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Thread: Reverse Osmosis System

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Nov 2005
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    Rondo, Missouri
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    Reverse Osmosis System

    My wife had been begging me for a filtration system for our water for quite some time. We are on well water which comes out of an artesian well deep in a limestone bedrock. There must be some iron somewhere as well, because the iron concentration in the water was very high. Total PPM of total dissolved solids was so high the meter I bought to measure TDS pegged out, and it went up to 1500PPM TDS. Last month I got a royalty check and instead of sending it to the hospital (which is very close to being paid off by the way...HOORAY!!), I bought a filter system that had three in-line filters down in the basement where the water comes in, and a reverse osmosis system that went under the sink in the kitchen.

    Instantly the water smelled better, which was a surprise. I'd grown so used to the water that I'd stopped noticing the smell. But the key point relevant to this discussion, is that the water coming out of the reverse osmosis system now tests at 10PPM TDS. The "distilled water" I'd been buying at the grocery store tests out at 8ppm! I am now able to mix all of my solutions with very high quality water and the wetting agent at the end leaves negatives crystal clean! I was amazed. (We get great coffee and tea now, too.)

    The point of all this is that I'm always seeing people comment on their water quality being questionable. The total system cost a little more than $650.00 for both the upstairs and downstairs units. They took about three hours to install, and it was easy enough I was able to do it myself. And I ain't exactly the handiest of all guys! The reverse osmosis side was $389.00, so it actually was the biggest brunt.

    It certainly wouldn't be have been worth the squeeze if all I wanted was cleaner darkroom water. But to get healthier water, better tasting drinking water and beverages and to stop clogging up the pipes with calcium makes it worth while for me. To have a happier wife make it worth ten times what I paid for it. (Of course, if it had been ten times what I paid for it, I couldn't have afforded to buy it and I wouldn't be writing this right now.)

    But look on the bright side. I'll stop buying distilled water at $1.49 a pop. It'll pay for itself in less that 20 years!
    Michael W. Graves
    Michael's Pub

    If it ain't broke....don't fix it!

  2. #2
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Dec 2011
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    22,319

    Re: Reverse Osmosis System

    LOL the last sentence

    here its 89 cents

    I have gallons of it everywhere as we get water outages and I expect worse soon

    Very good coffee!
    Tin Can

  3. #3

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    Apr 2009
    Location
    Seattle area, WA
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    1,324

    Re: Reverse Osmosis System

    That's great your water is cleaner. I grew up in Missouri and remember older bathrooms in apartments etc having obvious water staining and hard water everywhere. Now I live in the Pacific Northwest, water is from a mountain river. Some of the cleanest you can get in the US, but also the most expensive. The bigger cities of Tacoma and Seattle actually fence off entire river watersheds where the water comes from, it is odd because it's one of the few places in the mountains you can't wander and hike, but makes sense.

  4. #4
    Peter De Smidt's Avatar
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    Jan 2001
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    Fond du Lac, WI, USA
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    Re: Reverse Osmosis System

    Make sure to do the maintenance required to keep the system running well! Did you factor in filter replacements in your return on investment calculation? In addition, follow the flushing procedures, or you'll end up with fine bits of charcoal on your film.
    “You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
    ― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know

  5. #5

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    Aug 2000
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    California
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    Re: Reverse Osmosis System

    I have had an RO system or 20+ years. At first it was leased so I had no large initial cost. About 18 months ago the company switched to selling the unit and servicing the filter as needed. Purchase was covered by my years of leasing. The change of filters costs me about $20 every 7-8 months. I use the system for darkroom, cooking and drinking. Overall extremely cheap per gallon of excellent water.
    Last edited by Jim Noel; 1-Feb-2021 at 18:42. Reason: spellng

  6. #6

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    Sep 2014
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    North Dakota
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    Re: Reverse Osmosis System

    Another advantage of the system is not loading up the City Dump with discarded plastic water jugs.
    ” Never attribute to inspiration that which can be adequately explained by delusion”.

  7. #7
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: Reverse Osmosis System

    True
    Tin Can

  8. #8
    Peter De Smidt's Avatar
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    Re: Reverse Osmosis System

    But the system does waste a lot of water, and it should only be used with water that's bacteriologically safe. (Some systems have a UV light to minimize this problem.)

    I've been pointing out some negatives, but RO filters are a very good option. I used RODI, reverse osmosis de-ionization, filters for my reef aquariums for years.
    “You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
    ― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know

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