# Advice on personal RO Unit



## Iksentrik (12 Nov 2014)

I'm looking to buy an RO unit for my planted discus tank and was wondering if I can get some advice as to what people here recommend.  

Tank is a Trigon 350 with a Rena external filter
I live in UK, not that I'm adverse to shipping items from overseas


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## Bhu (12 Nov 2014)

Good move, Ive been using RO water for over 20 years and these days its really affordable. I only drink RO my kettle is spotless and I never clean it. makes the best cuppa tea going  I usually use http://www.purewaterproducts.co.uk but of late his websites been down and I cant reach him on the phone but he does a perfectly good unit 100 gpd for just over 100 quid. He also has a household one with built in microprocessor telling you the tds of the water and auto flushing the membrane for about £150. His name is Alan and his prices are really good.

RO-MAN is a little bit more expensive but equally good products...

http://www.ro-man.com/shop/ I used to buy there until I found purewater products but may have to go back to RO-MAN if I cant get in touch with Alan as his website has been down ages! RO-MAN have units for household and fishkeeping in mind so check them out 

First thing you will need to check is your water pressure. If its too low you will need a pump as well as the membrane needs the water forced upon it to work. Ideally at least 45 psi but 60 psi is better. The more pressure the better the quality of water produced. Anything under 10 ppm is classified as medically pure water. I get around 1 ppm 

Here is a basic set up for around £100

http://www.ro-man.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=887_892&product_id=318

You would need piping and either a storage system or a pipe with tap to work with this. I have a domestic setup with a 10 litre tank I also sit around and fill jerry cans but be careful if you forget about it, its surprising how quick they fill up! Ask me how I know  ha ha

At the moment Im looking into a 75 ltr storage solution that has either a float switch cut off or sealed so the back pressure cuts the water off same as with the domestic set up using solenoids.


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## Edvet (12 Nov 2014)

My first question would be: why do you think you'll need RO


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## Iksentrik (12 Nov 2014)

Edvet said:


> My first question would be: why do you think you'll need RO



Because the water quality in Frome, Somerset has gone from passible to shocking recently causing 2 discus to die 

I've been told by a fellow discus keeper in my area that the water at times is so bad that its note safe for human consumption let alone fish.


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## Bhu (12 Nov 2014)

I used to live just down the road in Ditcheat so know the water there contains arsenic your wise to get an RO not just for your fish but for you too! By all means re-mineralise afterwards for your fish if you feel you need to. (_ didn't for years and my fish were fine)_ You can get discus minerals to add also. People in this land are far too trusting with TPTB with water and food! When corporation took over social government profits were the loyalty of this land not the care of people!


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## ajm83 (12 Nov 2014)

How much water do you need per day?

I have a really cheap unit (£30) from FiltersFirst on ebay, which with my awful water pressure takes about 10 hours to produce 25 litres at 7PPM TDS (from 350-380 at the tap). At my parent's place, it does it in half the time due to the higher pressure.

You can get pump boosted kits but they do cost (a lot) more.


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## Iksentrik (12 Nov 2014)

Currently I've been buying 50 ltrs of RO water per change and doing 2 - 3 changes a week.

Before the water went bad I was doing a 1/3 of a tank change every weekend with a filter clean mid week.

If I could get one that can make 50 ltrs a day without taking too long that would be the aim.

I've seen several on eBay but not 100% as to whats the best and I've been told a minimum of a 3 stage filter system.

My birthday is coming up and people are wondering what to get me, so was looking for the best option around the £70 mark


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## Bhu (12 Nov 2014)

It would be best to get a 3 stage system. I think 50 gpd is the smallest.


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## ian_m (12 Nov 2014)

Do take into account the running costs and amount of "faffing" required if not done properly ie not having sufficient water pressure and not having auto flush valves,

http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/tmc-v2-pure-50-ro-system-di-unit-with-bypass.33182/

You will probably need a booster pump, especially if on a water meter, or else you will be spending/wasting a fortune.

For example the costs of running a 200litres per day RO unit rated for 8bar inlet pressure.

1000litres of water costs £3.40 for me (£1.20 water + £2.20 waste), so 1litre costs 0.34p. With 3bar pressure and 10:1 (good estimate for 3bar), you waste 3.4p for each 0.34p of RO, total cost 3.74p per litre.

Add a booster pump to 8bar now works at 3:1 waste:ro and 1.33p per litre.

For 50litres RO that's £1.87 with no booster pump vs £0.66 with booster pump.


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## Bhu (12 Nov 2014)

Yes RO units are not economical unles you can use them to purify rain water and keep the waste from the flush. A lot of water passes the membrane and is lost in making the pure water. They were created by NASA to recycle water in space as its the hardest commodity to get up there. Imagine the extra fuel needed to take a full 500 litre aquarium up into orbit lol 1 cubic cm= 1g


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## Iksentrik (12 Nov 2014)

We're not on a meter at our house, which is good news. 

Also have been told that we have sufficient water pressure to not need a pump to run very large rain shower heads ( which we have in our main bathroom ) and get pressure up to the third floor of the house.

So, I'm assuming, with this in mind I'm looking for the largest litres per day unit I can afford


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## Edvet (13 Nov 2014)

Most of the units are decent nowadays, can't say i ever heard bad things about one. I buy at http://www.osmoseapparaat.nl/


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## Iksentrik (15 Nov 2014)

Found this one on eBay and looks to be an excellent deal for a 150 GPD RO Unit

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251262082...49&var=550230767512&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT


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