- Location
- Greenpoint Brooklyn, NY
Here is a previous post about my recent problem with my filtration unit.
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/nudibar/92319-ro-di-supply-water-problems.html
This links to it and thought it was a good idea to put it in the DIY section.
Ran the coliform test from lamotte that Russ and others mentioned I should do to check for bacteria. I picked it up at Grainger and it tested neg. Don't know what it was but its over with. I still have a filter clogging problem though and had to fix that.
You can skip to the current setup section as alot of the text under this is going through the different parts and my thoughts on it all.
I recently went on a shopping spree while getting new filters for my RO/DI to make an extra prefilter for my current RO/DI setup. I bought 2 canisters, a bracket and filters for the whole system as well as the extras to get the system connected and running.
I've been looking around for a drinking water filter for under the sink for a while now but couldn't find anything reasonable for what im getting with good low price filters and a see through filter casing. Some of these drinking water systems were 300$+ for a 8" casing around a simple carbon filter and some RO tubing. The dual stage from home depot was 240 or something and 50$ a filter that I had to change out every 3-4 months.
Anyways, it was crazy. So, I descided on building a 2 stage filter using a 10 micron sediment and 5 micron carbon block before my water hits the typhoon 3 unit to help reduce the rusty slime buildup inside my typhoon. Its alot easier to disconnect the 2 stage and change the filters than the 5 stage monster so pro's on many levels. Filters also cost about 15$ instead of the 30-50$ any other commercial water filtration setup would cost and I am probably getting better filters as well.
The housings, brackets, tubing, valves and "Y"s I picked up at bulk reef as well as their sediment filter and carbon blocks. The filters I got from BRS look alot better than the filters from AWI. Im going to start using the BRS filter pack from now on and just pick up the 10 micron sediment from AWI since BRS doesn't carry 10's. I am still waiting for the small stainless faucet to come in before I install it into my counter and im also dreading the fact that I have to wet drill the thing into my stone countertop.
The whole setup ran me around 50$ with filters, tubing and fittings.
I also purchased a Hanna Deluxe Dual inline TDS meter. Its much much prettier than the reg one and has beefier cables and was worth the ~10$ extra i spent for looks alone. Ontop of that I purchased the FM-2 filter monitor with volumizer for the volumizer alone. I just need to purchase another volumizer for the unit to do what I want it to do which is monitor my waste water as well as how much its pushing out to my tank. My tank is set to auto top off straight from my RO/DI, something im not recommending, but its something I need to do because space is limited for fish stuff in the fishtank room and I have a wife. If you still don't understand why then you aren't married.
So, I assembled the 2 stage unit and started to re-tube my system.
The current tubing setup:
My main cold water line (yeah I know, cold water + RO/DI = bad) runs into the 2 stage unit consisting of a 10 micron sediment filter and a 5 micron carbon filter. The out line is where I put my first "in" on the dual TDS meter and I get a 32-39 reading in this area while my tap is around 45+ straight out of my faucet if not higher sometimes. The out line splits between my faucet for drinking water and to my booster pump. So far I haven't seen any problems with keeping enough water flow from the 2 stage into the booster to keep the PSI at 70ish or higher. Before the line hits the booster pump I have a check valve to keep a maintained PSI on the RO system so if I use the faucet for drinking water my PSI doesn't drop and turn the booster pump on for no reason.
The booster pump feeds my AWI typhoon 3 with: 5 micron sediment, 5 micron carbon, another 1 micron carbon, 100gpd membrane, then my DI resin. The out line has my "out" TDS meter input before it hits another "Y" connector that splits into a ballvalved line for water changes and a line that serves as my auto top off to my tank about 30' away in tubing and controlled by a float valve.
I flush the membrane daily and the unit turns on every few hours for 10-15 mins to top off the tank. Its not the best but until I can sneak in a 5-10g container somewhere in the fish room for a true auto top off it has to do.
