AQUARIUMS

One of the most important aspects to caring for your aquarium, is providing the purest, thus, best environment for the ecosystem, clean water. For topping off and water changes, you will need many gallons of water. Water is heavy to transport, and for the price of the containers alone, you are better off with an Reverse Osmosis System with a Deionizer filter add on. You can have clean water whenever you want, without the added hassle of lugging big jugs around.

There are various schools of thought as to the right way to hook up your Reverse Osmosis System. This particular article has some very valid points to consider. You decide which way you want to go, but it is best to keep these factors in mind even if you decide to go with the automatic top off from your RO System

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http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-05/ml/index.php

 

Which ever way you go, a float valve will turn off the system when water is full. Think about how you want to set up your system, and how many float switches etc you may need. We sell the Reverse Osmosis system with everything you need to hook up the system, including the auto shut off switch and check valve. You only have to install the float valve. The delivery end is your choice. Here is one example of how to hook up a system for storage or storage and top off.

Float valve

A Video Explaining the Various Components*

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssa6njb5nV4

*The Auto Shut Off Switch and Check Valve is already part of the System. The Check Valve is built into the reverse osmosis membrane connection

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You would probably want to place the system where you have the space for storing water, a basement or a laundry room would be ideal. You would need access to your water lines as well as drainage. Connect your system to the water supply either with a faucet, feed water adapter or hose adapter, that is a part of the system, and place the drain line in a sink, or hook it into your drainage system with the saddle valve provided.  Use a large food grade container for water storage, and run your RO/DI water into it. Position your float valve.for auto cut off. This makes the purest drinking water as well. Just make sure your storage containers are sanitary.

All our Aquarium systems come with a color changing Deionizer filter. The color changes from blue to brown as it exhausts. This gives you a visual aid to know when to change the media. The media is in a clear housing that is refillable. This is much more economical way to use DI. Reverse Osmosis and deionization (DI) perform the same task of removing impurities from tap water. However, DI purifies water utilizing the principle of ion exchange to remove impurities and replaces them with pure water.In most instances, an RO unit serves as a well-rounded filtration method that removes the majority of impurities; coupled with a post deionization filter, the resulting water is 99.9% pure. Many RO units are available as a combined RO/DI unit or are able to accommodate an add-on DI unit that simply attaches to your existing RO unit. 

Reverse osmosis removes virtually everything from tap water, including essential minerals your aquarium inhabitants need to flourish. Depending on the type of aquarium the RO water is being used for, it may be necessary to add these essential minerals back into the purified water. Most marine salt mixes already contain these minerals and the use of RO conditioners is not necessary. However, freshwater aquariums require re-mineralization to achieve the desired pH. Your local fish store should have minerals available in various forms. 

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Reverse Osmosis. How Pure is the Water?

Reverse Osmosis Systems

Reverse osmosis, also known as hyperfiltration, is the finest filtration available today. It is the most common treatment technology used by premium bottled water companies. It is effective in eliminating or substantially reducing a very wide array of contaminants, and of all technologies used to treat drinking water in residential applications, it has the greatest range of contaminant removal. Reverse osmosis will allow the removal of particles as small as individual ions.

Reverse osmosis uses a membrane that is semi-permeable, allowing pure water to pass through it, while rejecting the contaminants that are too large to pass through the tiny pores in the membrane. Quality reverse osmosis systems use a process known as crossflow to allow the membrane to continually clean itself. As some of the fluid passes through the membrane the rest continues downstream, sweeping the rejected contaminants away from the membrane and down the drain. The process of reverse osmosis requires a driving force to push the fluid through the membrane (the pressure provided by a standard residential water system is sufficient - 40 psi+).

Since membranes are subject to degrading by chlorine, iron, manganese, and hydrogen sulfide, and to bacterial attack, a sediment pre-filter and an activated carbon pre-filter and a carbon block filter is included with your reverse osmosis system. There is also a carbon post filter to polish the taste. Water softeners can be used in advance of the RO system when household water is excessively hard to prevent pre-filter and membrane fouling. you could also use a softener cartridge instead of the second stage carbon if you do not want a whole house system. RO systems are generally the best choice for water contaminated with high nitrite levels as might be found in agricultural areas.

