Reverse Osmosis?

[hoppybunn]

I saw someone mention using reverse osmosis to help some part of their tank. What parameters does it help with, and how is it done? Thanks in advance.

 

[brownbread]

Hope this helps "Reverse osmosis (RO) is used to reduce dissolved solids from feed waters with salinities up to 45,000 ppm TDS (total dissolved solids). Municipalities and industrial facilities are able to use RO permeate as a consistently pure drinking water supply and to transform drinking water to high purity water for industrial use at microelectronics, food and beverage, power, and pharmaceutical facilities. The technology is also very effective at removing bacteria, pyrogens, and organic contaminants"

 

[andywg]

RO is a way of purifying water so that it gets to be somewhere from 95-99.5% pure water.

It is mostly used in mraine where you want to keep phosphates and nitrates to a minimum, but can help if nitrates are excessively high for FW fish.

 

[nmonks]

Also, don't forget rainwater works perfectly well. It's easy to collect (stick a barrel under a downpipe) and costs nothing. There are potential risks from pollution, but they're really very small, and if you're worried, filter the rainwater with activated carbon before using it. Mixing one part regular water with anything from three to ten parts of rainwater will make the moderately to very soft water many freshwater fish appreciate.

The downside to RO water, often overlooked, is its environmental impact: typically ten litres of regular water are wasted for every one litre of RO water used in the aquarium. Some systems are a bit better than that, but all are hugely wasteful by any objective standards. If you are buying water on a meter, or simply try to be "green" in what you do, RO water may be difficult to justify.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[k.o.d]

Reverse Osmosis is the process of forcing towns water through a membrane sized specifically to allow only pure water molecules through, this is how it purifies water
The process relies on
1. Pressure of feed water ( most towns water supplies are too low this is why the actual ends up less than the quoted )
2. Temperature of feedwater ( membranes are tested at 60+ psi and 25 deg C as feed water gets colder the membrane is less efficient )
3. Size of membrane ( you can buy RO units in 5 - lots gallons per day )

Life of membrane depends on
1. Quality of prefiltration
2. Amount of TDS ( total dissolved solids ) in the water, membranes can scale and need flushing regularly

RO water is basically incapable of sustaining life as it contains nothing but H2O,there are no minerals left. it has also zero buffering capabilities and needs aerating to get some dissolved O2 back in the water.

RO water must be remineralised before use ( or marine salt added for reef tanks )

For areas with high contaminants in the water an RO should be considered as being high on the list of things to have

Steve

 

[hoppybunn]

Okay, thanks for the explinations guys, I appreciate it!