Recommendations for at Home RO Water Unit

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Grobro

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Greetings,

I am very interested in installing a RO water unit on my hose splitter in the back yard. I want to avoid using any of my sinks inside. I recall people recommending certain units a few years back but that online store has closed down and I am curious if there are better units now. Recommendations would be helpful if you have one you think would make sense for an outdoor garden hose valve.
 
Hi @Grobro and thanks for asking the question. I used to have an RODI unit that I would hook up to my hose outside and ran a hose into the storage container inside.

This is the one I used because my tap water has significant chloramines. I would use a double carbon filter with it. 6 Stage Deluxe Plus 75 GPD RO/DI System

Good luck and be sure to let us know what you end up choosing. How will you be storing your water?
 
I've had a Bulk Reef Supply 5 stage RO unit running for years now and would highly recommend them. It seems like you'd just need some sort of water line reducing solution to marry a garden hose to the water lines of the RO unit

I recommend you get a water saver upgrade kit, which effectively doubles output, input pressure gauge and, if necessary, inline pressure booster (RO units operate best at 70-90 psi)
 
I also use a BRS 5 stage upgraded for water saving and now does 150 gallons a day. I also use their booster pump. I had a friend tap my refrigerator line and it’s installed in the garage.
 
Yes i would recommend tapping a water line inside vs having the unit outside. I would want to protect it someway if outside.

If it freezes in your area, it will break if it reaches freezing temps.

Just a standard sized rodi will do, doesn’t have to be from brs. Used one will do just fine. Gpd is determined by the water restrictor piece and ro filters.

To have water saving, you need two ro filters. The waste output of one is the input of the other. You run them in series.

Good to have a triple tds meter. Input tds from your tap, tds after the ro filters. Tds after the DI and carbon blocks.

Its also best practice you run the first 5 minutes of RO water into waste, then divert it to running through the DI blocks. This avoids tds creep.
 
Just my .02 input - not sure what the benefit is to RO"DI". I have been running a basic RO unit with a water saver add on. According to my various TDS meters, the RO output is between 4ppm and 6ppm depending on how old the RO membranes are.

Depending on exactly what you are wanting, you may be able to save some money by eliminating the DI unit.
 
Thanks everyone, lots of experienced advice here. Anyone have input on this unit?

 
Thanks folks I think you helped me decide here. The bulk reef supply is priced well and seems relatively easy to get going. I look forward to the day where I am not buying water from the RO store. If you can believe it, I have an RO Store not far but lugging 5 gallon jugs is a total PITA not to mention costly.
 
If you haven't bought yet take a look at spectrapure. They have some of the best RODI filters and membranes going...all they do is water purification. I have a spectrapure unit from my reefing days. I also bought a Smart Buddie booster pump and I have to say its one of the best purchases I've made for a fish tank. I'm on a well so my pressure is really low and the Smart buddie has greatly improved my water output. In addition it also has a flow restrictor built in and flushes your membrane every time you use it automatically or if you have it set up in a permanent location it will flush it every day or so (forget the exact time frame).
 
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Thanks folks I think you helped me decide here. The bulk reef supply is priced well and seems relatively easy to get going. I look forward to the day where I am not buying water from the RO store. If you can believe it, I have an RO Store not far but lugging 5 gallon jugs is a total PITA not to mention costly.
Here's the thing to keep in mind.

RO units from reefing places are no different than the ones you find on Amazon. The vast, vast majority of RO units are used for drinking water. The aquarium hobby is a very small subset and one really has nothing to do with the other.

The one I use is by a company called iSpring, but honestly they are all pretty much the same thing. Like @Count Krunk said, stick with something that has standard 10" housings so replacement filters are readily available and cheap.
 
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