Anyways, thoughts and comments welcome.
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/nudibar/92319-ro-di-supply-water-problems.html
This links to it and thought it was a good idea to put it in the DIY section.
Ran the coliform test from lamotte that Russ and others mentioned I should do to check for bacteria. I picked it up at Grainger and it tested neg. Don't know what it was but its over with. I still have a filter clogging problem though and had to fix that.
You can skip to the current setup section as alot of the text under this is going through the different parts and my thoughts on it all.
I recently went on a shopping spree while getting new filters for my RO/DI to make an extra prefilter for my current RO/DI setup. I bought 2 canisters, a bracket and filters for the whole system as well as the extras to get the system connected and running.
I've been looking around for a drinking water filter for under the sink for a while now but couldn't find anything reasonable for what im getting with good low price filters and a see through filter casing. Some of these drinking water systems were 300$+ for a 8" casing around a simple carbon filter and some RO tubing. The dual stage from home depot was 240 or something and 50$ a filter that I had to change out every 3-4 months.
Anyways, it was crazy. So, I descided on building a 2 stage filter using a 10 micron sediment and 5 micron carbon block before my water hits the typhoon 3 unit to help reduce the rusty slime buildup inside my typhoon. Its alot easier to disconnect the 2 stage and change the filters than the 5 stage monster so pro's on many levels. Filters also cost about 15$ instead of the 30-50$ any other commercial water filtration setup would cost and I am probably getting better filters as well.
The housings, brackets, tubing, valves and "Y"s I picked up at bulk reef as well as their sediment filter and carbon blocks. The filters I got from BRS look alot better than the filters from AWI. Im going to start using the BRS filter pack from now on and just pick up the 10 micron sediment from AWI since BRS doesn't carry 10's. I am still waiting for the small stainless faucet to come in before I install it into my counter and im also dreading the fact that I have to wet drill the thing into my stone countertop.
The whole setup ran me around 50$ with filters, tubing and fittings.
I also purchased a Hanna Deluxe Dual inline TDS meter. Its much much prettier than the reg one and has beefier cables and was worth the ~10$ extra i spent for looks alone. Ontop of that I purchased the FM-2 filter monitor with volumizer for the volumizer alone. I just need to purchase another volumizer for the unit to do what I want it to do which is monitor my waste water as well as how much its pushing out to my tank. My tank is set to auto top off straight from my RO/DI, something im not recommending, but its something I need to do because space is limited for fish stuff in the fishtank room and I have a wife. If you still don't understand why then you aren't married.
So, I assembled the 2 stage unit and started to re-tube my system.
The current tubing setup:
My main cold water line (yeah I know, cold water + RO/DI = bad) runs into the 2 stage unit consisting of a 10 micron sediment filter and a 5 micron carbon filter. The out line is where I put my first "in" on the dual TDS meter and I get a 32-39 reading in this area while my tap is around 45+ straight out of my faucet if not higher sometimes. The out line splits between my faucet for drinking water and to my booster pump. So far I haven't seen any problems with keeping enough water flow from the 2 stage into the booster to keep the PSI at 70ish or higher. Before the line hits the booster pump I have a check valve to keep a maintained PSI on the RO system so if I use the faucet for drinking water my PSI doesn't drop and turn the booster pump on for no reason.
The booster pump feeds my AWI typhoon 3 with: 5 micron sediment, 5 micron carbon, another 1 micron carbon, 100gpd membrane, then my DI resin. The out line has my "out" TDS meter input before it hits another "Y" connector that splits into a ballvalved line for water changes and a line that serves as my auto top off to my tank about 30' away in tubing and controlled by a float valve.
I flush the membrane daily and the unit turns on every few hours for 10-15 mins to top off the tank. Its not the best but until I can sneak in a 5-10g container somewhere in the fish room for a true auto top off it has to do.
Anyways, thoughts and comments welcome.
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