FlyTrapCare Forums

What brand of RO membrane is everyone using? All the ones on Amazon look about the same and they often fail early.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I got tired of having to constantly buy jugs of distilled water so I got an RO system from bulk reef supply that I am very happy with. I live in Philadelphia where the tap water is pretty hard (~230 ppm) so I went with the 5 stage RO. Have been using the RO system to fill a 55 gallon barrel for about a year now and I still get 0 ppm water from it. 5 stage might have been overkill in my case because the 3 stage RO is cheaper, but it all depends on the tap water where you live.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

f1appyb1rd wrote: ↑Thu Feb 04, 2021 1:24 pm I got tired of having to constantly buy jugs of distilled water so I got an RO system from bulk reef supply that I am very happy with. I live in Philadelphia where the tap water is pretty hard (~230 ppm) so I went with the 5 stage RO. Have been using the RO system to fill a 55 gallon barrel for about a year now and I still get 0 ppm water from it. 5 stage might have been overkill in my case because the 3 stage RO is cheaper, but it all depends on the tap water where you live.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do you have an estimate of how many gallons of water you get per filter? How much does each filter cost? I’m just trying to see how many gallons of water I would have to use in order for it to be worth it.

It’s not really gallons of water per filter because the water passes through all 5 filters. My RO system is rated at 100 gallons per day. This works for me because I have a lot of plants to water and a full 55 gallon barrel lasts me a while. It is also kind of expensive, but I feel it was a wise investment that makes my life easier.

There are cheaper options to obtain clean water. One that I wish I had known about when I started growing CP’s is the Zero Water pitcher, which is more cost effective for smaller collections.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How much waste is there with an RO system? Is it like 1 gallon of waste for every 1 gallon of RO H2O?

Supercazzola wrote:How much waste is there with an RO system? Is it like 1 gallon of waste for every 1 gallon of RO H2O?

It's roughly a 50/50 deal. Overall thoughm, if you have a large number of plants, an RO machine is the way to go. I would be hemorrhaging money if I had to buy the stuff. Using like 15 gallons a week. Machine has easily paid for itself. As for a unit, I just use a countertop 5 stage RO system cost about 200 dollar IIRC

Supercazzola wrote:How much waste is there with an RO system? Is it like 1 gallon of waste for every 1 gallon of RO H2O?

The bulk reef supply website lists the waste water to product water ratio for mine as 3:1. But I think it also depends on the water pressure from the tap.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I used to have one for my coral tank. I’m probably going to need to buy something soon, at least until the rainy season starts here in FL. Then I will have more than I will know what to do with. But the rain is at 12-14 ppm.