RO unit

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

I bought a ro/di unit for my tank. It has only been in use for 6 months. According to the manufacturer the filters only need to be replaced every 12 months. I just tested the water and the nitrates in the ro water are 20+ ppm. They used to be 0. Now they are the same as my tap water. What's going on? I decided to check the water after i noticed my hammer coral starting to recede and my 2 leather corals disappeared.

Any ideas why the filters would go bad so fast? Now I have to go buy 50 gallons of water to do a huge water change. I never thought to test the RO water I used to do a 50% water change 2 days ago. Now my tank is looking terrible. NOT what I planned to do on my day off. I did order the new filters (at 50.00) but they will not be here for up to 2 weeks (they are on back order of course)

I only test my tank water about every other week or less and it was always OK. I never thought the daily top off water was worse than what was in the tank. Geez.....when it rains it pours.

Any ideas or suggestions would be great. I'm off to buy water.

Angie

[dakar]

The filters life expactancy will vary greatly, it's really dependant on the amount of crud there is to be removed from the supply water and the total amount of water run through the unit. How many carbon stages are in your RO unit?

Now that you've brought it to light, think I'll order an extra set of cartridges to keep on hand. I may have just about killed ours, output has dropped off very dramatically.

[peregrinus]

like dakar said it depends on you local water quilty as to how long the filters will last. most water companies have a water analisys on their web site.

[Reptoreef]

Ditto... could be the membrane has been damaged and the TDS would read rather high, too(same as water source or close to).

[jerryc]

one is it a 3-4 or 5 stage unit Thais makes a lot of difference
you can get a carbon filter at a hardware store to go in front of it and may
help to prolong its life.

come to thank of it i need to get a new one myself as the one i have is getting old and is
just a 3 stage :roll:

[dakar]

Angie... I must not have read through the whole post the first time, geez don't going buying water.... just bring buckets to our place!!!! We'll get you taken care of until your new filters arrive.

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

I have a 6 stage ro/ di unit. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20756&item=5925591383&rd=1

I didn't go buy water yet. I came to the conclusion that i couldn't carry 50 gallons of water in my little Geo tracker, lol. I have to wait till Saturday to use the hubby's car.

Or maybe I will have to go visit Susan and Dakar this weekend. Thank you so much for the offer. I will call Susan in the morning. :lol:


Thank you everyone for the quick replies.

I think I'm going to order 2 filter replacement kits just so i always have an extra set. I have city water, I just didn't think the water could be that bad.

Angie

[Reptoreef]

If you bought the unit used, but dry... that plays **** on the membranes... You want your pressure to be as constant as possible.

[dakar]

Similiar to our 6 stage, but looks like you have the right type of RO for city water... The TFC membrane is specific to chlorinated water only as I recall. I'd guess the single carbon stage is toast and the RO membrane is shot if it's allowing that much nitrate to pass through.

I'd consider JerryC's reccomendation of adding an additional carbon filter before the RO unit to increase the life expectancy of the new elements, it couldn't hurt and they are cheap to replace. The generic ones they sell for use on icemakers and such.

The RO is all fired up here.

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

Hi everyone. I won't be needing to get water from anyone, lol. I called the place I bought the unit from and they are sending me the replacement filters. (I was told earlier that they were on back order) They were $31.00 for the filters. Hopefully they will be here early next week.

Thanks everyone,
Angie

[dakar]

Good deal. Guess I'd better go shut it down real quick, we've got an extra 80 gallons or so made up now... so if you change your mind and need some top off or whatnot just hollar.