Chlorine and Chloramine Clarification & Removal Tips

[Frank Reynolds]

Mine comes out not reading anything as well, ph around 7 if i remember right

[pegz]

your tap water comes at 0.0 thats pretty impressive

 

On my crappy ec pen, 0.0-0.1.

[Stix87]

Indeed looks like you have quite a lot of contamination in your line, possibly a crack allowing dirt in somewhere.

 

There's many benefits to RO, reducing the starting EC allows you to add more nutes with better ratios before hitting the limits for your strain. 

 

Peeps will spend crazy amounts on bullshit additives but they won't invest in a ~$400 RO unit (middle of range) to give their plants the best. *shrugs*

hey mate i dont think there is a crack but im no expert i have moved 3 times in perth over the last 4 years and all my ec readings where from 0.6 to 1 ec im thinking perth tap water isnt that crash hot it tastes horrible. also at my old house having a shower you could smell the chlorine it was stinky as smelt like a swimming pool

[Stix87]

That's terrible, I wouldn't drink it. Mine comes out 0.0 ec and usually around 6.3-6.5 pH, perfect for soil but a tad high for hydro.

hey pegz i dont drink it it tastes bad. i have a filter jug you are  very lucky to have very lil to no ec level

[ConvexConepiece]

Afaik reverse osmosis doesn't remove all of the minerals as well, from what i remember reading about the de sal plant in vic, is that they need seperate procedures to remove molybdenum from the water supplies as well

Depending on the quality of prefilters and membrane it usually will remove 93-99% of all elements.

 

DI resin then takes care of the rest tho certainly not required for growing purposes. I have DI for my aquarium and so that I can refill my radiator and deep cycle batteries etc with it.

 

$400 ouch!

 

check out http://www.purewaterclub.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=95&products_id=580

 

While that's certainly a good beginner unit (and cheap enough to not go too wrong with), i'm not convinced it's great for the long term. 

For one the inline filters are not as easily replaced as they are not the standard 9 3/4" housings you need to order specialty replacement filters which aren't as readily available, especially if company goes bust. Prob cost more too.

It doesn't state the brand of the membrane(s)... if it isn't dow filmtec I wouldn't bother personally. They also don't state what psi is required to get the 300 GPD. Infact even being dual membrane that sounds crazy high, to the point where I doubt it's filtration quality as it's just too quick! 

Quality of the connectors is something not many think about. Who wants a flooded house if one goes??

End of the day like most things you get what you pay for I guess.

http://www.psifilters.com.au/ are widely regarded as the best in the biz, prices are very reasonable as well for anyone interested. Stay away from ebay units

 

 

That's terrible, I wouldn't drink it. Mine comes out 0.0 ec and usually around 6.3-6.5 pH, perfect for soil but a tad high for hydro.

 

Sorry but 0.0 EC does not mean clean water.... only way to truly get zero is using RO then DI resin. I prefer native TDS meters (not converted) nowadays as EC can be wildly inaccurate, many nutrients are not electrically charged and do not add to the total.This is likely why your tap water reads zero, I wasn't saying that you were lying 

It does sound like nice water tho but pH is bit low, likely has little alkalinity to buffer the pH so in dwc and whatnot you could have a pH that swings wildly about (not good) if not careful. Hydro nutes would generally solve this i'm sure but if you were say flushing with strait water last cpl weeks this could be an issue.

 

 

hey mate i dont think there is a crack but im no expert i have moved 3 times in perth over the last 4 years and all my ec readings where from 0.6 to 1 ec im thinking perth tap water isnt that crash hot it tastes horrible. also at my old house having a shower you could smell the chlorine it was stinky as smelt like a swimming pool

 

 

In your case I definitely recommend dechlorinating and an RO unit if you can  Your a prime example of someone I made this thread for. Not everyone will benefit greatly, some however certainly will. Tap water varies _wildly_ from place to place.

Edited April 12, 2014 by ConvexConepiece

[Stix87]

hey iv owned a ro unit for a few years now  before that i was running rain water but got over driving and lugging around water.

[forgetiwashere]

While that's certainly a good beginner unit (and cheap enough to not go too wrong with), i'm not convinced it's great for the long term. 

