# Water Filter Question



## ShakerD (Jan 6, 2011)

Hey Everyone

This is not related to fish but to Water Filters and who better to ask than the people that need fresh clean water regularly. So hopefully I put this in the right place and won't offend anyone.

I make beer and lots of it. Normally I buy the jugs of spring water but since I need 8 gallons every brew day it's becoming a pain. I also drink around 5 gallons of water a week.

I live in a small city in Alberta, Canada and our water is very hard but that doesn't bother me. The issue I have is with the Chloramine in the water. Choramine tastes terrible and will give beer a bandaid like flavor. Apparently I need an activated charcoal filter.

I live close to the Canada/Usa border so shipping is not really an issue.

Can anyone suggest a filer system that I can purchase and use for 10 - 15 gallons a week? I would like to keep the costs down but I am quite handy and wouldn't be adverse to building it myself.

Cheers


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

What you'll need:

Large aquarium (20-55 gallon).

Canister filter big enough to handle 4 times the aquarium's volume.

Activated carbon - and lots of it!

Although, I've never actually tried drinking anything that's been through an aquarium filter....please don't buy a used aquarium filter.


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## ShakerD (Jan 6, 2011)

[email protected] said:


> What you'll need:
> 
> Large aquarium (20-55 gallon).
> 
> ...


LMAO

Fair enough thanks for being a good sport. I guess they aren`t really the same thing. Although there is a guy over on the homebrewtalk forums that is setting up a brewery in his man cave and using aquariums as fermentors that are built in to the wall on display.

Cheers


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## rtbob (Jul 18, 2010)

A chemical commonly used in aquariums to remove chlorine/chloramine Is Seachem Prime.

It might make the water taste worse, be cheap to try it though. 5ml treats 50 gallons.

What about putting your water into buckets and just aerating it for 24 hours? That might help get rid of the chloramine.

We used to use a Brita water pitcher to filter drinking water before we got the new fridge with a built in filter. They can do a half gallon in about 30 minutes. you could use several of them.

They also make filter devices that hook to the faucet it's self. I have never had one of those.

Just a couple ideas I had, hope it helps.


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## agrainger76 (Dec 20, 2010)

you need a ro filter. will usually take any water to almost distilled water quality. just look for the lowest gpd(gallons per day) since you only need 15 gallons. you would need a storage container or presurized storage tank. i have my ro system connected to my fridge for clean ice and cold water to drink. try this 50 gpd for $99 Aquarium Water | Reverse Osmosis | RODI Water | ReefKeeper Water | RO MIGHTY MITE SYSTEM 50GPD


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## ShakerD (Jan 6, 2011)

Thanks for the link. Is that the system that you use? I initially ruled out RO systems because I read somewhere that they are only 15 - 25% efficient and that 75 - 85% of the water that goes through the system ends up as waste water. 

I have a meter and have to pay for water but I guess I could see how much I pay.

EDIT - just got off my lazy to butt to check and I pay $0.66 a m3. 1 cubic meter = 264.172052 US gallons so I guess it's a non issue. - 

I will have to give RO another thought


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## cyberclark (Jan 7, 2011)

ShakerD said:


> Hey Everyone
> 
> This is not related to fish but to Water Filters and who better to ask than the people that need fresh clean water regularly. So hopefully I put this in the right place and won't offend anyone.
> 
> ...


You need a supply of carbon - like in fish filters-and some cotton pick.

Take an aluminum tube (or evestrough for a large scale) and layer it with 1" of carbon then 1" of cotton until you have about 6 layers of each in.

Now, pour water in one end and collect it at the other and you will have some very good filtered water.

Activated carbon "wears out"; gets saturated. If you dump the carbon out on a cookie sheet and bake it for 20 mins at 400 degees in your oven it will become "activated" again.

Good luck!
:fish-in-a-bag:


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

ShakerD said:


> Thanks for the link. Is that the system that you use? I initially ruled out RO systems because I read somewhere that they are only 15 - 25% efficient and that 75 - 85% of the water that goes through the system ends up as waste water.
> 
> I have a meter and have to pay for water but I guess I could see how much I pay.
> 
> ...


There are ROs out there that claim close to 100% efficiency, which 1:1 waste water/produced water. Just need to search. They won't have any high production rate though.


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## agrainger76 (Dec 20, 2010)

the system does waste a good amount of water. it is rinsing the solids down the drain. i use a 150gpd rodi filter for my tanks. it has a pressurized canister to store water. i take water out before the di filter to drink. you should not drink di water. my house water tests at 750ppm tds(total dissolved solids), out of my ro hooked to my fridge it tests a 8ppm.

also i will say the air water ice company has been very good for me. i have had my system for 7 years. recently a piece had slight crack and started to leak. they replaced it for free.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

That is where I got my 200gpd RODI system. Good place.

What is the downside of drinking DI water?


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## agrainger76 (Dec 20, 2010)

from what i understand because the water is deionized it actually will lower the good minerals etc in you body. not sure if it is true, but my filter came with a seperate tap before the di filter marked drinking water. there is no benifit to drinking di water so why waste the filter


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

you might try running the water through crushed oyster shells.


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## Russell (Jun 20, 2011)

RO will de-mineralize the water. That's probably not desirable when making beer unless you're planning on adding back minerals to mimic the water specific famous beer making regions naturally have.


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## coltleader (Jul 8, 2011)

I am looking for a good water filter. The filter that came with my tank that I purchased a long time ago has decided to die out on me. Does anyone have any suggestions of brands or types that I need to be aware of? I saw something about a website that sells discount filters and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with purchasing from them. Are these the exact same kind of filters that work in tanks? Any reviews or advice would help. Thanks!


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## coltleader (Jul 8, 2011)

Also, what is the typical price?


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## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

My friend distills his water for his own personal drinking use, but it takes forever and probably isn't an option for you.


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