Arsenic	Bacteria and Viruses	Bad Tastes & Odors	Chlorine	Fluoride	Hydrogen Sulfide	Heavy Metals	Nitrates	Radon	Sediment	Iron	VOC's

= Effectively Removes         = Significantly Reduces         = Minimal or No Removal   

* Even though reverse osmosis is effective in removing bacteria and viruses, it is not recommended that your rely upon reverse osmosis solely if your water is contaminated with bacteria or viruses. These are the contaminants removed:

RESIDENTIAL REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEMS

All our Residential models of Reverse Osmosis systems include everything you would need to install. The installation is pretty straight forward. 

5 Stage Reverse Osmosis systems contain the following:

• 1 SEDIMENT FILTERS 5 MICRON
• 1 CARBON BLOCK FILTER 5 MICRON
• 1 SEDIMENT FILTER 1 MICRON
• 1 MEMBRANE SIZED ACCORDING TO GDP (Gallons Per Day)
• 1 INLINE POST CARBON FILTER
• 3 FILTER HOUSING
• 1 AUTOMATIC SHUT OFF VALVE
• 1 FLOW RESTRICTOR
• 1 RO STORAGE TANK 3.2 gallon with 2.8 gallon capacity- 9" X 15"
• 1 RO FAUCET
• color coded food grade tubing for easy installation
• Feed Water Saddle valve
• Check valve on membrane housing

 

 

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How to Rebuild a Whole House Softener or Whole House Filter.

How to Rebuild a Whole House Filter or Softener

Periodically, you are going to have to replace the media in your system. It may be years down the road if you have a new one, but you might want to know how. It's fairly easy to do, and a great DIY project. It's not rocket science! If you have an older system that is not performing like it used to, it is time to change the media.

Your structural tank comes with a manufacturer's warranty of 10 years. They last much much longer than that, unless you've abused it, or the threads are damaged, it is generally not an item that needs to be replaced. Do inspect it carefully though. The two things that can go wrong is, as we mentioned, media that is exhausted, or your control valve is malfunctioning.

First of all, turn on the water by-pass valve on your system so that you can work on it. You will want to relieve the water pressure still in the unit,  turn the control to "backwash" for 30 secs, so the system purges some water and  pressure. There should be no water coming out of the drain after the first few seconds if your by pass valve is on. Put the control back into service mode.

Unplug the electricity, remove the pipe fittings to your unit, . Once your filter is free from your plumbing, unscrew the control valve. You will probably need someone to hold the unit while you unscrew it. Once it unscrews, you will notice that it is attached to the distributer/riser tube. This tube is attached to the control valve by an o-ring, so pull up on it. If the tube comes up with it, don't worry, just grab on to it and separate them. Put the control valve away from where you are working. You don't want to get media or dirt into it.

The unit is heavy with water and media. You may want to move it, in which case, siphon the water out. If your distribution/ riser tube is not too far out of the tank, insert a lenght of hose down the tube to siphon out the water. With the tank now considerably lighter, pull out the distributor/riser tube and dump out the old media and dispose of properly.

Clean out your media tank. Wash it with a bleach solution. If your media needed to be replaced because of fouling, this is especially important. Don't forget to clean the distributor/riser tube as well.  Once it's clean and dry, we are ready to rebuild.

Center your distributer/riser tube in the tank. There is a shallow indentation at the bottom of the tank it fits in. The bulb part goes in the bottom! cover the opening of the distributer/riser tube with a plug or a piece of plastic securely rubber-banded to the tube. You DO NOT want any of the media in that tube, it will find it's way into the control valve and cause it to malfunction. If your using fine mesh media, you want to add a layer of fine gravel to cover up the bulb part. This ensures the fine mesh media does not enter the distributer/riser tube at the bottom. We sell gravel, but it's very heavy, and the postage will be astronomical. See if you can't find it locally.

