Ammonia Trace in water

[zach5187]

Coming out of my ro unit I have a sediment cartridge, 50gpd membrane and running a carbon block, still have 25ppm ammonia present after putting thru carbon block. The taps at 100 ppm please help

[DJW]

You've gotta be missing some decimal points... do you mean 0.25 ppm?

In what order is the water passing through the three filters? Sediment, carbon, then RO membrane is the normal order.

[zach5187]

.25 yes it goes into sediment, the carbon to membrane

[DJW]

I am not a chloramine person, I have well water. My guess is that you have chloramine and the RO membrane is not working very well. If you use Prime after you mix your RO with tap for water changes (if that is what you are doing) the Prime will take care of the ammonia. 23 ppm TDS out of the RO is an indication that the pressure is low or the membrane is worn out.

[zach5187]

Well that sucks cause it's less than a month old..should it be worn out that quick?

[DJW]

If the membrane is that new, then probably low pressure in the line. You might need a booster pump, but first you can install a cheap pressure gauge. You need 40+ psi, with 60-70 psi being a good pressure. Very cold water lowers the rejection rate also.

[zach5187]

I bought a pressure gauge when I installed the unit it is at 70psi

[DJW]

hmm... 23 is higher than it should be but still usable. Are you sure that is TDS and not microsiemens (uS) of conductivity? Anyway people with chloramine in their water always seem to measure 0.25 ppm ammonia, and Prime detoxifies it. Carbon breaks the chloramine into chlorine and ammonia, then removes the chlorine, leaving some of the ammonia in the product water.

[zach5187]

I do use prime but I would like it to be 0...that's kind of why I bought an ro unit to produce the best water for discus. I know it will work but I want ideal conditions if that makes sense.

[zach5187]

Tds is 70ppm

[DJW]

I do use prime but I would like it to be 0...that's kind of why I bought an ro unit to produce the best water for discus. I know it will work but I want ideal conditions if that makes sense.

Here is a good thread on the subject of chloramine and RO.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?39386-Ammonia-from-Cholramine-in-R-O-water-solution-found

When you say TDS 70 ppm, that's the mix of RO & tap? You should measure the TDS of your tap water, it might help diagnose the problem with the RO water. Test different water's TDS at the same temperature, unless your TDS meter has temperature compensation.