# Is RO TDS of 5 fine?



## Midland (Jan 26, 2015)

Hi all,

I was looking into getting R.O. water from our local water store. I asked them what their total dissolved solids were, and they said 5. Is that acceptable?


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

acceptable, but 0.00 is better. How will you know is that really 5 ad not a 50?

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## Midland (Jan 26, 2015)

Thanks Sig. As far as why 5 and not 50, I asked the woman working in the store what their total dissolved solids were, and she said 5. She seemed knowledgeable and in charge - not just an after school teen working there.


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## davebradley (Mar 16, 2014)

But what is that 5. Could be a number of things. 



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## davebradley (Mar 16, 2014)

I remember when I first started reefing. The people at a few of the water stores I went to ( not just one ) had no idea what the deionization process was. The didn't believe me that you could get 0tds. 



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## Midland (Jan 26, 2015)

[email protected] said:


> But what is that 5. Could be a number of things.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thanks Dave,

My newbie-ishness is coming through here. Am I correct in assuming that TDS is measured in parts per million? If so, I will phone her and double check that she meant 5 parts per million.

Eric


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## davebradley (Mar 16, 2014)

Yes. It is measured in ppm. That's not quite what I meant tho. 
My point is" what exactly is leftover in that 5 ppm?"


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## Crayon (Apr 13, 2014)

Remember as well, that just because it's reverse osmosis does not mean it is de-ionized. It is preferable to have RODI water, which may be part of the reason why the readings from the store are 5?


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

Sorry, I missed wording RO. Assumed it was RODI

I yet still to see any RO unit which produces 005 PPM. I assume it is equal to 5 Midland refers to

Thew best I seen was around 20 PPM

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## davebradley (Mar 16, 2014)

I agree. Before I bought my rodi unit the readings I got from ro water were between 10 and 30 ppm


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## Midland (Jan 26, 2015)

Thanks one and all for the info. I was assuming RO would automatically also remove all the minerals but now I realize I was wrong. I will phone them tomorrow and find out. Be interesting to see what she says. She said our local tap water is around 560. 

Eric


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## Reef Hero (Mar 2, 2014)

Look up what DI media will remove..... And what just carbon prefilters and more specifically the RO membranes will not.... This is essentially what you will be left with assuming your RO membrane is decent and you had those dissolved solids in your water to begin with.


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## kookie_guy (Oct 15, 2014)

I have RODI at home, and when I collect water I first open a bypass which will dump all the water before it gets to DI stage, then I open the waste water flush valve to full flow to give the membrane and good purging. After a few minutes I choke back the waste water valve, then turn off the bypass to start collecting water. For the first half of the 5 gallon bucket I am at 1-2ppm TDS, after that for the remaining 5 buckets I am at 0. TDS on the feed side is around 160ppm.


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## Reef Hero (Mar 2, 2014)

kookie_guy said:


> I have RODI at home, and when I collect water I first open a bypass which will dump all the water before it gets to DI stage, then I open the waste water flush valve to full flow to give the membrane and good purging. After a few minutes I choke back the waste water valve, then turn off the bypass to start collecting water. For the first half of the 5 gallon bucket I am at 1-2ppm TDS, after that for the remaining 5 buckets I am at 0. TDS on the feed side is around 160ppm.


Why don't you just start collecting the rodi right from the start?

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## kookie_guy (Oct 15, 2014)

Reef Hero said:


> Why don't you just start collecting the rodi right from the start?
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


I remember reading somewhere that the first bit of water will always have a much higher number of TDS, which will shorten the life of your DI resin. Something about the waste being picked up from the RO membrane or something like that. By opening the bypass you dump that bit of first water with those 'contaminants' so that your DI resin is not working overtime to pull them out. And the full flow flush on the RO membrane just makes sure any leftover solids are flushed away so the membrane is kept nice and clean.


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## Midland (Jan 26, 2015)

So, got back in touch with the Water Stop and they told me the following:

Water in Midland is at 485 ppm - their water is at 5 ppm. 

No, they do not deionize the water

They start with a water softner, from there is goes to a carbon filter, from their to the RO system, from their it goes through the UV light and from there to my bottle. 

I am going to go with their water till I can get my own RODI set up.

Thanks for all the help.

Eric


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## twobytwo (Oct 25, 2014)

sig said:


> I yet still to see any RO unit which produces 005 PPM. I assume it is equal to 5 Midland refers to
> 
> Thew best I seen was around 20 PPM


I bought this unit:
http://www.amazon.ca/iSpring-5-Stag...4?ie=UTF8&qid=1423596220&sr=8-4&keywords=rcc7

After opening the tap for about 10 seconds, I was getting a range of 6-9ppm when I first installed it. 