UNDER BED GRAVELDISTRIBUTER/RISER TUBE

• Support Gravel Water Treatment Media:
• Gravel filter media is a high purity, reliable quality gravel that makes this media great for filtration applications.
• Support gravel, the lower strata of a filter bed, acts to support the filter medium.
• The support gravel must possess the necessary attributes of hardness and be rounded or non-angular.
• Gravel media is cleansed to remove all shale, clay, and inorganic impurities.

Now you are ready to rebed the filter. Use a funnel and add the media to the tank. keeping the distributer/riser tube centered. It may be easier to add it slowly, rather than pouring it directly from the heavy bag. The media is never the entire depth of the tank, there is always at least half to a third empty space to provide plenty of room for backwashing. Some media like Filtersorb will be even less. That's normal.

When you've added all the media to the tank, clean off the protective cap/cover on your distributer/riser tube, and then remove it.  Put a little food grade silicone grease on the O-ring in your control valve, the one that holds the distributer/riser tube in place. Insert the control head on to the riser tube and push down so it forms a nice seal. Screw the control valve back on, attach your plumbing, and plug in the control valve.

Open a faucet down stream from the filter to purge the air that will be in the system from the newly rebuilt filter. Turn on the water S-L-O-W-L-Y to the filter, take your time. Check for leaks. The water may be discolored, especially if it's carbon that you've replaced. It's normal. The purging air will be noisy...Don't freak out! Once all the air is purged, let it sit for a few hours or overnight.  It's OK to keep using water during this time, you'll see some discoloration, but it's just aesthetics.

Now it's time to put it through a back wash cycle to remove media dust, and if it's softener media or other media that needs to be regenerated, this is the time to do it. Make sure you have a faucet opened downstream in case there is still some trapped air in the system. Put the filter through an entire cycle to clean it all up and to regenerate. With a carbon filter, there will still be some residual carbon fines in the water for a few days after a backwash, again, that's normal. Make sure the valve is working correctly and there are no leaks. That's it. You're done. Good job! If you have any questions, or just need some hand holding, , contact us.

 

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What Type of Filter is Right for Me?

What Type of Water Filtration is Right For Me?

To answer that question, first you must determine what is most important to you. Is it better tasting water, removal of contaminants, ease of use, or the best quality water you can have? Do you live in an apartment where you cannot modify the plumbing? Are you on well water with specific problems? There are many variables, so lets get started.

Home Drinking Water Systems.

Water Filters

The simplest solution would be a counter top filter. A one stage carbon filter will remove a host of contaminants and deliver purer and cleaner tasting water. To protect the longevity and efficientcy of the carbon filter, it is recommended that you precede that with a sediment filter, the sediment filter will filter out what would otherwise clog the carbon particles, , that would be the two stage countertop system. To really max out the benefits of this system, the final carbon block in the 3 stage system will give you the best quality that a counter top system can deliver. These units are easy to set up, they come with the faucet adapter, so there is no plumbing modification needed. The filters will need to be replaced every 6 mos to 1 year, depending on how much water you use, how many filters in the unit, and the water quality in your area.  The filters are standard, and can be bought just about anywhere. All our systems use standard filters to ensure they are available when you need them.

If you prefer to have a filtration system that is out of sight, an undersink filtration system in the two or three stage models will be right for you. It will not take up any counter space and are easily installed. All parts for a standard installation, including tubing, connections and faucets etc are included.  Both the counter top and under sink filtration units use carbon filters, and carbon will remove the following contaminants.

Arsenic	Bacteria and Viruses	Bad Tastes & Odors	Chlorine	Fluoride	Hydrogen Sulfide	Heavy Metals	Nitrates	Radon	Sediment	Iron	VOC's
					**				to

= Effectively Removes         = Significantly Reduces         = Minimal or No Removal

Carbon will improve the taste and remove some contaminants, but if you are looking to remove most contaminants, a Reverse Osmosis System is the way to go.

Reverse Osmosis Systems.

Reverse Osmosis or hyperfiltration units removes many more contaminants than just a filtration system alone. For some, nitrates and fluoride in the water is a health concern, in which case, this would be the ideal choice. Let's bring up the same graphic to see what reverse osmosis will remove.  As you can see, a complete Reverse Osmosis system with the carbon prefilter and post filter will eliminate almost all contaminants.

