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recommended reverse osmosis systems

Easy question with probably a complicated answer: what would be the best reverse osmosis system and/or recommendations for a good RO system for carnivorous plants?

I have recently jumped my collection size by a factor of three and am finding getting jugs of distilled water impractical and increasingly costly. By the time I water one half of the plants the other half need watering again. *sigh*
 
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Easy question with probably a complicated answer: what would be the best reverse osmosis system and/or recommendations for a good RO system for carnivorous pants?

I have recently jumped my collection size by a factor of three and am finding getting jugs of distilled water impractical and increasingly costly. By the time I water one half of the plants the other half need watering again. *sigh*

What do you feed them?? ;)
 
Nice. I typed this out on my tablet. Blame auto correct. Fixed.
 
http://www.h2osplashwaterfilters.com/4stropuchowi.html

This is similar to the unit I have. This has an extra pump to push water through the filters I case your water pressure isn't strong enough to keep the filters working efficiently. Downside it doesn't have a storage tank with it... I have the same unit minus the bonus pump and with a 4 gal storage tank. With new filters my water was down to 11ppm lowest down to 9ppm. I checked last week with my year old filters my tap water went from close to 300ppm down to 18ppm.

From time my order was placed to when it was at my door took three days and it was package very well. It took less then 20 minutes to install. All the tubes are color coordinated for easy installation with a very detailed YouTube video that walks you through it. That I would watch before ordering because there is and extra piece you can request for free is you need it that's helpful.
 
If you want water on demand you will need one with an accumulator tank.

(open line and immediately get a 2-3 gallons or more of RO water, depending on size of system)

Lots of variables that can only be answered by your operational needs and budget goals...

There are (painfully LOL) long and detailed threads on this subject, Id recommend reading some of them... get an idea of the various system designs and then you will be able to ask more specific questions.

"Which is the best..." is very wide open and subjective.
 
i've always purchased mine from purewaterclub.com and their customer service was great.

it all depends on how much water you use in a single day. i use a 100gpd unit and i route the clean water to a home depot plastic trash bin(as the reservoir) which I setup with a float on top to stop the water once it gets full. the plastic trash bin is about a 32 gallon one and it supported my collection of about 100 cps in bog gardens and my pots/trays. i wouldnt recommend using a bladder tank since first of all they cost alot and second they dont hold all that much water(unless you want to shell out the dough for it). if needed you could always upgrade the to a 100 gallon trash bin reservoir then from that point you would need a bigger ro unit or multiples to handle the amount of water you need. just know that the higher gpd ones can run a pretty penny.

~billy
 
i've always purchased mine from purewaterclub.com and their customer service was great.

it all depends on how much water you use in a single day. i use a 100gpd unit and i route the clean water to a home depot plastic trash bin(as the reservoir) which I setup with a float on top to stop the water once it gets full. the plastic trash bin is about a 32 gallon one and it supported my collection of about 100 cps in bog gardens and my pots/trays. i wouldnt recommend using a bladder tank since first of all they cost alot and second they dont hold all that much water(unless you want to shell out the dough for it). if needed you could always upgrade the to a 100 gallon trash bin reservoir then from that point you would need a bigger ro unit or multiples to handle the amount of water you need. just know that the higher gpd ones can run a pretty penny.

~billy

But if you do as I do and use your RO for ice maker and kitchen use, you must* use the bladder tank...
(*you could use a pump and solenoid valve, but I prefer the tank)
I also have pressurized RO lines running to my grow chamber and aquarium.

It all depends on your needs and expectations...
 
Thanks for the input, guys. I'll read through some of the other threads as well, but while I have your attention it was mentioned pricing and other goals might be good input...

Pricing is probably no more than 300 dollars at one go; I see a lot of them are about 200 dollars, so I imagine that's probably a decent price range. I don't think I could convince the wife to go much higher than that at the moment.

Currently I'll have a sum total of about 50 CPs, with over half of that being outdoors Sarrs, vfts, etc. that I will be placing in a baby pool(s) - sort of a makeshift bog garden that can be torn down when the brutal -10 degree F winters hit. The real thing is I have a hankering to grow the collection by far, far more than it currently is (barring the wife's approval). I could see getting upwards of 100 sarrs in the future.

Another thing is the summers here in Nebraska it gets really, really hot and so evaporation is a constant pain in the ***. Keeping the sarrs in trays has become a real PITA - sometimes I have to fill their trays twice a day which eats up time.

I have a couple water lines downstairs and so size/clumsiness won't be a concern as I can hide it in the laundry room :)

Does that give you a scale to work with?
 
But if you do as I do and use your RO for ice maker and kitchen use, you must* use the bladder tank...
(*you could use a pump and solenoid valve, but I prefer the tank)
I also have pressurized RO lines running to my grow chamber and aquarium.

It all depends on your needs and expectations...

Yes, I think to bring about more practicality to the rest of the family, getting something which can work for kitchen use, etc would be nice. I imagine the bladder tank bumps up the price a good amount?
 
  • #10
But if you do as I do and use your RO for ice maker and kitchen use, you must* use the bladder tank...
(*you could use a pump and solenoid valve, but I prefer the tank)
I also have pressurized RO lines running to my grow chamber and aquarium.

It all depends on your needs and expectations...

av8tor1: good point, i was thinking of more of a dedicated ro system to cps as he hadnt mentioned possibly using using in the house.
 
  • #12
Yes, I think to bring about more practicality to the rest of the family, getting something which can work for kitchen use, etc would be nice. I imagine the bladder tank bumps up the price a good amount?

Not much, look for a recent post from "Mickey".... he just purchased a bladder tank system from a well known vendor.

If its in your budget I would also recommend a permeate pump upgrade, it increases the system efficiency and filter life dramatically. My system has been in use since 2006 and I'm still on the second membrane, and that is with daily household/CP use.

Please spend some time in the older threads on the subject, they will answer most of your questions and give you a much better understanding of the technology.

Spending a little more upfront saves quite a bit over the long haul.

300 would let you buy a setup functionally identical to mine easily, low 2's would be a good estimate.

my_rodi.jpg
 
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  • #13
For CPs I think just about every RO unit on the market is overkill. I wish I could find a simple one. Here's what you need, in my opinion:

- a pre-filter to protect the membrane from chlorine
- a membrane
- a storage tank

That's it. Mine also has a post-filter but I consider it useless. I don't think I've ever changed it and it's just taking up space. After maybe 7 years I'm still getting around 14ppm and I've never changed the membrane, just the pre-filters.

EDIT: Though if you have particularly bad water, this won't be true. My tap water is 120ppm.
 
  • #15
Our tap is 167ppm before the RO machine (and stinks of sulfur), and 6ppm afterwards.
We don't use it for just CP's, as it also produces our drinking water. Couldn't imagine not having one..
 
  • #16
I prefer to not drink demineralised water, so don't have a pressurised system. Instead, I have a simple setup consisting of a particulate pre-filter, RO membrane and carbon block post filter. I use this to fill storage containers. Cost me less that $100 and have been using it for the past couple of years with no issues.

Of course, a far cheaper way is to collect rainwater for watering plants, providing it rains frequently enough - which really isn't an issue here in Scotland!
 
  • #17
our water isn't as bad as Mexico's, but it'll send you running to the pooper if you drink too much of it. We don't even let our pets drink it..
I'll stick to my RO.
 
  • #18
The water here is Scotland is very soft, especially compared to where I was born. All of the tap water within the UK is fit to drink though, so we don't have to worry about upset stomachs. I just prefer to have some minerals in drinking water, mainly a taste thing for me I think. There's an article on it here: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/nutdemineralized.pdf
 
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