How much waste water for RODI?

[Rayzor]

I keep reading on this forum and others about how it is essential to the long term viability of an aquarium reef system to use RO/DI water that can be easily made using of the many products on the market.....
Now while i understand purchasing a tool like this in order to give one the best chance of establishing a problem free reef.....it does seem that many that do use RO/DI suffer from many of the same or similar maladies experienced by those that use lesser quality water...whether that be DI only ...RO only.....Distilled....tap....etc...etc.....
And one thing that is concerning to me is how many ppl mention the waste water produced by some of these units......
Being a total newb....can anyone tell me what is an average of waste water produced by this process....and i dont know how many of u around here remember the late 70's and early 80's in NYC and the droughts and water shortages we experienced......jsut wondering as a former elementary school science teacher......can anyone justify continuously wasting up to 75% of a particular volume of water each and every time we make water to top-off or do a WC......
Not trying to be a hater AT ALL......just want some kind of clarification from those here who are more experienced......I thought we here all had some concern for our environment........hence our choice of hobby.
Are there RO/DIs that are less wasteful than others? Is 75% the norm for waste? We in NYC Apts only pay higher rents...but those of u with houses pay monthly water bills....doesnt that bug you?

 

[greenycrew]

I have a small 50 gpd unit and it seems more like a 5/6-1 waste. It really makes me feel like I'm wasting a lot. At the same time though, I make about 5 gallons a week which equates to about 35 gallons total a week. If you look at the average shower head though it uses about 2.5 gallons per minute. If i was really concerned, I could just decrease my shower time by 15 minutes a week and more than make up for it...(maybe this logic will make you sleep better... also if you have a high flow head you may be closer to 5 gallons per minute)

 

[greenycrew]

Also if you are really that concerned... You can run the membrane at increased pressure using a bigger flow restrictor to increase yield/waste. This will prematurely ruin your membrane though.

 

[Rayzor]

I just think its strange to try and teach our friends and family about (ocean/reef)conservation....while many of us waste fresh water like its going outta style....just to keep our reef clean.....six gallons waste to one gallon clean water seems kinda high...no?

 

[Wes]

You can opt for DI only. No waste water but you go through DI resin MUCH faster. Ive been using DI only for about a year now. Im pretty impatient when it comes to making water and bought DI resin in Bulk. It can produce the Same quality water as RO/DI when you change out the resin when your TDS starts raising above 0. 0 TDS = 0 TDS

Some people use Cation / Anion DI filters because the resins can be recharged. I havnt tried them but supposedly they are the most economical choice in areas where water is expensive.

Something I see on industrial RO systems is the reject water is recycled and makes additional passes through membranes to reduce waste. Once the reject water hits the set conductivity the valves switch to dump reject to drain.

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[MisterTickle]

Meh, They charge us for it with water bills. Your argument is like... meh. Its water, It ain't going anywhere, They have to find a way to MAKE OUR TEETH WHITE with byproducts of aluminum manufacturing, OF COURSE. I think there are bigger waste than a couple of reef people topping off their aquariums.

 

[Rayzor]

Thanks for the info.....cuz i know next to nutin about RO/DIs.....(except that they can be wasteful)while providing water that is mostly free of TDSs....
However.......I absolutely no nada about DI only, Cation/Aion or any other method of getting TDS free water......
What other methods do ppl use besides....or what brands of store bought water have ppl had success with.....
I want the best for my fledgling reef but i dont want to pay hand over fist for waste water.......
I cant be the ONLY one out here whos thinking this.........:arguer am I?

 

[MisterTickle]

I've been using distilled for top off's as I can get it for free but, Someone told me they contain alot of phosphates.

Can someone confirm?

 

[Deanos]

IMO, the reefing hobby is the antithesis to conservation.

