Water deionizer for $89.99?

[fseir]

Has anyone here tried this? I ordered one and will give it a shot, in the name of science. Seems to get decent reviews, and you can refill the color changing resin beads yourself. For $89.99 (with free prime shipping if ordered through Amazon), this seems almost too good to be true. I’m going to try mine in conjunction with an electric pressure washer, as a final rinse.

Aquatic Life Deionized Spot-Free Car Rinse Unit

 

[Avid]

That seems like a fair price, compared to some I've seen on Amazon.

 

[jkoya]

Do they mention how many gallons of treated water to expect based on your TDS ?

 

[fseir]

Do they mention how many gallons of treated water to expect based on your TDS ?

While searching for the answer to your question, I started to realize that I should have done more homework before jumping in. Although the product description doesn’t say it, many of the questions and answers on Amazon indicate that this device is really intended to be used with a reverse osmosis unit, which brings the TDS down prior to deionizing. If you don’t do this, and your tap water has high TDS, you will burn through the DI cartridges very quickly. Here’s a question and answer from the seller, along these lines:

“Q: If my water is at 175ppm will this make 0 TDS water?

A: It will bring it to zero, but it's not going to last very long with that high of TDS. The DI carts usually get you about 300gph of purified water coming off an RO machine that brings TDS down to about 3-20 TDS.”

Since I know nothing about RO systems, except that they’re going to add cost and complexity to this setup, I cancelled my order (hopefully in time), so I can research this further.

Darn. Really wanted to believe this was a cheap spot-free system, but I guess there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

 

[jkoya]

Do you know what the TDS of your water is by chance ? I bought this one at Costco about 5 or 6 years ago. It's expensive, but works well for me. I'm still on the original resin beads that came with it. When I got it at Costco, it came with enough resin beads for two or three changes. It has a meter on it, so you know when to change the resin. It all depends on your water's TDS though.

https://crspotless.com/

Have you checked the Griot's one ?

In-Line Water Softener & Deionizer With Fittings - Griot's Garage

 

[M3Denver]

+1 on CR spotless, works great

 

[josher32]

Has anyone here tried this? I ordered one and will give it a shot, in the name of science. Seems to get decent reviews, and you can refill the color changing resin beads yourself. For $89.99 (with free prime shipping if ordered through Amazon), this seems almost too good to be true. I’m going to try mine in conjunction with an electric pressure washer, as a final rinse.

Aquatic Life Deionized Spot-Free Car Rinse Unit

I've tried this one and for me it doesn't work well. Seems to leave a residue that's worse then not using it. I'd discourage anyone from buying.

 

[fseir]

Do you know what the TDS of your water is by chance ? I bought this one at Costco about 5 or 6 years ago. It's expensive, but works well for me. I'm still on the original resin beads that came with it. When I got it at Costco, it came with enough resin beads for two or three changes. It has a meter on it, so you know when to change the resin. It all depends on your water's TDS though.

https://crspotless.com/

Have you checked the Griot's one ?

In-Line Water Softener & Deionizer With Fittings - Griot's Garage

No, unfortunately don’t know the TDS of our local tap water. Tried to google it, hoping someone may have reported it, but can’t seem to find it for my town. I know some parts of Oahu have very hard water, though, as my previous home I would get white crusty build up on my shower heads and I destroyed a couple keurigs with hard tap water (thought Britta would filter out TDS, but apparently it doesn’t). In my new home, it doesn’t seem nearly as bad, but it’s probably still on the hard side.

Thanks for those links. The crspotless units are more than I ever considered paying for a DI system... but then again, I said the same thing about ppf and ceramic. The griot is more in the ballpark of what I’d hoped to spend, although the horizontal inline systems seem to get mixed reviews.

Decisions, decisions. Appreciate the recommendations!

 

[jkoya]

The crspotless units are more than I ever considered paying for a DI system... but then again, I said the same thing about ppf and ceramic.

I thought the same about CR Spotless, but just decided to go for it when Costco had it on sale. It's actually been a very good purchase and works really well. It was also reviewed by Jay Leno.

I sometimes have to wash our cars in the direct sun and I don't get any waterspots.

 

[bradhs]

San Diego... 350 TDS.

 

[jkoya]

San Diego... 350 TDS.

In the City of Sacramento, near the Sacramento River, our TDS is between 50 to 100 depending on the day.

 

[Nocturnal]

I would think you need an actual RO membrane and mechanical filtration prior to DI. DI resin isn't cheap and it will foul up quickly. I run a 7 stage RODI system for my reef aquarium. Never considered using the water to wash my car though. Another point, this looks like it uses the mixed bed resin, ideally you want separate cation and anion resins that you can replace separately, assuming you need a sizable amount of output.

 

[ninpb]

So the cr spotless seems to have a significant operating cost. Resin replacement about $45 per 300 gallons? Is that around 10 car washes if used for both rinses?

 

[Nocturnal]

So the cr spotless seems to have a significant operating cost. Resin replacement about $45 per 300 gallons? Is that around 10 car washes if used for both rinses?

Looking at that confirms my question about the lack of other filters.

This is my old system.
5 Stage Premium Plus RO/DI System - Bulk Reef Supply

I've used it to produce over 500 gallons at 0 TDS so far and none of the media is in need of replenishment. I just upgraded to 2 more stages to have separate anion and cation resins (for lower operating costs).

 

[ninpb]

It seems worth it when I say I'll be using it to spray down my solar panels too. A car I can always dry with a towel if it were my only justification. Decisions, decisions.

 

[WaitingForY]

I use a DI resin filter. after snowing foaming the car, 2 buckets and pressure washing off the soap, the DI water is used and you don't even have to dry the car

 

[jkoya]

So the cr spotless seems to have a significant operating cost. Resin replacement about $45 per 300 gallons?

It all depends on the TDS of your water. My CR Spotless system is between 5 and 6 years old and I'm still on the original resin beads. Still getting 0 TDS water and no spots.

 

[WaitingForY]

Does it matter if you leave water sitting in the filter without using it for a long time ?

 

[ninpb]

It all depends on the TDS of your water. My CR Spotless system is between 5 and 6 years old and I'm still on the original resin beads. Still getting 0 TDS water and no spots.

Would asking what kind of TDS in LA/OC people are seeing provide useful info or is that too broad of a region?

 

[jkoya]

Is asking what kind of TDS in LA/OC people are getting or is that too broad?

Good question. In the Sacramento area, the water quality really varies by neighborhoods. Can you ask your local Utility/Water Company ?