RO vs Brita

[the gnome]

Ive been depending on rain water for my H20 needs all summer but the dog days are coming to an end.
i'm on my 1st grow and and plan on getting an RO unit but Ive already dropped a small fortune getting my start-up supplies and would rather wait till after harvest when some working capital becomes available.

Ive read those Brita systems do pretty good, not as thourough as a true RO but it works for what I'm doing.

one thing though, I have to deal with a water softener and theres sodium in the water, an RO takes it out but will the Brita filter remove the salt?

what all does the brita remove,
who's using one and how do you like it?

 

[supermanlives]

theres a similar product called zero water that comes with an ec or ppm meter . havent tried it tho

 

[Iron_Lion]

My brita filter lowers pH substantially! I cant remember the exact numbers but my pH was somewhere in the ballpark of 7.0, after brita filtering it was in the 4's. Carbon based filters are more to remove odor, taste and sediment, not heavy mineral content associated with hard water.

im thinking about getting an R/O system,

http://www.easywater.com/ here is another alternative for household use instead of salt based water softeners, its pretty pricey tho. it uses electricity instead.

 

[the gnome]

I just found the FAQ for a brita pitcher and it doesn't remove
sodium from water
and recomends to replace the filter every 40gallons of water.

not that great for me, I'll go through 40 in a a month or less

the brita thats attaches to the faucet is a bit better, it has a 2 stage filter and is good for
100 gallons of weater before a filter change

looks like I'll may need to lay out for an RO.
I'm going to test my tap water at one of the water stores and see what its like and just try to bypass the softener for now.
I have a RO but it only does 1-1/2 gallons a day, not enough for what I'm needing

 

[Nicoli]

IMO, save your money, and skip all those crappy products and go for the real deal..

Hydrologic 100gpd RO units are $160-200 depending where you purchase, they hook up directly to any faucet with included attachments. It is ridiculously easy to setup and use! And will last a LONG time!

These: http://www.aghydroponics.com/HydroLogic-Stealth-100-RO-100-GPD-p/hydrologic-728800.htm

But shop around for a cheaper price.

Good luck on your RO venture.

 

[Geeyah]

I got my Ocean Reef six stage ro/di for my reef tank here with dual TDS meter. Comes with the faucet adapter and also separate fittings if you want to hook it up directly under your sink. I had to get an adapter for my new home because the Moet faucets have a different threading. Use the DI water at 0 tds for my reef tank and the RO output at 2 TDS for other things If you want the cheaps you can just get the 4 stage RO but I need pure H2o for the reef.

http://thefilterguys.biz/

Also, Spectrapure make the best RO/DI units but they're ridiculously expensive so a lot of people buy cheap units and then make sure they fit the spectrapure filters and just buy replacement spectrapure filters.

 

[the gnome]

Hydrologic 100gpd RO units are $160-200 depending where you purchase, they hook up directly to any faucet with included attachments. It is ridiculously easy to setup and use! And will last a LONG time!

These: http://www.aghydroponics.com/HydroLogic-Stealth-100-RO-100-GPD-p/hydrologic-728800.htm

Good luck on your RO venture.

yeah, thats what I'll probably do.
I like the idea of hook up to a faucet RO unit so it can be
moved around easily. I planned on getting quick connect-disconnect fitting but if it hooks up to a faucet thats even easier

thanks for the link nic

 

[the gnome]

Ive looked at the stealth 100 and its a pretty good buy!
ROs DO remove sodium, right?

 

[Geeyah]

That stealth unit is actually over priced for what it is. There are cheaper better units out there.

 

[the gnome]

Ive found a stealth 100, $175 shipped geeyah
put me on the better and cheeper units


ROs DO remove sodium, right?

 

[alkalien]

I got a small one I mounted below the sink for like 60€. It fills a 5l Tank in under a hour. For changing my rez I got a 35l, which I fill during the night. Just connect in the evening and it is full when I wake up.

EC of the Water is around 20 micro Siemens, good enough for the plant I figure...

 

[Geeyah]

175 shipped is good, at 225 thats not a deal. But it's only a three stage. I posted a link on your profile to a thread all about ro/di units by some serious ro/di nerds.