For one the inline filters are not as easily replaced as they are not the standard 9 3/4" housings you need to order specialty replacement filters which aren't as readily available, especially if company goes bust. Prob cost more too.

It doesn't state the brand of the membrane(s)... if it isn't dow filmtec I wouldn't bother personally. They also don't state what psi is required to get the 300 GPD. Infact even being dual membrane that sounds crazy high, to the point where I doubt it's filtration quality as it's just too quick! 

Quality of the connectors is something not many think about. Who wants a flooded house if one goes??

End of the day like most things you get what you pay for I guess.

http://www.psifilters.com.au/ are widely regarded as the best in the biz, prices are very reasonable as well for anyone interested. Stay away from ebay units

 

i have been using pure water club r/o for around 3 years now, they are great quality. i couldnt care less if they are not the same housings as others because i always buy through PWC when my filters need replacing.

 

as for not filtering because its too fast thats a crock, its simply 2 x 150gpd membranes and it works just fine under tap pressure, i get 0ppm on my tds meter and i know theres no chlorine present because my teas dont brew properly when there is chlorine present so the membranes work just fine.

 

as for connections 3 years in and none of the quick release fittings has ever failed and as for a flooded house well its a portable unit attached to an outside tap so there is no flooding issue even if it did decide to crap out.

 

but hey if you want to keep getting charged double what you need to be paying go right ahead

[ConvexConepiece]

i have been using pure water club r/o for around 3 years now, they are great quality. i couldnt care less if they are not the same housings as others because i always buy through PWC when my filters need replacing.

 

as for not filtering because its too fast thats a crock, its simply 2 x 150gpd membranes and it works just fine under tap pressure, i get 0ppm on my tds meter and i know theres no chlorine present because my teas dont brew properly when there is chlorine present so the membranes work just fine.

 

as for connections 3 years in and none of the quick release fittings has ever failed and as for a flooded house well its a portable unit attached to an outside tap so there is no flooding issue even if it did decide to crap out.

 

but hey if you want to keep getting charged double what you need to be paying go right ahead

 

I stand by the saying you get what you pay for. I did mention it to be a good beginner unit - and too cheap to really go wrong with.... unless the unit breaks and floods your house.

 

As for the 150 GPD... well let me just say that unless you know what PSI that's rated at that number is useless. In any case, in domestic units the faster the water production, the more impurities make it through.... also less contact time in the prefilters, especially the carbon stage, can mean more chlorine makes it into the membrane and eats it quicker - especially if you have chloramine water.

How about the waste ratio do you consider that? Price of water ain't cheap and these things waste plenty of it. There's more to consider for long term price efficiency.

 

As for fittings, well your lucky that yours is mounted outside. MOST peeps don't have that luxury. Can you tell me, are your filter housings rated?? Do they conform to australian standards AS3497?? If not well no licensed plumber can legally install it. Anyone who may want to consider the unit you posted may want to check this first.

 

I have peace of mind that my unit is rated.... "This housing is tough with a burst strength of 575psi (4000kpa) and is tested to AS3497 which means it has been tested from 0 to 700kpa and back to 0 kpa 100,000 times without failure, cracking or distortion."

 

Does your unit come with a pressure limiting valve incase of emergency? 

 

Mounting a cheap unit inside, always pressurized, is not something I advise or condone sorry. 

 

Your unit works for you, great, i'm just pointing out why others might want to spend the extra.

Edited April 12, 2014 by ConvexConepiece

[pegz]

About to do a feed, straight from the tap:

 

 

Sometimes comes out in the low 7's but more typically low 6. Good water where I am, I'm fucking lucky.

 

 

hey pegz i dont drink it it tastes bad. i have a filter jug you are  very lucky to have very lil to no ec level

 

Yeah but there must be a lot of sediment in the water if the EC is so high, not good.

[ConvexConepiece]

About to do a feed, straight from the tap:

 

 

Sometimes comes out in the low 7's but more typically low 6. Good water where I am, I'm fucking lucky.

 

Your definitely lucky to have water that clean, at least in the sense of not having heavy metals etc.

 

I'd like to know what TDS it would be but needless to say you are in the minority being someone with great tap water, enjoy it.