Can Someone Explain Ro Systems To Me....

[Nick16]

hi guys, i havent really investigated RO systems and im thinking of buying one, but seeing as i dont posess much knowlege, if someone can explain it to me that will be super.
i understand they remove some of the metals and stuff out the water, but do the remove chlorines etc?

what are good makes to buy? i would only need it to produce about 100L per day. (between 90-150L would be super) i would need a full kit really, as im unsure as to all the little extras and ad-ons i would need to buy.

how do you attach them up? and what to? - im sure the water doesnt just get into the systems buy itself?
Do they stand up by themselves or should i hang it somewhere etc? - what do you guys do?

any help would be super.

 

[rabbut]

RO units remove 99.9% of tap water impurities. Their water cannot be use neat, it's too pure and will cause issues for your fish if you do so.

An RO unit should have at least two stages, a Carbon pre-filter that removed Chlorine and protects the membrane from chemical attack. They will then have a Membrane that actually does the purification. A good RO unit will have an additional pre-filtration stage, a sediment pre-filter, this stops the carbon and membrane stages from clogging up with rubbish from your tap water supply... Think your tap water's clean? Take a look at a pre-filter after 48 hours use and you'll get a shock

I'd recommend buying a new unit if you can. If you buy second hand, don't pay more than £20 for the unit, as you'll want to replace all filters once you have it home, and paying more than £20 for the unit will make it too expensive to be cost effective to do this...

For the amount of water you wish to produce, a 50gpd, three stage unit, will be ample. I would stick to units with three stages though, as the additional stages tend to grab stuff like carbon ions that would actually be more useful if left in the water as a filter bacteria "food source"...

Usually, you'd feed water into the unit in one of three ways;

1) Self piercing saddle clamp
2) Washing Machine Fitting
3) Garden tap

The self-piercing clamp is permanent, once it's on the pipe you cannot remove it without replacing that length of pipe. These fittings can leak also... The washing Machine fitting splits the feed into your washer into two. One goes to the washer, and the other, via a tap connector, goes to the RO unit. The Garden tap option takes a standard tap that accepts hoselock style fittings, and places a tap connector onto that thread to reduce the tap down to your 1/4" feed pipe

Daft question though, why do you want an RO unit? For FW fish, they tend to be more trouble that they are worth, and if you use RO water without fully understanding what it's doing to your water chemistry, you are going to get a tank crash sooner or later. Make sure you understand osmotic pressure, GH, KH and pH and how they each affect your fish before you even think about adding RO to an aquarium

All the best
Rabbut