After about 2 months, it was down to about 3-5ppm. I went online and ordered the DI part from iSpring (like $30 delivered with the bracket) and am now at 0ppm.

I live in a condo near Don Mills/Lawrence - not sure if my water quality entering my building has anything to do with it... but it enters my RODI system anywhere from 125 to 150ppm.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

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## Midland (Jan 26, 2015)

twobytwo said:


> I bought this unit:
> http://www.amazon.ca/iSpring-5-Stag...4?ie=UTF8&qid=1423596220&sr=8-4&keywords=rcc7
> 
> After opening the tap for about 10 seconds, I was getting a range of 6-9ppm when I first installed it.
> ...


Thanks for link. Right now I only have an 18 gallon but suspect if all goes well will bump up to around 100 in a year or so. At that point and time an RODI will be in my price range.


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## Midland (Jan 26, 2015)

sig said:


> For sure TO is better than nothing and it does not matter 5 or 20 is shows
> 
> Million people have million opinions


Agreed. I will keep a close eye on the conditions of the tank and if water quality becomes suspect I will respond appropriately.


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## Curtis22 (Dec 11, 2014)

Hey you guys really need an Aquasafe unit and a proper TDS meter to have 0 ppm. Or perhaps you need better RESIN BEADS. I have 0 ppm every single pour. I cant express how important the resin beads are making your water from 5-20ppm to 0 ppm and the 3 stages of RESIN.

ALSO, PPM Doesnt really mean your water is not RO and Clean.....I can slowly raise the PPM in any glass just by sticking my finger in it. If i put a dirty finger in a cup of 0ppm water it will be 3-5ppm right away. Or if you fill up a holding container of 0ppm water and notice the PPM is higher in there after a couple days, its because you have no lid and dust is settling in your container. Or your container is leaching and not proper your ppm might be really high in the container! Doesnt mean your water is actually "dirty".

If i ever notice any PPM coming out of my unit that is not zero i locate the source. I actually never have to look as i replace cartridges every month or two and resin when expired (changes green to brown). I would never use water that showed any ppm though be it from the unit or my holding container so i make sure both are zero cause many people dont notice it changes.

Also one of the other things people dont notice is the phosphate in your tap water! Even if you have ULTRA PURE RODI water from the cleanest best manufacturers unit you can still have phosphate in that water ....trust me test it with the hanna ultra low phosphorous checker! You need to run a GFO or a Carbon Source is the only possible way to have a zero algae zero phosphate system in Toronto. If you think your lowering the phosphate in your tank with a water changes you could be wrong.

TRUST ME - Buy an Aquasafe RODI unit it is by far the best for your $$$$

Oh and to answer the thread, yes 5 is ok, that is when i would begin to change anything going wrong. 

ALSO, dont make your resin beads work so hard....change your pre filters will go a long way

I just did some tests on Downtown Toronto Tap for ya lol :
Straight from the tap - 129 ppm
The leftovers from my aquasafe unit - 148 ppm
The good stuff RODI water - 1 ppm (guarantee i had dirt or dust in my cup or other water didnt completely come out!)
Same 1ppm of RODI water put my finger in 15 seconds - 56 ppm !!!!!!


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## davebradley (Mar 16, 2014)

Midland said:


> Thanks for link. Right now I only have an 18 gallon but suspect if all goes well will bump up to around 100 in a year or so. At that point and time an RODI will be in my price range.


I am only running an 8 gallon right now. But I use 5ish gallons of water weekly between top off and water change. 
I figure at $5 per week to buy RO water plus time and gas to go get it, I'm way farther ahead spending $150 on an RO/DI. Pays for itself pretty quick.

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## Midland (Jan 26, 2015)

[email protected] said:


> I am only running an 8 gallon right now. But I use 5ish gallons of water weekly between top off and water change.
> I figure at $5 per week to buy RO water plus time and gas to go get it, I'm way farther ahead spending $150 on an RO/DI. Pays for itself pretty quick.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


That thought has crossed my mind as well. However, I suspect I will need someone to hook it up, plus, our water is so hard I will need a softener also so as to prolong the life of cartridges etc. I will end up going that way - just not yet. Our local Water Stop store only charges $2.40 for 19 liters, plus once I know how much I will be using I can "become a member" and that drops it to $2.00 for 19 liters.


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