RO/DI water

[DJ Oetting]

does anyone know of anywhere in the sarnia area to get RO/DI water from.

 

[iantower]

Im in sarnia buddy and I havent come across any place... I use tap water, sarnia's is good enough, does have some nutrients and you will battle algae so a larger clean up crew will be needed, but I have a large clean up crew, treat all water for chlorine (a huge must) and have never had any problems except for diatoms due to the nutrients... but Ill deal with it for now.
Cheers!

 

[fishit]

don't use tap water !!!!! use ro water any grocery store will have it or even most car washes that you fill your own. but i suggest going out and buying one i paid 100$ bran new 3 stage coral life from local lfs and if you ad up the amount you will spend on ro water it will pay for it self in a couple months!!!!1 think i loose 2.5 gals a day at 78.5 water temp that is a jug every 2 days at 4$ a jug times 365 days a year divided by 2 =      yaaaaaaa 730$ a year lol for fn water wow 

 

[shayneh]

LOL! I agree..... tap water is barely suitable for humans.....the source is recycled waste water meaning your drinking what someone flushed down the toilet a few days ago. Everyone seems to think that the water is clean.... all chlorination does is kill the bacteria in the water so your essentially drinking dead fecal bacteria, heavy metals, and synthetic medications (viagra, prozac, antibiotics, etc...) that don't break down....ever.

I fail to see the point of spending all the money on equipment and then cheaping out by using tap water. You want as close to 0TDS as you can get. Any store that sells water treatment equipment will likely have ro water for sale (Water Depot, Culligan, etc....)

 

[iantower]

Lol... nowhere in sarnia has treated water you can buy, and where did you pick up a RO unit for $100 dollars, a good one that actually treats your water right cost at least $400.
Anyways I treat water for a living, Im a power engineer, and we get our water from the great lakes, we DO NOT directly reuse effluent from the sewers lol... the sewer system gets treated and then released into the great lakes downstream of where we take our water from... Sarnia water is beyond great for humans and besides the high nutrients like I said above it can and has done well when used in aquaria, as long as the chlorine is removed because there is a lot of it.
Places downriver of the valley, Wallaceburg, Chatham and Windsor is a different story, though still treated and is suitable there is more nutrients in it due to the effluent from the valley being in the water shed.
So my friend from Sarnia, dont be afraid... if you have the funds to go and get a RO/DI unit then do it, but for me it was one spot that I could save some money for now knowing that it was ok to use local water.
Cheers!

 

[DJ Oetting]

thanks for the input guys i have also looked at RO units you can get a 25g/day for 100 from jl aquatics i may go that route

 

[fishit]

Got it from superior sea 100$ and ya it works great it's a three stage and I test it frequently never had a problem in a year !you can get it at Rona Windsor also for about 200$ allot beater than using tap water ! And yes you may use tap water for a little wile and not have a problem but if you do no no sorry when you do and wipe out you 5000$ of live stock just remember that the 100$ to 200$ you could have spent on that ro unit that is now 100 to 200$ worth of dead live stock use ro man don't ask for disaster the water out of the tap is good one day and deadly the next I wouldn't drink it would you so don't make your tank

 

[Neopimp]

One more here in Saria using Tap water.  No diatoms and yes there is a lot of chlorine in the water.

 

[Blob-79]

if your looking for an RO DI system, with all the bells and whistles visit www.bulkreefsupply.com or www.bwiplumbing.com

$150 - $200 will get you a nice system

 

[shayneh]

Iantower although I am aware that the potable water used for municipalities is not in a direct loop from the wastewater treatment plants you still help me illustrate my point. That's great that Sarnia's intakes are from Lake Huron but what do you think all the towns and cities along Lake Huron are doing with their effluent? I have yet to hear of a single wastewater treatment facility that releases pure water back into the lakes and streams so Sarnia is basically sucking up the treated wastewater from every Canadian and US facility (EPA's standards are worse than the MOE) that pumps their treated wastewater back into the lake. All the Chlorine does is kill the bacteria present it doesn't remove them so you are essentially dumping dead/decaying organisms into your tank along with all the trace heavy metals (lead,mercury), and synthetic meds. Hate to break it to you but higher ppm of chlorine means there are a lot of bacteria to kill and yes you are drinking water that went down someone elses toilet.

