Copper Supply Pipes

[enjoiskater158]

i was reading the new issue of reefkeeping, and in the article about auto top off systems it said this;

"The city's water department came out to replace a resident's water meter. To do so the technician had to sweat in new copper fittings. That water went right through the RO unit, adding contaminated water directly into the sump. Copper levels rose in the tank, and all the invertebrates died. Yes, this actually happened; and over 30 cleaner shrimp and other crabs died in the reef tank."

I know my houses supply pipes are copper and was wondering if i was at risk of the copper getting through an RO/DI unit and destroying my tank?


thanks, enjoi

 

[Danno]

I'm pretty sure that RO takes out copper.

 

[SkiFletch]

I'm pretty sure that RO takes out copper.

RO does take out copper and all heavy metals. Whomever this unfortunate incident happened to clearly had a malfunctioning or non-flushed membrane.

 

[enjoiskater158]

how often should you flush the membrane? once a month?

 

[SkiFletch]

how often should you flush the membrane? once a month?

IMO, thats a minimum. I flush mine for 10 mins before I make a big batch of RO water everytime. I usually make around 20 gallons at a time.

 

[tmreynolds]

Yeah, I flush the membrane for 5 minutes after creating RO/DI water and for 5 minutes before collecting water. Make sure you run the RO unit at least once a week aswell.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yup that's what your RO unit is for, we tinkered with the plumbing a while back and killed half the shrimp in Ian's FW tank even though we added dechlor which is supposed to remove heavy metals (i think the concentration must have been significantly higher than usual so it doesn't work to that extent) but the SW tank was absolutely fine.