high ppm

[ps3]

don't know if this is the proper forum or not but here it goes. i have a well for water supply and the ppm after my softener is around 3200ppm. is there any system available that would lower this for reef use? i don't think an ro/di unit will handle this kind of abuse.

[therealfatman]

Your readinf g a TDS meter at 3200 ppm? fresh water < 1500 mg/L TDS < brackish water < 5000 mg/L TDS < saline water. If your reading is accurate that is some rough water. Thay sounds more i like the rinse water from an water softener. The water would definitely not taste palatable at all.

Supposedly the maximum TDS for supporting fresh water fish is under 1000 ppm.

If those are your true readings you would need to use an additional water softener before your RO filter, or buy a special brackish water RO membrane. Maybe even a membrane made for seawater.

http://www.appliedmembranes.com/brackish_water_elements.htm

[ps3]

those readings are correct.we dont drink the water. thanks for the likn. i looked all evening on google and couldnt come up with anything.

[Boomer]

It sounds to me like the salt brine water is leaking into the effleunt for "tap water", which I think is where fats is going with this. Ohio does not have water that hard. Check the TDS of the water going into the WS, the well water iself. I'll bet it is nowhere near 3,500 pm :)

[ps3]

it is actualy over 5000ppm. the water guy said he has never seen water this bad in the 20 years he has been doing this.

[therealfatman]

Definitely need sea water RO membrane with that water. Double runs through a water softener could get quite expensive. All that area has, in a geologic time table, received recent glacier activity so a TDS like that is possible. It is not all that uncommon in Canada, although usually in arid areas such as in Saskatchewan, just as it is common to the US in arid regions.

[Boomer]

pc3 where do you live in Ohio so I can look up a geologic map, to see if I can figure what the h_ell is going on.

Are you near one of those Ohio salt mines, like where Morton's is ? Your water is not that hard, that meter is just measruing the conductivity of the salt in the water. Hardness is 99.9 % Ca++, Mg++. Na, Cl, etc are not part of water hardness. It is the same thing as taking a glass of RO/DI water and adding table salt to it. Get a water hardness test kit and measure that water hardness and see what it really is.


What is water Hardness.
http://www.chem1.com/CQ/hardwater.html

[ps3]

zip 44691. had water tested in our boiler house at work. he did both conductivity and hardness test.

[Boomer]

Crap I just can't win here can I :lol:

[redfishsc]

;) The good news is you might not need to buy any salt mix, just pitch it over in the tank !

I'm not sure if this is feasible or efficient, but you might want to consider some sort of distillery-- I would suppose gas-powered. I'm speaking out of naivete, but a still would make nice water out of water of any hardness.

That, and maybe even still your own vodka for dosing? ;)

[ps3]

i think i am going to be the loser here. at least with out dropping a fortune in equipment. thanks for all the help.

[Boomer]

Well, ps3, I kinda see now, called well contamination. Your well must be in a bad area. Wayne county at its highest is ~ 500 ppm. Under your well is nothing but sandstone, but it looks like your well is picking up Brine from oil and gas wells and why you may be seeing that 5,000 ppm.

I have some links for you about the Geology of your area.

Wayne County Water
http://ohioline.osu.edu/aex-fact/0490_85.html

Bridging Science and Society: Brine Spreading in Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio (looks like you fit this bill:()
http://www.wooster.edu/geology/tr/abowers.html

Geology( there is crap loads here)
http://www.ohiodnr.com/Default.aspx?alias=www.ohiodnr.com/geosurvey

General Geologic Map of Ohio
http://www.bereasandstonecores.com/images/geologic_map_lg.jpg

[therealfatman]

Good call Boomer. I had no idea that the oil and gas idiots were creating that problem in Ohio. Brine not being a hazardous substance means without a water permit for agricultural water rights the oil companies win again.

[ps3]

ok, tested water again tonight. the hardness is at zero after the softener but the conductivity reads 3200. is conductivity read in ppm or some other standard?

[R2E2]

uS/cm2 (micro-siemen per cm square)

[Boomer]

pc3

conductivity reads 3200

Well, gee no wonder why ppm is about 1/2 of that depending on what scale you use. So, ~ 1,600 ppm but still very high. So, that means either your well is contaminated from oil/gas brine, which the softener will not remove or you salt solution used to recharge your water softer is leaking into your tap water :) I will suspect it is a contaminated well, which is common in that area for some.

[ps3]

i am sure it is from the gas well. as the conductivity is 3500 before the softener. the maps were great, thanks again