Is Ro Waste Water Dechlorinated?

[Revision17]

There were 3 forums that I could possibly have posted this topic in, but I figured there would be more people who knew about RO stuff here.

I have an RO system with a TFC membrane. Since the TFC membrane is damaged by chlorine, it has a bunch of carbon filters before it. Since the water is hopefully dechlorinated before it hits the RO membrane, could I use the wastewater for my freshwater tank?

I don't like buying dechlorinator, and RO takes awhile, and I don't like having to re-harden the water before adding it to my FW tank. So it'd be really nice if I could do this.

 

[steelhealr]

I wouldn't. Waste water is exactly that...waste water. RO membranes not only remove chlorine, but heavy metals as well. Waste water flushed by the membrane. JMO. SH

 

[Colin_T]

Why do you need to reharden the water? It seems a little bizarre using R/O water if you want hard water.
If you want to remove the chlorine from tap water without conditioners then let it stand in a bucket with an airstone bubbling away for 24 hours. The chlorine will come out of the water and you will have dechlorinate water.

 

[smithrc]

depends what your RO to waste ratio is... ours is an old filter and gives about 8:1 so the waste water is not that much higher in mineral and metal content ets than the water going in...

I use a hose for out water changes in the FW tanks though so haven't used the waste ro.


as for why you need to re-harden the water?- because then you know exactly what it has in it.... no phosphates etc

 

[Revision17]

I use the RO water for my nano reef tank. I've stopped buying dechlorinator for my freshwater tank since I own an RO filter, so I use RO water for that as a cost saving measure (not time saving though). So I figured if I could get dechlorinated water faster, it would be convenient.

Thanks for your input

 

[andywg]

I paid £16 for a 1 litre bottle of pond dechlorinator. That was about 12-18 months ago and I am not half way through it. 10ml treats 80 imperial gallons. If you find the actual buying process too much, just buy 3-5 litres of pond dechlor and that should keep you going for a very long time.

I see no problem really with using RO waste for FW changes. My lfs has been doing it for years. If I ever find the time I will plumb one of my FW systems in with the RO waste so that it is on a constant water change when the RO unit is going.