Home Distiller for Tank Water?

[TinyReefObsession]

Hi Everyone this is my first thread on R2R, after reading everything & learning endlessly for the last few months! I wasn’t able to find anything on home distillers for tank water (sorry if I missed it!), and was wondering what the opinions for, and against, are for everyone who uses distilled to start with. I have a hard time physically going and getting distilled water, then handling the jugs, etc, so $120ish for a countertop distiller sounds ideal… thoughts? i’m new to reefing, so thanks in advance!

 

[Jason_MrFrags]

Only issue with distilling water is copper coils could contaminate the water. ok for fish but not corals

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Hi Everyone this is my first thread on R2R, after reading everything & learning endlessly for the last few months! I wasn’t able to find anything on home distillers for tank water (sorry if I missed it!), and was wondering what the opinions for, and against, are for everyone who uses distilled to start with. I have a hard time physically going and getting distilled water, then handling the jugs, etc, so $120ish for a countertop distiller sounds ideal… thoughts? i’m new to reefing, so thanks in advance!

There's a thread on it, I remember it a few months back I think it worked well enough...but there is better options with rodi , imo for around the same price point, the time and electricity will end up costing you more in a few months.

 

[bushdoc]

How about home RODI unit? They are a bit more expensive than Home Distillers according to your information, but running costs are very low.
To distill water, you use lots of energy, which is not only pricy, but also, even in California is not coming totally from renewable energy sources.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hi Everyone this is my first thread on R2R, after reading everything & learning endlessly for the last few months! I wasn’t able to find anything on home distillers for tank water (sorry if I missed it!), and was wondering what the opinions for, and against, are for everyone who uses distilled to start with. I have a hard time physically going and getting distilled water, then handling the jugs, etc, so $120ish for a countertop distiller sounds ideal… thoughts? i’m new to reefing, so thanks in advance!

Electricity costs as an ongoing expense?

You could buy a RODI filter for the same price and the cost of replacement filter media is peanuts.

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Only issue with distilling water is copper coils could contaminate the water. ok for fish but not corals

Thanks for the quick reply! …good point… it says “all parts that contact the water are food grade stainless steel”, other than the glass pitcher it fills… but if we’re splitting hairs, the coils in the top of the distiller are technically contacting the vapor, vs the finished product… guess I’ll have to see what the manual says when it arrives

 

[TinyReefObsession]

There's a thread on it, I remember it a few months back I think it worked well enough...but there is better options with rodi , imo for around the same price point, the time and electricity will end up costing you more in a few months.

Ah shoot, I searched but must have missed it. Thanks for the heads up, will check again… as far as the RODI, I started to look at that, but 2 things: 1 - I’m in rental and didn’t want to get into installation/ modifications when we will hopefully move soon (and will def consider it then ), 2- my neighbor gave me their tank for a trial run, to see if I can keep up with the maintenance etc- and hopefully i can! …but again didn’t want to do any installations etc in case it doesn’t work out for some reason (i’m learning it all now!).

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Ah shoot, I searched but must have missed it. Thanks for the heads up, will check again… as far as the RODI, I started to look at that, but 2 things: 1 - I’m in rental and didn’t want to get into installation/ modifications when we will hopefully move soon (and will def consider it then ), 2- my neighbor gave me their tank for a trial run, to see if I can keep up with the maintenance etc- and hopefully i can! …but again didn’t want to do any installations etc in case it doesn’t work out for some reason (i’m learning it all now!).

I get it, don't make anything permanent some people make it Mobil and store it in a closet somewhere, here's some good info.

Post in thread 'RODI mobile station' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/rodi-mobile-station.854505/post-9320125

 

[homer1475]

RO/DI unit can sit on your counter top, and be hooked up to your sink faucet.

Distilled should be fine, but again, the electricity used is cost prohibitive. For roughly the same price point, you could have bought a decent RO/DI unit that would just hook up to your sink faucet(no installation needed).

 

[TinyReefObsession]

How about home RODI unit? They are a bit more expensive than Home Distillers according to your information, but running costs are very low.
To distill water, you use lots of energy, which is not only pricy, but also, even in California is not coming totally from renewable energy sources.

Thanks- looks like i will have to check out the home RODI options in the future, once we have our own place. Right now we’re in a rental. …hopefully next year…

 

[TinyReefObsession]

I get it, don't make anything permanent some people make it Mobil and store it in a closet somewhere, here's some good info.