• amount of water wasted to get "pure" water
• electricity to power our lights, pumps, heaters, chillers, fans etc
• livestock losses at all levels of distribution from diver to LFS, including my own tank
• live rock removal from its natural locations

 

[Awibrandy]

Thanks for the info.....cuz i know next to nutin about RO/DIs.....(except that they can be wasteful)while providing water that is mostly free of TDSs....
However.......I absolutely no nada about DI only, Cation/Aion or any other method of getting TDS free water......
What other methods do ppl use besides....or what brands of store bought water have ppl had success with.....
I want the best for my fledgling reef but i dont want to pay hand over fist for waste water.......
I cant be the ONLY one out here whos thinking this.........:arguer am I?

Rayzor, I feel you!!! I of the same frame of thought, hence the reason why I refused to use the ro/di units for yearsssssssssssssssss. Out of my 9+ years of reefing it has only been the last 3 that I finally bit the bullet with the ro/di. I most certainly am not at all happy with the wasted water, but I am thrilled with my new reef. A trillion times better. So NO you are not alone!!:thrash:

 

[Wes]

Keep in mind when water goes down the drain it is not gone forever. It goes back to the water treatment plant to get cleaned up.


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[Rayzor]

I think you've got the idea Deanos!!!! i love keeping my aquariums....and this saltwater reef experience is amazing, entertaining and educational (and hard work..BTW) but ur absolutely right......It is exactly the opposite of environmental conservatism.....
Awi: That is exactly the moral dilema i am struggling with right now.....i want my tank to be not only beautiful but as safe and easy to maintain for me and my livestock......May be a dumb question....but u must have used many other methods over those nine+ yrs....like???
I know in the end it'll probably be easiest for me and best for my living system to just bite the bullet early on and buy an RO/DI....but perhaps we as environmentally concious reefers should be asking more of the manufacturers of these products...

 

[ScorpionSys]

My waste line goes into a 500g plastic tub with a pump and is used for watering the garden and such. Would like to get it plumed so it could be used for the washing machine. But it is not wasted unless you want it to be.

 

[Rayzor]

And ur right too Wes...it all gets recycled in the end...thankfully......and like i said before its probably a bigger concern for home or apt owners that pay monthly water bills...to continually pay for wasted water....but i guess its not radically unsound just expensive to those in that situation.
And MrTickle... there are certainly many greater wastes of our limited freshwater resources on earth...but the reality is that it is not just a few reefers out there...it is millions upon millions.....using ten or hundreds of millions or billions of gallons of water every year.....but back to the nature argument...much of it is recycled thru evaporation or being sent back thru the water system to be filtered and returned.....

 

[Awibrandy]

Darling, everything I tried in those first 6 years accomplished a constant battle with all sorts of algae, especially the dreaded red, blue, green slime.;(
I plan to put a longer waste line on my RO/DI straight to the pool so it can top off my pool for the summer. ummmmmm, may be I can bring it in through a kitchen window, and use it to wash the dishes too.
I can't use it for my washer cause I have a front loader.

 

[Rayzor]

Great...scorpion....didnt even think about the idea that the waste water could be collected and repurposed....duh....shows u what i know......lol.....
I guess it pays to bring things up on this site....ppl make u think hard...and consider ideas that are beyond ur level of understanding....thanks to all the good (thinking ppl) here on MR....could this possibly be best reefing site on the Internets....lol?

 

[Rayzor]

I see Air,Water and Ice sell a model called Typhoon (5stage) that is very reasonably priced? Anyone using it...what else are ppl using.....how long do filters last....and i know there are variables involved....but a rough estimate on how often each kind of media is replaced would be helpful.....
Are the air water and ice ppl as diligent and reliable as they sound on their website??

 

[Rayzor]

'nother question....i can see many of them (RO/DIs) state such and such gallons per hour ....at such and such a temperature....just to show u how clueless i am....does one set the faucet to output water at a particular temp first before running thru the filters to get the optimal output???? Does one use a thermometer or do the units themselves have thermometers built in???? how does that work.....
Dammit Jim; ima reefer not a plumber........lol

 

[Wes]

Airwaterice typhoon unit is great for the money.

I just hook it up to the cold water line.


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[beerfish]

Started a new thread for you Rayzor... check out General Discussion.