Arsenic	Bacteria and Viruses	Bad Tastes & Odors	Chlorine	Fluoride	Hydrogen Sulfide	Heavy Metals	Nitrates	Radon	Sediment	Iron	VOC's

= Effectively Removes         = Significantly Reduces         = Minimal or No Removal

Reverse osmosis uses a membrane that is semi-permeable, allowing pure water to pass through it, while rejecting the contaminants that are too large to pass through the tiny pores in the membrane. Quality reverse osmosis systems use a process known as crossflow to allow the membrane to continually clean itself. As some of the fluid passes through the membrane the rest continues downstream, sweeping the rejected contaminants away from the membrane and down the drain. The process of reverse osmosis requires a driving force to push the fluid through the membrane (the pressure provided by a standard residential water system is sufficient - 40 psi+.

Since membranes are subject to degrading by chlorine, iron, manganese, and hydrogen sulfide, and to bacterial attack, a sediment pre-filter and an activated carbon pre-filter and/or post-filter is included with your reverse osmosis system. Water softeners can be used in advance of the RO system when household water is excessively hard to prevent pre-filter and membrane fouling. RO systems are generally the best choice for water contaminated with high nitrite levels as might be found in agricultural areas.

All our Reverse Osmosis Systems come complete with filters, membranes, housings, food grade tubing, connections, faucet and the pressure tank etc. you need for a standard installation.

Even though reverse osmosis is effective in removing bacteria and viruses, it is not recommended that your rely upon reverse osmosis solely if your water is contaminated with bacteria or viruses.

Both the Filtration Systems and the Reverse Osmosis systems are 'Point of Use" systems that are effective in delivering great drinking water right to a faucet.

Whole House Systems.

Whole House Systems, or "Point of Entry" systems are installed where the water enters the home, and ensures that all the water in the house is treated. If you are concerned about the water in your total environment, a Whole House System is what you should consider. There are instances where a point of entry system is recommended, as with very hard water, or a high iron or hydrogen sulfide level.

Water Softeners

Hard water leaves deposits that can, over time, choke the plumbing in your home. You will notice a hard white build up around the faucets, sinks and shower doors. It takes a lot more elbow grease to bring the shine back to your fixtures, and lots more replacements and repairs. Laundry will not be as soft, dishes will emerge from the dishwasher with spots and a film that builds up over time. Skin and hair will also be affected. A Water Softener is very helpful in reversing the hard water build up in your home, and tp bring softness and sparkle back. To obtain the best results with a water softener, a Point of Entry system is highly recommended.  A water softener can also remove up to 3 ppm of iron if present in your water, and offers excellent filtering properties.

Whole House Carbon Filtration

A whole house carbon filter will deliver chlorine free water with no objectionable taste or smell to every faucet in your home. Chlorine is harsh on skin and hair, and will fade clothes over time. Chlorine is not healthy in our drinking water, and it is also absorbed through our skin and through inhalation. A Point of Entry Carbon Filtration system is your best line of defense in chlorine removal.

Carbon will remove/reduce many volatile organic chemicals (VOC), pesticides and herbicides, as well as chlorine, benzene, trihalomethane (THM) compounds, radon, solvents and hundreds of other man-made chemicals found in tap water. Some activated carbon filters are moderately effective at removing some, but not all, heavy metals. In addition, densely compacted carbon block filters mechanically remove particles down to 0.5 micron, including Giardia and Cryptosporidium, turbidity and particulates. Although some iron, manganese, and hydrogen sulfide will be removed by Centaur Carbon filters, a higher quality activated carbon filter, a Pyrolox  filter is generally preferred to remove these contaminants as the effectiveness of carbon filter against iron and manganese is generally short-lived if the contaminant concentration is high.

Carbon filters are NOT generally successful at removing dissolved inorganic contaminants or metals such as minerals/salts (hardness or scale-causing contaminants), antimony, arsenic, asbestos, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, fluoride, mercury, nickel, nitrates/nitrites, selenium, sulfate, thallium, and certain radio nuclides. Removing these contaminants requires either a reverse osmosis water filter system or a distiller (some can also be removed by KDF-55 or Pyrolox or Reverse Osmosis.