Post in thread 'RODI mobile station' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/rodi-mobile-station.854505/post-9320125

Oh cool! Thanks!!!

 

[TinyReefObsession]

How about home RODI unit? They are a bit more expensive than Home Distillers according to your information, but running costs are very low.
To distill water, you use lots of energy, which is not only pricy, but also, even in California is not coming totally from renewable energy sources.

Thanks, definitely going to look into that further in the future… we’re in a rental plus just learning and trying to see if this will be something I can keep up with long term, so was looking for a more temporary/ quick fix solution for now.

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Hi Everyone, thank you for your responses I’m currently in a rental with no extra space for a RODI system (unfortunately we cannot sacrifice our coffee maker for RODI, that might end in divorce). Definitely a consideration for future homes. In the meantime I’ll wait and see how this distiller works, that I can run overnight, and place back in the cabinet in the morning. Hopefully it’ll the band-aid solution I’m looking for. Thanks again!

 

[LordofCinder]

I don't understand what being in a rental has to do with it. You are will willing to buy a distiller, but you can get a rodi for the same price, and a small one takes the space as a distiller.

Check out the RO buddy,its the size of a shoebox, you store it in the corner of your closet when not using it, and when using it, it sits on your counter top.

But if you insist on a distiller, the water quality is equally good in my opinion.

 

[TinyReefObsession]

I don't understand what being in a rental has to do with it. You are will willing to buy a distiller, but you can get a rodi for the same price, and a small one takes the space as a distiller.

Check out the RO buddy,its the size of a shoebox, you store it in the corner of your closet when not using it, and when using it, it sits on your counter top.

But if you insist on a distiller, the water quality is equally good in my opinion.

Thanks! I’ll save this for next time- the RO Buddy looks perfect! Have to keep it simple for now, so hopefully the distiller does the trick

 

[Pistondog]

Fyi, takes about 3kw hours of electricity to distill 1 gallon. At $0.40, thats $1.20 per gallon.
A little less if you start with hot water.
Most of the energy is in the phase change, water to steam.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Hi Everyone, thank you for your responses I’m currently in a rental with no extra space for a RODI system (unfortunately we cannot sacrifice our coffee maker for RODI, that might end in divorce). Definitely a consideration for future homes. In the meantime I’ll wait and see how this distiller works, that I can run overnight, and place back in the cabinet in the morning. Hopefully it’ll the band-aid solution I’m looking for. Thanks again!

the rodi unit would be a smaller footprint than a distiller. it will work 100x better and no cost on electricity. They are easy to plug into any tap in the bathroom or kitchen areas and will do no damage to the existing taps.

once your done filling up pails of water you can remove it from the tap and place in a cabinet until next time.

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Fyi, takes about 3kw hours of electricity to distill 1 gallon. At $0.40, thats $1.20 per gallon.
A little less if you start with hot water.
Most of the energy is in the phase change, water to steam.

Thank you! Appreciate the tip!

 

[TinyReefObsession]

the rodi unit would be a smaller footprint than a distiller. it will work 100x better and no cost on electricity. They are easy to plug into any tap in the bathroom or kitchen areas and will do no damage to the existing taps.

once your done filling up pails of water you can remove it from the tap and place in a cabinet until next time.

Thanks! I’m going to bookmark this thread so I can refer back in the future this tank has been raised by a neighbor, on distilled for 8yrs, so that’s why I was only looking at distilled options, and ordered the distiller. I had no idea the RODI options could be so small/ portable until this thread! the tank is only 10G so I will only need to run the distiller a couple times a week to have more than enough water on hand. It’ll be a simple plug’n’play solution for now, and hopefully when we move next year and upgrade/ automate everything I can get the RODI too thanks for the link!

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Thanks! I’m going to bookmark this thread so I can refer back in the future this tank has been raised by a neighbor, on distilled for 8yrs, so that’s why I was only looking at distilled options, and ordered the distiller. I had no idea the RODI options could be so small/ portable until this thread! the tank is only 10G so I will only need to run the distiller a couple times a week to have more than enough water on hand. It’ll be a simple plug’n’play solution for now, and hopefully when we move next year and upgrade/ automate everything I can get the RODI too thanks for the link!

glad to help