RO question/advice
 

I'm doing a 120 g aquarium and after reading everyone's comments, I bougt a 5 stage ro system from Costco

First off. I'm getting readings of 2 on my tds meter is that ok?

The tap wateis reads 13 ppm

second: is it normal to take sooooo long?

I'm only getting about 1 gallon per hour.... At this rate it'll take a week!

Also our water is not metered, but is it normal to waste so much water?

In the summer we have water restrictions and I'd feel guilty running it during the dry months.

Thanks for you advice/ comments

13 ppm for tap water seems very low to me. But yes the ro systems do waste a large quantity of water. I should also say the the term WASTE is a little misleading as it is still usable water for plants and laundry. I have a 180g tank and I do not waste a drop of water. I just run it into a separate container and use it for watering house plants and I do all my laundry with it. You can also attach a small ball valve to your waste line so that you can reduce the amount of waste being produced, but this will tax your ro filter a little more than regular use. I actually contacted the aqua fx company and they said that this would not cause any unnecessary damage. Hope this helps

13 ppm is typical for the lower mainland. It will vary a little, depending on the season.
Most ro systems typically "waste" 4 gal for every one they produce. You can buy more efficient ones, but I think the membranes won't last as long.
How many gpd (gal per day) does the one from costco produce? If its 25 gpd, then one gal per hour, 25 divided by 24hrs is about what you are getting.
That is assuming a water pressure of at least 60 psi in your house and room temp water going through the filters.
If you want to decrease your TDS to 0 then you need to add a DI filter.

I have a ball valve on my waste water line.

i have it fully open now but at that rate it seems to be wasting more than 4 g per ro g.

if i restrict this flow, will it slow down production?

thanks for all you help.

I have my waste restricted to about 50/50 with the fresh and I do not notice a reduction in production. Your system may be different though. I have been running it this way for over six months and I am still getting 0ppm and about 400ppm on my waste (or should I say laundry) water.

if it is a straight RO unit, you won't get 0 TDS, you need RODI

is 2 or 3 ppm acceptable for aquarium setup?

It's not that bad, I doubt even those running ro di are changing filters at 2ppm but if your not goin to shoot for 0 ppm 13 ppm out of the tap isn't really that extreme either.

Really, 13 ppm is the same as 2ppm?

i'm setting up a 120g so waiting for the stuff to produce is a PITA...

if that's the case would you recommend that the juice is not worth the squeeze?

I am not nearly as knowledgeable as others on here but it seems others are holding off on commenting. Put it in perspective, my tap water is over 100ppm so I use ro/di. But at 13ppm I personally would just fill the tank and add prime to remove the chlorine and chloramine and then just let the tank cycle as you should anyways. Then for you top offs once the tank is up and running it may be worth the ro but 13ppm seems very low. Again this is just my opinion.