Granular Activated Carbon  does not remove sediment / particulate material very well, so they are often preceded by a sediment filter. Sediment pre-filters also prolong the activate carbon cartridge life by eliminating gross contaminants that would otherwise clog the activated carbon thereby reducing the surface area available for absorption.

Whole House Iron/Manganese/Hydrogen Sulphide Removal Filter

If you have a problem with iron, manganese or hydrogen sulphide, the need for a filter to remove these substances will be obvious. The smell of hydrogen sulphide is a characteristic "rotten egg" odor which permeates the air everytime you turn on a faucet. Iron and manganese will stain, producing a reddish rust color in the case of iron, and a black coloration with manganese. Iron and manganese can be the host to bacteria that will form a bio film throughout your plumbing system.

Pyrolox™ is a granular water filtration media used for the removal of hydrogen sulfide, iron and manganese. Through a natural chemical reaction, Pyrolox™ has the ability to help you produce clean, high-quality water. Pyrolox works because of a catalyst reaction whereby hydrogen sulfide, iron, and manganese are oxidized on the media. Daily backwashing then flushes trapped particulate from the filter bed. Pyrolox™ is a natural mineral form of manganese dioxide, making it an environmentally sound means of water filtration. Pyrolox™ is a pure granular form of manganese dioxide whereas greensand and Birm® are merely other minerals coated with manganese dioxide.

Pyrolox™ is a highly effective media for the removal of iron, manganese and hydrogen sulfide. This robust product has proven highly successful in both point-of-entry, municipal and point-of-use applications. Though each treatment application is unique, there are certain general guidelines that need to be followed in order to realize the full benefits of Pyrolox™ as a permanent media.

As with any media, frequent and thorough back-washing is essential for long-term success with Pyrolox™. The specific frequency of regular back-washing is dependent on water quality and application rate. A daily backwash at the appropriate rate is required to remove precipitated contaminants from the filter bed.

To maintain and further augment the long-term performance and removal capacity of the media, an oxidant feed of some type is strongly recommended. This will maintain the media and enhance removal capacity. Chlorine injection (options include chlorine, sodium hypochlorite, or calcium hypochlorite) immediately up stream of the filter feed is a simple way to meet this requirement. In municipal water, chlorine is already added to the water source. In well water systems, a chlorine injector should be installed. The chlorine injector will also assure you that the well water is disinfected. Hydrogen peroxide is specifically prohibited for use as an oxidant in a Pyrolox filter.

Whole House Sediment Filter.

Filter-Ag is a great media to use to clarify water with sediment. Clack Filter-Ag® has many outstanding advantages over the more common granular filter medias used for suspended solids reduction. Its fractured edges and irregular surface provides a high surface area and complex flow path for efficient removal of suspended matter throughout the filter bed, typically reducing suspended solids down to the 20-40 micron range.

The large particles of media allows for greater water flow. The large and irregular shape prevents the screening and caking of sediment in the top several inches of the filter bed as happens in the typical sand filter, thus preventing a rapid buildup of headloss and blinding problems. Filter-Ag’s light weight means lower backwash rates and better bed expansion to release trapped sediment and rinse the filter media during the backwash cycle. The combination of particle shape, size and density make it a good choice where quality water filtration and water conservation are important.

Although not intended to be an iron reduction media, extensive field experience has shown Filter-Ag’s rough and jagged surface to be very good at entrapping the fragile iron flock that forms after dissolved iron has been oxidized. Typical oxidation methods include aeration, ozonation and chlorination.

You may use the Big Blue Whole House filters for a smaller family, these measure 4.5x20'. They can house Sediment, Carbon and a Carbon/KDF filter which will require periodic replacement. A softener cartridge is also available, but that would be something to consider for point of use commercial purposes, ie. coffee machines, ice makers, hair salons etc. It may not be the best choice for a home. A Whole House Point of Use System filter is typically 10x54" with backwash capability. Here is a visual, so you can see the difference between a 4.5x20' filter, and a 10x54' filter

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