Welcome to SpectraPure's FAQ. We are constantly updating these services and hope that you look here first for many of your water purification questions.

Helpful Information on How Water Purification Systems Work

• How Reverse Osmosis Systems (RO) Work
• How Reverse Osmosis / Deionization (RO/DI) Works
  
• How Water Softeners Work
• Which Water Purification Products Should I Choose?
• Maximizing Performance & Minimizing Cost of Ownership
  of RO/DI Systems
• How to Calculate Expected GPD/LPD from a Membrane

• Terms & Conditions of Sale, Methods of Payment, Warranty Information

Helpful Information on Water Purification

How Reverse Osmosis (RO) Systems Work

Reverse Osmosis Systems purify water by passing it through a series of filters to remove particulates, harmful chemicals and pollutants. It is then forced through a special plastic membrane to remove very small particles and ionic contaminants.

In the pre-filtration stage, tap or well water first passes through a sediment filter where silt, sediment and particles (like sand and clay) are removed. Water is then forced through a high-efficiency carbon block filter where micro-pulverized carbon efficiently adsorbs chlorine, chloramines, pesticides, and other harmful organic chemicals and pollutants.

The pre-filtered water, now stripped of membrane damaging particles and chemicals, flows into the RO membrane modules where pure water molecules are forced through the RO membrane, flushing salts, hardness, bacteria, viruses, pyrogens and other impurities from the system.

How Reverse Osmosis / Deionization (RO/DI) Works

Reverse Osmosis membranes, although very good at removing contaminants, still allow trace amounts to pass through. Nitrates, phosphates and silica are among these substances not fully removed. By further processing RO water through multi-layered, mixed-bed deionization cartridges, even difficult-to-remove chemicals are reduced to virtually undetectable levels. The Deionization cartridge contains resin beds of positively and negatively charged polymers which react with contaminants to chemically remove them from the water stream. The result is ultra-pure water that is extremely low in contaminants.

Note: Deionization cartridge life is greatly reduced when operated on source waters with low pH, high carbon dioxide levels, chlorine, chloramine, or ammonia. Aeration or de-gassification of RO product water is recommended for removal of carbon dioxide. Contact SpectraPure® for more information: <service@spectrapure.com>.

How Water Softeners Work

Water Softening Systems are used to reduce hardness (calcium and magnesium salts) by passing the water through a chemically reactive resin bed. Unlike DI cartridges, the beds in water softeners and other conditioning systems can be regenerated by backflushing and recharging with a salt solution (stored in the brine tank of the water softener). Water Softening Systems are always recommended for use ahead of RO Systems.

Choosing a Water Purification System

Following are a series of questions designed to help the SpectraPure® Technical Support Staff determine what water treatment equipment is appropriate for your particular water requirements. For example: Raising corals in a reef tank requires a much higher technology system than does improving the taste of drinking water. We want you to contact us if you're unsure or if you have a question. <service@spectrapure.com>

• What do you intend to use the water for?
• Do you have well water or municipal water?
• What is the pH of your source water?
• What is the general hardness of your water?
• Do you plan on softening your water?
• What is the bicarbonate alkalinity of your water?
• Do you have high silica levels in your water?
• Do you have chlorine or chloramine in your water?
• Does your municipality perform soda-lime softening?
• Are aluminum coagulants used in your source water?
• Are polyphosphates added to your water?
• What is the temperature of your water?
• What is the pressure of your water?

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the best way to store RO water (if we don't have a drinking water tank)?

SpectraPure®: Common methods of storing RO water other than a pressurized tank include portable water storage containers (like the ones you might take camping), 5 gallon water bottles, gas cans and trash cans. We have been told (but haven't actually tried it) that soft-drink bottlers must discard, to be melted down, 55 gal. "food-grade" barrels. These may be free for the asking!

2. What additives would you use to reconstitute RO water to make it useable for freshwater aquariums, from soft water cichlids to hardwater cichlids, maybe some formula of chemical ingredients (that can be bought at hardware or grocery stores) to re-buffer the water, to make it have a certain hardness)?

SpectraPure®: The basic chemicals that would be used in a reconstitution formulation are calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate and sodium bicarbonate. Specific ratios of chemicals would depend upon what species of fish you intend to raise.

3. What new products are you working on in water purification equipment?

SpectraPure®: Many of the new product introductions we are considering are still in development and are company confidential status. Two of the products we will be introducing as a limited special in the very near future will be low cost versions of our 3 stage RO and 4 stage RO/DI systems. These systems will offer many of the features of our high end systems at a significantly lower price.

4. What do you think of the new high silicate removal membrane? Does this membrane actually work or is it just an advertising hype job?

