH we wanted. Two: we would put a heater in the 50gallon trash can to bring the temperature to what the tank's temperature is, so as not to shock the fish with sudden temperature changes.
I used the same kind of trash can when I kept marine tanks, and used a small pond pump with the output looped back into the trash can. This helped me equalize temperatures and mix the salt quickly.
For our basement storage, we used the trash can for 2 reasons. One: we could mix smaller amounts with regular tap water to get the GH/KH we wanted. Two: we would put a heater in the 50gallon trash can to bring the temperature to what the tank's temperature is, so as not to shock the fish with sudden temperature changes.
I used the same kind of trash can when I kept marine tanks, and used a small pond pump with the output looped back into the trash can. This helped me equalize temperatures and mix the salt quickly.
Last edited: