Miss Mouse

Hey guys,
can you explain to me how RO units work? I understand how they purify the water by osmosis but I'm clueless about how you use one! Does it go on your aquarium? I've seen some that you kind of plug on to your mains water supply... can you drink it? Do you just pour the water from the RO tap into your tank? If I wanted to change my tank to RO how would I go about it? Is it worth it?! I'm very confused! But i think it may be the solution to my high alkalinity because we have such hard water here in Norwich.

Thank you muchly!
Ursh

chickadee

I do not know the answer to some of the questions, but I do KNOW the answer to the "can you drink it?" question. Being a nurse for the length of time I was, and part of it as a children's nurse, I know that RO water is not only drinkable but sometimes used as an old-fashioned remedy for diarrhea. Especially it seems to have a use in babies who have trouble with formula or digestive issues. I have seen some pediatricians go back to basics and order the "old style" homemade formulas made of canned milk and blackstrap molasses and brewers yeast mixed with RO water and I have a lovely nephew who grew to a healthy child due to this horrid brown mixture. I also have used it with geriatric patients who could not tolerate a lot of foods to keep them hydrated. It is also sold in many supermarkets under the heading of "Drinking Water" in plastic jugs. If you read the label closely, many of them will state that they contain reverse-osmosis water.

Enough of the above lesson, sorry to have gotten so carried away.

Rose

Miss Mouse

Rose you are a wealth of knowledge! Thank you That answers one question and eliminates a few others - I guess if I bought an RO system my whole family would benefit as well as the fishies! : And then yes, I will be able to attach it to my mains water supply... hmmm this is sounding more and more like a good idea.

yosser

i have an or unit its fixed on my wall in my conservatry you can buy one from your local fish shop but gat them or the company who makes them to they can be expensive about 300 pounds but worth it the system works by taking out the waste products from your water supply and leaving you with pure water no minerals just water then when you do your water changes use the ro unit water but check the nitrate levels of yhe ro water to make sure the machine is working right

atmmachine816

From what I've researched here's what I know.

You can attach them to a hose or faucet by a sink and have it run during the day. Depending how much you pay, the more you pay the more GPD (gallons per day) it can produce. Some may produce 50 gallons a day. I THINK you have some sort of resourvior that the pure water goes into and you empty it out. You may have 3-4 usually cartridges that purify the water. these are what you need to replace usually every 6 months or 1 year depending on the cartridge and how clean your tap water already is. can call your water compnay or test it to find out yourself. Definately buy the unit online or ebay as it will be a LOT cheaper than at a store. You can also buy these at home improvment stores for not a bad cost.

Hope that helped but that's what I know as I've looked into getting one someday.

Gozer_1

reverse osmosis is the process of forcing water through a porous membrane. The pores are too small for most everything but the water molecules to pass through. I use one that puts out 75 Gals per day. I use it once a week to fill 4, 5 Gal. bukets and a drinking water jug for the fridge. I spend the majority of a day waiting for water though. A setup with a storage tank would be much better.

Mike

I have an RO filter attached to kitched faucet's water line. I think it's a GE model, three stage filtration. I use it primarily for water top-offs in my saltwater tanks. Helps remove dissolved solids from the water and are recommended for water changes to help keep algae growth at a minimum.

bhcaaron

Chickadee:

I have been reading many articles and most state the same thing, that it is not good to drink the water from an RO system set up for aquariums, mainly because the RO systems for drinking actually have less filtration than, at least, the ones I was looking for for my future tanks. I know that the water I get for drinking IS RO water though. Most of the RO systems I see for drinking only have about three filters or so, the ones I see for aquariums have about six. I stated that even though it is not unhealthy, that water purified THAT much does not have some minerals we humans need in water, but, mainly it would be just a matter of taste. Could it be just the difference in how much filtration it has?

Gozer_1

They add things like flouride to tap water that, yes are good for humans. An RO filter is usually 2 or 3 stages. RO\DI adds a deionizer 4th stage. The water frome these filters is perfectly fine to drink, but as you said, you don't get the minerals you need. As long as you supplement properly the RO water could be better for you in the long run. I emphasis supplement properly. Tooth decay is on the rise and one cause is the proliferation of tap water filters filtering out the flouride.

I'm filling buckets as I type with my RO\DI. It takes about an hour and a half to fill a 5 gallon bucket. zzzzzzzzzzz..........

bhcaaron

OMG! An hour and a half!?!?!?!? That means it would take me FIFTEEN hours to get 50gallons! That is CRAZY!

And thanks for the reply. I'm loving this place. Newbies, experts, biologists and now nurses all mixed into one. Do we have any commedians on here? You should do a funny thread!

Gozer_1

Mine is rated at 75 gallons per day and I bought a nice one. ($250)

Hey what are you tryin to say there!!!! I'm just saying brush 3 times a day and take your vitamins.

bhcaaron

You said you were a nurse, right?

Gozer_1

LOL not even close. I work for the Golf Industry. Assistant Superintendent no nursing degree here. I just UHhhHHh grow .... grass. Man that sounds bad. Manage Turf yeah there ya go that sounds better. Sorry really bad pun humor.

bhcaaron

lol, growing grass sounded funnier lol Its ok, we won't tell anyone what ur growing lol!

agsansoo

Gozer_1,
Lets see ... You grow grass and your a reefer. Hope no one read this, they might get the wrong idea !

bhcaaron

ahahahahahahahaha

Gozer_1

I never even put that one together. That's the funniest thing I've read\heard all day.

bhcaaron

Thanks

leximommy

lol ok thats hilarious! im gonna have to use that!


lol i just thought of a good bumper sticker.....

"im a reefer" with a picture of a saltwater fish on it....lol