My RO water Stinks???
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Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: Equipment
Forum Description: This is the place to ask question about reef equipment.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=74062
Printed Date: April 11 2025 at 7:08am
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Topic: My RO water Stinks???
Posted By: backwards32
Subject: My RO water Stinks???
Date Posted: December 17 2014 at 8:36pm
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so I got a RO system like 6 months ago and it has been working great until now.... for some reason the water coming straight out of my system smells really bad. it has this dead fish stink. I have no idea why this would happen. any thoughts? ------------- Fish Food Direct Great Food for half the price 801-721-0671 call or text me anytime |
Replies:
Posted By: LaRue
Date Posted: December 17 2014 at 8:46pm
| Have you been running it non stop or do you turn it on and off? If you turn it off Do you flush it fir a while when you start it back up? |
Posted By: backwards32
Date Posted: December 17 2014 at 8:49pm
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I have it set up running into a jug with a float valve. so I keep it turned on all the time and it fills up when needed. ------------- Fish Food Direct Great Food for half the price 801-721-0671 call or text me anytime |
Posted By: LaRue
Date Posted: December 17 2014 at 8:53pm
| How old is the membrane and all the other filters? Is it the water or the jug does it sink if you run it into a cup straight from the unit? |
Posted By: LaRue
Date Posted: December 17 2014 at 8:57pm
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Do you have a tds meter? Does it read anything? |
Posted By: backwards32
Date Posted: December 17 2014 at 9:00pm
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I bought the system brand new in August so the filters are not very old. I ran the water straight from the system into a cup and its the water that stinks. I don't have a TDS meter. How would I get that tested? ------------- Fish Food Direct Great Food for half the price 801-721-0671 call or text me anytime |
Posted By: redleader
Date Posted: December 17 2014 at 10:17pm
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Maybe a dumb question, but does the rest of the house water stink? And do you have the correct line plumbed to the jug, meaning are you using the waste line to fill the jug, and sending the ro water down the drain? Does the feed water coming in stink? How many stages are you running 4 or 5? Do you have a final polishing unit? check your water right before it goes through that as well if you do, right out of the ro membrane. post a picture of the RO unit, and test the water going in and coming out of each stage if you can. Determine which point is causing the issue. IMO; If your city water is coming in with a lot of dissolved solids you may need to replace the block and the 2 carbon filters (and flush the RO unit), and the final stage is probably used up. I just bought a box of filters off of ebay for 60 bucks. Here is a link to ebay to the set of filters I picked up: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Reverse-Osmosis-Replacement-Filter-Set-RO-Cartridges-12-pcs-w-100-GPD-Membrane-/251509310110?pt=Small_Kitchen_Appliances_US&hash=item3a8f1f829e ------------- Everything in life is possible. You just have to dream big, and act bigger. 150 G Reef |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: December 17 2014 at 10:24pm
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Ask around here. I'm sure someone near you has a TDS tester( I have two!) or take a cup of water to the LFS. You sure it's not the smell on your hands because you just finished cleaning the skimmer cup.  It's likely the TDS is okay but a new AC cartridge is needed for the smell/taste. It's recommended that the sediment and AC cartridges are changed every 6 months. Aloha  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: ReefdUp
Date Posted: December 17 2014 at 10:37pm
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How often do you clean the reservoir that holds your water? If you never clean it and dry it, it will grow a nasty biofilm. That's why water for storage always has chlorine in it. ------------- www.reefdup.com Diving since 2009, reefkeeping since 2007, & fishkeeping since 1987 200g, 75g, & 15g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water |
Posted By: ReefdUp
Date Posted: December 17 2014 at 10:38pm
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Oh...just understood that you said it really is the water that stinks. Nevermind. ------------- www.reefdup.com Diving since 2009, reefkeeping since 2007, & fishkeeping since 1987 200g, 75g, & 15g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: December 18 2014 at 7:57am
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Edit- Last night I was writing while redleader was posting so I missed his info that what I added here kind of duplicates. -Edit Does the water at the sink have the same bad smell? City water can change from time to time. Due to water lines breaking and being repaired, the lines can sometimes get fouled with dirt so that it smells or tastes bad, or worse, can get a contaminant like a dead raccoon in the storage tank(yes it happens), to the point where the city asks us to boil the water for cooking and drinking. Normally the Chlorine treatment in the city water bleaches/neutralizes the contaminant but cannot remove the bad smell and taste. That's one of the reasons for using AC in our water purification units. Aloha ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: backwards32
Date Posted: December 19 2014 at 5:41pm
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doing some investigative work I took apart each stage of the system and found that the final stage of DI resin is what smelled bad. I find this odd since its pretty new and hasn't been used that much. so I guess I need to clean it out and replace the resin. ------------- Fish Food Direct Great Food for half the price 801-721-0671 call or text me anytime |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: December 20 2014 at 9:47am
Great work, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: millsu2
Date Posted: December 22 2014 at 9:44am
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From what I understand, the DI resin does an outstanding job of trapping bacteria and other organic molecules that made it through the rest of the filtration which can cause the smell. You may still need to replace other filters in the system if that much is getting through. Depending on how much water you filter you can easily exhaust the filters in 6 months. I would test the water going into and coming out of the RO membrane. It should come out under 15 TDS. With better membranes it may be just 1-2 TDS. If it is too high, then the membrane is bad and needs to be replaced. I would test the water going into the membrane with new filters installed to get a baseline. Then test it occasionally and if the TDS starts going up quickly then you know the filters need to be replaced. You can get in-line TDS meters so you don't have to take apart the system to check. I still use the hand held ones which only cost around $20.
I actually stopped using DI resin a couple of years ago. My RO water was already down to just a few TDS and I couldn't justify the expense of the resin to remove that minute amount of dissolved solids. From what I have read most of what is left is sodium, calcium, and magnesium which belong in the tank anyway.
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Posted By: backwards32
Date Posted: December 22 2014 at 9:51am
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Good to know. I actually ordered a TDS meter so I can see what I am getting. And I just ordered some resin as well. Haha o well it's pretty cheap and I'll keep trying it for a while ------------- Fish Food Direct Great Food for half the price 801-721-0671 call or text me anytime |
Posted By: ReefdUp
Date Posted: December 22 2014 at 9:58am
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This is a long shot but.... If the DI resin you used had a cation/anion imbalance, getting a TDS of just 1 could cause a smell. The first particles to get through a DI chamber are the bad things (ammonia for instance). An imbalance is more likely to cause this. The only way to tell if this is the cause is to recharge the resin with lye and a strong acid...so...I would just change the resin and use a different source. Might as well change all the filters while you're at it. ------------- www.reefdup.com Diving since 2009, reefkeeping since 2007, & fishkeeping since 1987 200g, 75g, & 15g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water |