RO/DI unit setup questions

[glarior]

Hello,

I have to buy a RO/DI unit before I kill my SW setup. Everything was going great but after the last two water changes the tank is going south. Willing to spend the money to do it right. My question is how do I mount the RO/DI unit? I will be moving in the next 1-5 months so I just need to do a temporary setup. I have a rubbermaid 55g trash can I use to mix my water in. I think at most I would do a max of 100g per day every other week so I don't need a huge setup. I would like to have the setup mobile if at all possible. Suggestions?

Also, I read I will need to add minerals to the water after it runs through the filter? If that is true what solution would you recommend?

How often would I have to replace the filters?

[labnjab]

With saltwater you dont need to add anything but your saltmix. We have ours setup with a quick disconect on the faucet so we didnt have to tap into the plumbing. We hook ours up the same way you hook up a python. Then i just shove the waste water tube down the drain. Youll need a few adaptors but if you head to the local plumbing supply and tell them what you need they'll set u up and it should be under 10 dollars.

As for the filters, that depends on how much you use. You should invest in a tds meter to make sure you filter is working properly. An ro/di shoul read 0 tds. The ro membrane should last 2 or 3 years. Most newer di resins will change color when u need to change them. If not then change it when you start to read more the 0 tds. Ours took 8 months before it went bad. Im unsure of the time frame on the sediment and carbon filters but i think its 18 months but i could be wrong

[kaybee]

I usually change the pre-sediment filter about every 6-8 months (by that time the one's I use look like they need to be replaced, kinda makes me feel hesitant to ever drinking tap water again). The carbon filters are generally rated for a certain amount of filtered gallons (example, rated to filter 10,000 gallons of water @ 0.5 microns, etc).

For aquarium purposes carbon stages are usually changed out prior to filtering the rated quantity of water to avoid any problems with clogging or bacteria growth.

I used to change out the carbon stages at the same interval as the pre-sediment but now I seem myself changing them out about every 12-16 months, basically with every other pre-sediment filter change-out.

In general you may find that 6 months is the recommended interval to change the pre-sediment and carbon stages, however it will depend on how much water you're producing and the quality of the source water being filtered.

[kaybee]

My RO/DI set up is not really mounted. I keep all stages contained or stored in half of a medium-sized travelling dog 'kennel' that is no longer used, with enough tubing to reach the faucet at one end and bath tub's drain on the other (though the waste line tubing is actually long enough to reach the front lawn). Tubing leads the produced RO/DI water to a 20gal bucket. I usually have 20gal of ready RO/DI water and 40gal of pre-mixed salt water available at all times.

If you're a DIY type person RO/DI units are easily wall-mounted (normally kept in or near a laundry room).

[glarior]

Perfect, just the indepth answers I need to know. Thank you very much!:22: