Today on BRSTV's How to Tuesday we are going to show you how to know for sure when your
carbon blocks need to be replaced.
Hi my name is Ryan and your host of BRSTV where each week we hit on new topic related
to reefing.
This week we are going to show you how to test your filters and identify when to change
them.
The carbon blocks serve two main purposes.
Removing chemicals like herbicides, pesticides, cancer causing disinfection by products like
Trihalomethanes and a whole slew of other things found in well and municipal water supplies,
most of which the RO membrane alone is not very effective at removing.
The second thing we are concerned about is the protecting the RO membrane from chlorine.
Chlorine will oxidize the surface of the membrane and destroy it.
Reefers rely on the membrane to reduce harmful metals, nitrates, minerals and other dissolved
solids.
Typical membrane can be destroyed with as little as two hundred hours of contact with
water containing as little as one part per million chlorine.
So maintaining the carbon blocks is critical.
The most common recommendation is to swap them out every six to twelve months depending
on the size if your tank and water consumption.
While this isn't bad advice most people are likely changing them too early and wasting
some money.
Another option is to go by the gallon rating provided by the manufacture.
This also isn't a bad option however there are a few challenges.
First the chlorine capacity is rated at one gallon per minute.
Most common reef RO/DI systems are closer to a quarter gallon per minute which means
your block could last significantly longer.
These ratings are also based on manufacture testing in a controlled environment at a specific
PH, temperature, flow rate, specific amount of free chlorine.
None of which are likely to be the exact same at your household.
Lastly most of the specs are based on 85-90% removal.
Many of you might not want to wait until 15% of the chlorine is breaking through.
So what are you supposed to do?
The best option is to just test for chlorine so you know for sure.
It is likely doing this will actually save you money and get the maximum life span out
of your filters.
The tests are super simple, there are test strips like this one where ya dip the end
in, give it a quick shake and it instantly tells you your total and free chlorine.
There are some test kits which are a bit easier to read and even the popular checkers that
provide a digital read out and give a resolution all the way down to point zero one parts per
million.
There are a variety of ways to test the carbon blocks, best are probably to remove one end
of the tube that exits the last carbon block.
Another way which might be more convenient for some is to test the water exiting the
waste water line which is water that has passed through the RO canister but hasn't gone through
the RO membrane itself.
You will notice there are two testing options total and free chlorine.
If you were only get one it should be a total chlorine test.
Total chlorine is as the name suggests the total volume of chlorine in the water and
includes both chorine and chloramines.
Testing for free chlorine as well helps you identify what type of disinfectant your city
uses.
Free chlorine will only show hypochlorite which most people reefer to as chlorine.
The other common type of disinfectant is known as chloramines which is now used in an estimated
25-30% of households; expect this number to grow every year because there are some significant
advantages to municipal water supplies as they try to meet the new EPA standards for
disinfection byproducts.
Difference between chlorine and chloramines is chloramines are chlorine reacted with ammonia
which makes it a more stable disinfectant.
However it's that stability which makes them harder to remove and the removal process will
result in some ammonia in the product water, which is pretty undesirable to most reef tank
owners.
For that reason most of you will want to find out what your city uses by giving them a quick
call.
Lastly the biggest killer of carbon blocks is most often just sediment in your water
supply which can clog the surface of your block.
So make sure to swap out those sediment filters on time.
Easiest way to know when they are getting clogged is a simple pressure gauge installed
after the pre-fillters and before the membrane.
A drop in pressure signifies the sediment filter is getting clogged and should be changed.
If you have any questions about any of this checkout the comments area down below.
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week.
See ya next Tuesday with another BRSTV how to.