Water quality issue

[Franklins]

I was wondering what a ro/di unit filters out of the water that a good water conditioner would not, say Tetra/plus aquasafe. If there are some things that the ro/di does get are there products that elimanate this from the water also. Thanks for any help

B

 

[tazdevil]

Waterconditioners do not filter anything out. They chemically neutralize chlorine/chloramine. They will not affect many other nasties that R/ODI filters out.

R/O DI filters out chlorine/cholramines, heavy metals, nitrates, and many other impurities that is in "safe" tap water.

IMHO, always best to filter it out rather than chemically react with something to neutralize it.

 

[vair]

RO is not a filter or a conditioner it is a membrane that allows only H2O to flow thru. RO/DI units remove chemicals and other dissolved crap. I think the things you mentioned are micro fillters that only remove particles in the water.

Dave

 

[Anonymous]

As the above folks mentioned, there is nothing you can add that will do what RO/DI does. If you are looking for a cheaper route, the is a product called something like Tap Water Purifier that is an inexpensive DI unit that works fairly well.

 

[Franklins]

Would a protein skimmer clean some of the harmfull particles out of the water?

 

[tazdevil]

vair, I was explaining it in very simple terms that everyone can understand :roll: . Technically, pushing a substance through a membrane to get rid of something is filtering.

 

[tazdevil]

Franklins:


No. Not the harmful "stuff" that is in tap water anyway. Best thing you can do is at least run the water through an R/O filter. R/O DI is the top method for "cleansing" the water. A skimmer is designed to eliminate organic substances from your tank water.

 

[taikonaut]

In summary:

Protein skimmer removes large organic molecule with certain properties in saltwater environment.

Tap Water Purifier (TWP) is a bare-bone DI filter that works well if water demand is low, and input water quality is high. Not a good alternative if you are in this hobby for a long term.

DI removes any charged ion. Almost all contaminants in water is charged.

RO removes contaminants base on size. It is not effiective for small molecules similar to H2O.

Water softener replace calcium ion in water with sodium. The net amount of ion is the same after treatment, but sodium is considered "soft," hence the name, water softener.

For ultrapure water, nothing beat RO/DI, not even distillation.