Although I am not an engineer I do have about 20years of wastewater treatment experience as most of the systems we use for our aquariums come from this field of study and as a eco-conscious nerd I am well versed on what is deemed acceptable by your governing bodies (MOE and Health Canada). Although potable water standards have become slightly more stringent since "Walkerton" it's still got a way to go.

Also my comment was general advice to everyone on the forum not just Sarnia. As an example....My tap water here may contain very little e coli and coliform it contains 40ppm of Nitrates. While that is deemed suitable for human consumption it would likely cause RTN in my sps very quickly.

A quick search for water treatment in Sarnia brought up Culligan on Confederation St. and Kern Water Systems on London Line...... I am sure they would sell you ro water.

This is the best place to get an ro unit from in my opinion..... cheap, Canadian company, and very effective! http://aquasafecanada.com/aquarium.html  

 

[fishit]

Well it's good tap water works up ther but all it's going to take is one time that the watercquality is shit and that's it time  to re start if it works for you guys greAt but I'm just saying personally I'm not that big into gambling with 5000 on the line lol

 

[reeffreak]

if your looking for an RO DI system, with all the bells and whistles visit www.bulkreefsupply.com or www.bwiplumbing.com

$150 - $200 will get you a nice system

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
BINGOOOOOOOOOO .... If your using tap water to run your tank might aswell shut er down now or you will have lots of issues . using just ro water will cost you 100x as much buy an ro/di unit get it over with lol if your planning on being in this hobby for awhile you will eventually get one no matter what anyways so might aswell do it now .

 

[shayneh]

Not trying to steer anyone away from the other suppliers but these work extremely well and include everything you need including TDS meter and are 100gpd.....And yes it's what I use! They are lab grade units and have the 3 smaller di chambers instead of one giant one so you can use the resin more efficiently.

http://aquasafecanada.com/aquarium.html

 

[Blob-79]

wow just checked out that link...they make one hell of a system for a good price...comes with spare media and filters to boot!

 

[mxdan]

I have airwaterice.com that I got used from Rick, it works great and I can tell you that my water is just as good as our lab water at work if not better ( tested both myself ). I can also tell you that I have seen tanks in london that are in amazing condition that are run on tap water, even a successful seahorse setup that rears seahorses all the time.

I don't know if that helps but there you go.

 

[Blob-79]

I dont think anyone is debating the fact that tap water can be used. Its just dangerous. Water properties may change from time to time. Pending time of the month, and water main cleaning. And those of us that dont run fish only tanks can not take that chance. For instance to even get a trace amount of copper in our tanks spells disaster. Not to mention the high amout on nitrate most of our water is laced with

 

[DJ Oetting]

I am going to have to agree with everyone on this, i know of people who use tap water and run a nice lookin tank and as you can see on here lots will say its possible but IMO i would not use tap water. I tried that on the last tank i had and i had nothin but problems. Now im not saying dont use tap water because i am not experienced enough to give out that kind of advice, if it works for you and you can do it all the power to ya. I'm just agreeing with the ones who say dont use it from my past experiences. Its not worth the risk especially for how cheap you can get either RO/DI water from a store for or pick up a unit and have it made for you out of the comfort of you're own home lol

 

[lewis844]

when i started my tank i used nothing but ro/di water and had more problems then when i used tap water

 

[Blob-79]

Not trying to steer anyone away from the other suppliers but these work extremely well and include everything you need including TDS meter and are 100gpd.....And yes it's what I use! They are lab grade units and have the 3 smaller di chambers instead of one giant one so you can use the resin more efficiently.

http://aquasafecanada.com/aquarium.html

hehe...I just ordered one thanks for the link shayneh
I figure its an awsome deal. buy about 3 years worth of filters and get the whole unit for $80 or so

 

[shayneh]

lewis844 how would ro/di give you any problems...?????....it's pure H2O! I would be willing to bet your ro was shot. Blob-79 good call they are excellent value you won't be disappointed. I hope they give more instructions than when I got mine but if you need some help I'm almost always around....lol!