RO water

I'm running an ebb and flow table and currently buying gallons of distilled water at the store i was wondering if the water from the water mill machines in the parking lot would work.

r/o is the way to go. you can buy a good one on e-bay. do a search for "portable reverse osmosis filter."

Silky Shagsalot said:

r/o is the way to go. you can buy a good one on e-bay. do a search for "portable reverse osmosis filter."

Click to expand...

i think it did say it was R/O

1. 5 micron filter
2. ion exchange
3. activated carbon
4. micron filter
5. reverse osmosis
6. ozonation sterilization
7. taste & odor filter
8. ultraviolet disinfection


the water is never above 50 ppm
is this OK to use

I buy the water at the water mill place...and yes it is ro water works great......ro process removes contaminants which strips it of Calcium and magnesium aswell so you need to add some like botanicares cal mag...it is a pain in the ass to go get water every couple weeks though...I have a ro system but need filters....worth the investment if you use that much water

I use tapwater. I dont even let it sit out. If I can take it my plants can. lol. I do use GH three part with the hardwater micro. I got sick and tired of all the ro water making and told myself I will do hydro the easy way. The fun way. We are pleased. I also figure that it is far better way to get my minerals and what harm can a little chlorine do? Whiten my roots?

The base RO filter setup on e_Bay that sell for $60.00 or so, and will make 3000 gallons or so if your incoming water is fairly good.

You can use tap water and it does save you from having to add Cal-MAj/MajiCal. Some city water is HEAVLY buffered and will eat up your ph down trying to get it under control.

Eash way has it's own benifits. It your city water test low ppm and adjust easily then go with that. If your water sucks get the filter setup and save yourself the money.

you wouldn't believe the contaminates in ordinary city water. if you can do "anything" to make it cleaner........ DO IT!

420gdpurple said:

1. 5 micron filter
2. ion exchange
3. activated carbon
4. micron filter
5. reverse osmosis
6. ozonation sterilization
7. taste & odor filter
8. ultraviolet disinfection


the water is never above 50 ppm
is this OK to use

Click to expand...

Ion exchange filtration should be #7 or #8. Ion resin exchange is usually a finishing filter with a very limited exchange rate so it should always follow the RO membrane. An RO membrane can remove hugh amounts of contaminants and is only limited by wear and tear. A DI filter is made up of beads that are actually charges with either an Acid or hydroxide and must either be replcaed or required vey frequently unless jst used to remove the last little n bit of TDS left by the RO filter. A water softener is resin bed filter that is charged with salt and is used if you have very hard water. It is usually just called a water softener. It would fall in the #2 spot usually after a 5 micron sediment filter. Usually mixed bed resin filters are referred to as an ion exchange (deionization filter). Typically a sediment filter smaller than a 5 micron is only used by reef aquarium keepers and then it is used just before the RO membrane. It can however be anything from a 0.5 to 5 micron. Low micro filters cause large drops in water pressure which lowers the RO filters out put and efficiency.

Merlin's are just marketing crap. Just buy an RO filter with full size cartridge housings that takes standard 10" cartridges. THat means probaly a $120 filter versus a lame ass $60 filter. Buy A Dow Filmtech Ro Membrane mounted horizontally with all other filters vertical mounted. It is best to run large amounts one time so do not use a stupid float system to turn you RO system on evertime you use some water. Use a ball valve to turn the system on and a float valve to turn it off. Once the float valve shuts it off close the ball valve until next time your storage container is nearly empty. The Filter Guys sell good systems. Don't buy a lame ass filter as recommended by Earl from some lame pure water club.