- Today on BRSTV Investigates,
if you knew you could get 20 times longer life
from your RODI unit filters,
would it be worth paying twice the cost?
Today we find out.
(upbeat music)
Hi, I'm Randy, with this Friday's BRSTV Investigates
where we put popular reefing gear, theories and methods
to the test by experimenting on our own tanks
so you don't have to experiment on yours.
And in today's experiment we bring out the big guns
in testing equipment from the BRS lab
with our Hach CL17 chlorine analyser
because today we up our game
from a chloramine carbon block test
we conducted in 2015
where we found that when you use the right tool
for the right job,
in this case the BRS universal carbon block,
you see 20 times better results.
Okay, so fast forwarding five years
from our last experiment,
not only has water filtration technology
been improving and growing,
but so has the popularity of using chloramines
for water treatment.
Where at least 30% or potentially as much as
half the country's municipal water agencies
use chloramine disinfectants
for at least part of the year,
meaning that more and more reefers tanks
across the nation become exposed
to toxic ammonia and chlorine bond that makes up chloramines
and within that more and more of us
should consider how to filter them out
as effectively as possible.
As we all know, carbon blocks designed for just chlorine
don't work well on that chloramine ammonia and chlorine bond
but what does that really mean
and what can we expect in terms of performance?
When you use a carbon block specifically designed
for treating chloramines
instead of any old chlorine carbon block
will you actually be able to meaningfully measure
how effective using the right tool for the right job can be?
And if so, will any performance increase
be worth double the cost?
Let's find out.
Honestly, testing this one was pretty easy
with our investment in this Hach CL17 chlorine analyser
where we tested our top three most popular carbon blocks
with the Matrikx CTO 5 micron block,
our very own BRS 5 micron chlorine and VOC block,
and the most popular, BRS universal carbon block.
We ran our Minneapolis tap water
which has a 3.5 part per million chloramine level
through each of these three carbon blocks,
at a flow rate of 800 ml per minute,
which is the same flow rate you'd find
in most 75 gallon per day RO systems with waste water
and product water combined.
All we had to do from there was let the Hach CL17
monitor the chlorine output
where it samples and tests the water every five minutes
and we marked the test as complete
once the carbon block hits a 30% break through,
meaning that 30% of the chloramines make it through,
and we consider it failed.
I'll say that 30% break through is probably higher
than what you may have at home,
depending on how many redundant carbon blocks you run,
but keep in mind that in this case,
when we're talking about 3.5 parts per million
chloramines from our tap,
30% break through means that 30% of ammonia and chlorine
are getting through the carbon block,
potentially affecting the RO membrane and DI performance,
and in some cases, even the reef tank directly.
As I mentioned, what we're looking for today
is the point at which we see a 30% chlorine break through
from the 3.5 parts per million chloramines
in our Minneapolis tap water,
meaning that when the Hach CL17
reads one part per million chlorine,
we will consider them failed.
To give you a frame of reference,
the Hach CL17 analyzes a sample of water
every five minutes,
meaning that there are 288 data points
in a 24 hour period
which we will highlight for you
in the upcoming data.
Starting with our very own BRS chlorine and VOC
5 micron carbon block
which is optimized specifically for chlorine,
not chloramines,
and is rated for treating up to 15,000 gallons.
We see that after less than 24 hours
the carbon block fails and crosses over our
one part per million threshold, or 30% breakthrough.
This means that the BRS chlorine and VOC carbon block
was only able to effectively process
about 252 gallons of tap water total before it failed,
allowing 30% or more of the chloramines through.
And if we apply that math to a typical
75 gallon per day RODI unit,
with a three to one waste water to product water ratio,
it was only able to produce 63 gallons of product water.
Because this block is designed
for chlorine, not chloramines,
it would seem that this is not the right tool
for the right job,
but let's see how the Matrikx CTO carbon block performed,
which is also optimized for chlorine instead of chloramines.
Looking at the Hach CL17 data for the Matrikx CTO,
we see somewhat of a similar performance
to the previous BRS carbon block
where an average 30% break through is reached
at just under 24 hours,
giving this block a marginal performance increase,
where at 75 gallon per day flow rate
we see a slight improvement to almost
280 total gallons of water filtered
before failing at 30%.
Or in this case of a common RODI unit
with a three to one waste to product water ratio,
just 70 gallons of product water.
Again, in terms of effectiveness at removing chloramines
and getting the best performance possible
from our carbon blocks,
just like our experiment years ago,
it still seems that these two popular filters,
both optimized for chlorine alone
rather than the harder to treat ammonia and chlorine bond
that make up chloramines,
falls short in the performance
that most reefers would desire.
In fact, I don't know a single reefer
who wants to change filters
as little as 60 gallons of product water,
but most don't even know
because few of us are even testing chlorine output.
So within that, let's see how the BRS universal carbon block
designed specifically for treating chlorine
and chloramines will perform.
I'm pretty sure the results will shock you
as it did me.
Immediately when you look at the Hach data
for the BRS universal carbon block,
we see the 24 hour data point mark
well below the one part per million threshold line,
so much so that by the time we called the test
at a 30% break through,
the universal carbon block lasted
approximately 42 days in total,
or 45 times longer than the Matrikx CTO block
and 50 times longer than the
BRS Chlorine and VOC carbon block.
When we look at that data in terms of
total gallons of water filtered,
the BRS universal carbon block was able to process
around 12,936 gallons of tap water,
meaning that for the typical three to one ratio
of a 75 gallon per day RODI unit
we would be able to produce 3234 gallons of product water
below our one part per million threshold.
When we're able to effectively treat
upwards of 45 to 50 times more water
with one filter over another
I'd say it's pretty darn obvious
that we're using the right tool for the right job,
and when it comes to the question of
is the performance increase
in choosing the right carbon block
worth double the cost?
Undoubtedly this one gets a full 10 out of 10 in my book.
For sure I'm willing to pay double the cost
for 40 to 50 times better performance,
and in this case, that cost difference is only nine bucks
and will likely pay for itself after the first use alone.
If you're following along closely,
one thing you might've picked up here
is that carbon blocks are not 100% efficient
at chlorine and chloramine removal,
which is why the best systems use dual blocks
where the first block is simply reducing the load
on the second.
So if today's results struck a chord with you
and you're left wondering how you find out
if your tap water is treated with chloramines,
I've got two answers for you.
First is the simple answer.
You could just use a carbon block like the BRS universal
designed for both chlorine and chloramines
and not worry about it,
or you could find out for sure
by quickly testing your own tap water
which we show you how to do in this special
chloramines and carbon blocks playlist over here.