Since it seems you're only interested in RO and not RO/DI you can get a 4 stage RO system for 136 and then add in a 4 dollar faucet adapter from here and you get one of the best filters out there.
http://thefilterguys.biz/ro_systems.htm

Any of these sites have budget to mega systems. 75 GPD Premium from Buckeye is a good value for RO/DI and they have a 3 stage RO for 129.

http://www.thefilterguys.biz/

http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/

http://www.spectrapure.com/

http://www.purelyh2o.com/

http://www.airwaterice.com/

 

[the gnome]

thanks for the heads up geeyah, I'm not familiar with what DI means??
is it better than a 3 stage ro unit??

ok, DI is a resin filter.
loking at these systems you need to get a couple prefilters
1 for chlorine and a sediment filter.

the filter guys have a great 4 stage ro/di system that includes the chorine block
for $124..... niiiiiice!
But I'm still a bit hazy on the need for the DI filter, is it just to catch what gets past the ro membrane?

 

[aligee]

Purewaterclub.com has some great deals on ro/di filters!!!

 

[Geeyah]

Yep, the first three to four stages gets rid of the chloramines, depends on how you get it built. Why I like the sites that let you choose your filters.

Stage One 5 micron poly sediment filter
Stage Two 5 Micron Matrikx CTO/2 carbon block
Stage Three 0.6 Micron Matrikx +1Chlorine Guzzler carbon block
Stage Four RO membrane 75 GPD Dow FilmTec

 

[aligee]

RO/DI stands for Reverse Osmosis and Deionization!!!

 

[Nicoli]

175 shipped is good, at 225 thats not a deal. But it's only a three stage. I posted a link on your profile to a thread all about ro/di units by some serious ro/di nerds.

Since it seems you're only interested in RO and not RO/DI you can get a 4 stage RO system for 136 and then add in a 4 dollar faucet adapter from here and you get one of the best filters out there.
http://thefilterguys.biz/ro_systems.htm

Any of these sites have budget to mega systems. 75 GPD Premium from Buckeye is a good value for RO/DI and they have a 3 stage RO for 129.

http://www.thefilterguys.biz/

http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/

http://www.spectrapure.com/

http://www.purelyh2o.com/

http://www.airwaterice.com/

Where do you get the faucet adapter for those and is it easy to install on the RO unit hoses?

That's the reason I got the hydrologic, because it was easy for a nooby like me lol.

 

[Geeyah]

Where do you get the faucet adapter for those and is it easy to install on the RO unit hoses?

That's the reason I got the hydrologic, because it was easy for a nooby like me lol.

I got mine on this page, 8.00 bucks for the diverter valve adapter. When I moved to my new house I had to get the 4.00 15/16 thread adapter or you can get both for 12.00. I leave the unit under the sink on my second sink in the master and just push in the diverter when I want to use the filter. When I make reef water I just fill up one jug with the blue hose and and another jug out the 'waste water' black hose and that goes to the plants. Makes 1 gallon of RO/DI water to every 4 gallons of RO water and it does both at the same time. So 5 gallons of water makes 1 gallon of reef water and 4 gallons of plant water.


http://www.thefilterguys.biz/fittings.htm

 

[Nicoli]

I got mine on this page, 8.00 bucks for the diverter valve adapter. When I moved to my new house I had to get the 4.00 15/16 thread adapter or you can get both for 12.00. I leave the unit under the sink on my second sink in the master and just push in the diverter when I want to use the filter. When I make reef water I just fill up one jug with the blue hose and and another jug out the 'waste water' black hose and that goes to the plants. Makes 1 gallon of RO/DI water to every 4 gallons of RO water and it does both at the same time. So 5 gallons of water makes 1 gallon of reef water and 4 gallons of plant water.


http://www.thefilterguys.biz/fittings.htm

Thanks for the info bro. Guess I coulda saved me 20 bucks. hehe.

 

[the gnome]

I checked out the filter guys and spoke with one of them and they are great!
took the time to answer all my Qs thouroughly.
their systems are dirt cheap compared to most other places, their filters are std sized
not proprietary sized and they'll upgrade your what you want and only charge for you for the extra parts.
for grow I don't need a ro/di system so I'll just get a regular RO unit.
the filter guys rock!



mucho thanx for puttin me on them Geeyah!