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Problems With RO
Water Filters
In previous
reefing tips we've talked about the absolute necessity to
filter our water through RO water filters. The best,
IMO, being a Kent brand RO. I found that some people continued to experience
problems with nuisance algae, Cyano bacteria (Red Slime
Algae) etc. even though they were religious about their 10%
weekly water changes, were not over feeding AND they use an
RO water filter. In this hobby there is always cause
and effect and after checking off all potential nutrient
imports that feed the algae we found that the customers had
2 main problems with their RO water filters. Both
problems were identified by a common denominator. The
pure water line was producing as much...& in most cases,
more water than their waste water line. The 2 most
common reasons for this scenario are:
1. The TFC membrane is not fully "seated" inside
the membrane housing. If not seated properly, water
will go past the membrane instead of "through" the membrane.
The untreated water then travels out both the pure water &
waste water lines.
2. The waste & pure water lines are are swapped
around. Pure water going to dump & waste being used
for the tank.
All RO units
will always produce more waste water than pure.
usually a 4-1 ratio (4 waste to 1 pure). If
you're not sure if this is the case with yours, collect the
pure water made in a container & time how long it
takes to fill the container. Factor your "gallon per
day" which should be a little less than what the unit is
rated for. For example, a 35 GPD unit will normally
produce 30 or less gallons per day, given the average home
water temperature and water pressure.
These RO
problems were identified & corrected with immediate &
dramatic improvements to the customer's reef tanks! It
also involved not only Kent brand RO units but other
manufacture brands as well. The principle behind all
RO units is the same so if you are experiencing algae
problems with no obvious cause, check your RO unit for these
issues.
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