Reverse Osmosis

[kramers]

Can someone tell me what the pros and cons of reverse osmosis systems are and if they are worth the $200+ for a setup?

 

[Tolak]

Pros are mainly that you are starting with a blank slate so to speak, you can adjust the water to any pH or hardness you need. This is usually for keeping fish that require water that is vastly different from your water supply, or breeding more difficult species.

The cons are like you mentioned, $200, they waste 3 or more gallons of water for every gallon they produce, and you have to add some minerals at the very least to maintain pH.

 

[kramers]

Holy cow, didn't know they wasted that much water.

 

[sub.42]

Holy cow, didn't know they wasted that much water.

And on pump boosted/assisted systems, the reject ratio can go as high as 9/1! I have commercial systems producing 3000 liters of 'product', ie RO water, a day, and the average reject is between 7/1 and 9/1. Mine is used to rinse cars during the carwash process. So to have a spot free rinse on your SUV, you have to waste 20,000 liters of water, including your product water, on average, to rinse with 3-5k liters of RO. That is the amount of water used in a weekend at a drive-through carwash. Thats enough water to fill a Semi-trailer tanker unit! Now thats a waste of water!

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