SpectraPure®: We recently tested such a membrane at our factory for flow and rejection under the following conditions : 60 psi at 25 degC and 750 microsiemens feed water conductivity. The data do not indicate that it performs better than other membranes we have tested. It is important to note that the test conditions for the data cited in the membrane advertisement are those used nominally by the membrane manufacturer for large membrane testing, namely, 200 psi at 25 degC and 750 microsiemens feed water conductivity. These are the conditions under which larger membranes are required to operate in commercial and other high volume applications. Since higher feed water pressure will increase rejection performance these results should not be surprising. SpectraPure® tests membranes under the conditions stated above, which closely approximate those our customers see. Under these conditions smaller membranes typically deliver an average of 98% rejection.

See our new line of High-Silicate Removal RO Membranes. They are selected from the highest quality membrane manufacturers. SpectraPure® routinely samples membrane quality to ensure that stated performance specifications are met.

5. Can the 0.5 micron carbon block or sediment filter blocks for the CSP RO systems be used in the CHP or MaxPure RO units?

SpectraPure®: The filter housings for the CHP and MaxPureT systems are compatible with the CSP system. However, if you use a 0.5 micron carbon block filter in a CHP unit, you run the risk of it prematurely plugging with sediment in high sediment areas since it is not preceded by a sediment filter in a CHP system.

6. The water in my area (Vancouver, BC, Canada) is very soft (1 degree kh & 1 degree gh) & it has very little chlorine in it, but I would still like to use a water purification system for my aquariums (both saltwater & fresh) as well as an emergency water purification system in case of disaster. The water is surface runoff from our local mountains and it is stored in lake reservoirs north of the city. The main form of treatment is Chlorine at 1.0 mg/l. I'd like to know which system you would recommend? Should I use an RO, RO/DI, or just DI (ie. your MBDI system)? I've got concerns about RO units & DI units because I've heard that RO membranes & DI resins do not work well with low pH water (5.5-6.5 in my area).

SpectraPure®: Which system you select depends on the contaminants present in your feed water and your marine life water purity requirements. Low pH can lead to high carbon dioxide levels. This is not a problem for RO systems but can lead to premature exhaustion of DI cartridges.

7. RO/DI questions: - Has the 0.35 micron pleated sediment filter been discontinued?, If so, why? - Are there any thoughts of using separate bed DI cartridges, with user accessible carts, so we can regenerate instead of throwing exhausted DI carts.?

SpectraPure®: The 0.35 micron pleated sediment filter is still available. SpectraPure® offers dual bed DI Cartridges but not in the user accessible version you're asking about.

8. How do I know the makeup of my cartridges? I read this on a search of Thiel's site under "diatoms".

SpectraPure®: SpectraPure's DI Cartridges are specially designed for high levels of silica removal. Our multi-layered SilicaBusterT cartridge design is optimized for silica, phosphate and nitrate removal from RO water.

9. I have never had trouble with diatoms until recently. In the past I only use distilled water. I now use the Spectrapure RO/DI unit. I have read that RO/DI will not effectively remove silicates. Is this correct and what if anything can be done. If this is true, is it not a little misleading to sell these products for this intended use, knowing that they cannot effectively remove silicates?

SpectraPure®: If your SpectraPure RO/DI System is operating properly you will not see problems with diatoms due to silica. You must take care to change your DI cartridges before they become exhausted. When a DI cartridge becomes exhausted it can release silica back into the pure water stream and actually create high silica levels in your tank.

10. I purchased a LiterMeterT from Brian at Reefers. I have been very impressed with Reefers and Spectrapure. My questions are: What are the maintenance issues regarding the LiterMeterT? Does the tubing around the pumphead need to be replaced? If so, how often? Litermeter question: - How long of a warranty does the LItermeter have?

SpectraPure®: We're very happy that you are pleased with your LiterMeterT. We're also pleased to tell you that the LiterMeterT is virtually maintenance free if given proper basic care (don't step on it or let it fall into you reef tank). In fact we have a unit on life test here at the factory which has run the equivalent of 25 years on a large duty cycle with zero failures. Your question about tubing is a good one sinceSpectraPure® has a proprietary design advantage over other competitors in this area. The test unit mentioned above has never required tubing replacement and shows no signs of needing it. The LiterMeterT has a one year, parts and labor, warranty. Enjoy your unit for a very long while to come!

11. Why does the output water smell like old gym socks?

SpectraPure®: Water from a properly operating RO or RO/DI system will not have a detectable odor. There is something wrong with your system that we would need additional information on to help you troubleshoot. Please feel free to contact us at (800) 685-2783, or email Technical Support at: <service@spectrapure.com>

12. Does SpectraPure® really expect us to keep these things in the fridge?

SpectraPure®: We'll assume you're talking having to keep membranes in the refrigerator to avoid degradation due to UV exposure (UV degrades membrane material) and to minimize bacteria growth (smell). This really is a good idea if you need to store a membrane and the possiblity of it drying out is high.