Activated carbon is a very mature technology that is designed to help remove taste and odor from water through adsorption of the compounds that cause problems.
There are a variety of different types of carbon that are used industry-wide. They include wood, lignite, coal, and coconut as the most common sources for activated carbon.
Activated carbon operates through adsorption. Adsorption is a surface phenomenon and is therefore directly related to the surface area of the media. In the case of activated carbon, the surface area is related to the pore structure of the raw materials. The cost of the media is also related to the raw materials, so there are other factors that must be taken into consideration besides the total surface area.
Adsorption takes place due to intramolecular attraction between the carbon surface and the substance that is being adsorbed. The force of the attraction can be altered by increasing the density of the carbon or by reducing the distance between the carbon surface and the substance being adsorbed (typically by reducing the median pore size). As the fluid (often water) passes over and through the carbon, the attractive forces between the compounds that are the most attracted to the carbon are adsorbed onto the surface. The compounds that are the most highly attracted are typically organic compounds (which can cause taste, odor and appearance problems), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and halocarbons such as trihalomethane (THM) compounds and other process wastes.
Once all of the surface area of the carbon has been exhausted through absorption, carbon filters must be replaced because it loses its effectiveness and “dumping” occurs. This “dumping” is a release of a contaminate that has used up all of the sites that will hold its particular molecular charge. In the case of “dumping” you end up with water with a much higher concentration of contaminate that the original incoming water.

Lime scale is the hard, off-white, chalky deposit found in kettles, hot-water boilers and the inside of inadequately maintained hot-water central heating systems. It is also often found as a similar deposit on the inner surface of old pipes and other surfaces where ‘hard water’ has evaporated and mainly consist of calcium and can often contain large amounts of magnesium.

Our Reverse osmosis systems will remove most Calcium and Magnesium in your water so, yes you can remove lime scale

Many scientists, dentists and public associations in the past praised fluoride for its good effects on teeth since time immemorial but not until recent times were we able to find out its ill effects on health and in particular the teeth suffer. One should seriously note down its implications on health. The people who are promoting it are very much unaware or misguiding the community at large.Fluoride is used in the form of hydrofluoric acid in fluorocarbons, in refining procedure of high-octane gasoline, semiconductors, fluorescent light bulbs, computer screens, plastics, certain herbicides and toothpaste. It is also used as a supplement to be added in water for its benefits. In UK too, it is added to the tap water in the form of hydrofluoric acid. It is a very scathing counterpart of industrial chemicals. It is the chemical by-product of steel, aluminium, cement and phosphates. It is also utilized during nuclear weapon manufacturing. It is responsible for burning flesh to bones. It can affect the eyesight, literally destroying the eyes. It also singes the lungs. The body fluid mechanism is completely altered and the person may succumb to death. Basically the fluoride acts on the bodies enzymes thus altering their shapes. This leads to further damage.Its bad effects on teeth are now well known. Drinking water containing excess fluoride can make teeth mottled, pitted and discoloured. This is termed as ‘dental fluorosis’ ( see some examples here). A dental surgeon in Ireland has warned that addition of fluoride to our drinking water is causing teeth decay faster than in the areas where fluoride addition is not done. As a country, Ireland had 6th position for the best teeth in the world. But because of fluoride addition, he says, the teeth are having pits and early decays. After studies, though effective evidence against the fluoride was doubtful, it was observed that addition of fluoride does not necessarily result in good teeth hygiene.

How can we prevent this?  Making use of reverse osmosis mechanism for filtering the water can prevent fluorosis of teeth. This water can be utilized for cooking, washing vegetables, etc. As heat is unable to destroy the fluoride, mere boiling the water is not helpful.What is reverse osmosis?To sustain existence, the living cell needs certain minerals. The reverse osmosis allows the cell to extract only those minerals that are useful to be retained while discarding the minerals that are harmful. The reverse osmosis unit contains a semi permeable membrane. There is also a TFC, i.e., thin film composite filter. This film selectively rejects the dissolved solids that are harmful. Even the smallest molecules like sodium do not escape. The most important aspect of this whole process is that it does not use any sort of chemical during the whole process. It transforms a tap water into a drinking water without any hazards and never compromises on quality. Thus it is a source of unlimited pure water supply.A baseline filter separates the cruder calcium carbonate and rust if any. Many a times with the advanced filters there is one more sediment filter with smaller pores. To avoid the degradation of TFC filter, there is an activated carbon filter. It traps the organic chemicals and chlorine. The TFC later filters the chemicals that were not so far cleared. Also, a ultra-violet lamp is used for further disinfections of microbes, thus giving practically chemical-less water.Reverse osmosis is also used in the dairy industry where there is need to produce whey-protein powders. It is also widely used for juice and wine concentration. Reverse osmosis is widely used in desalination of seawater to fresh water. Thus it can also be used as a water softener in the areas where bore well is blamed for giving hard water full of fluoride and other chemicals. This fact is utilized in the dental industry to prevent harm to teeth.As we know that besides dental problems, unsafe water can pose a variety of threats including systemic diseases like typhoid, cholera, jaundice, dysentery and skin damages. The chemical or fluoride rich water can cause even mental or brain damages like Alzheimer’s disease etc. Therefore one needs to take serious note of these things and opt for a healthy water option like reverse osmosis. Why to take chance when the technology is providing us with the effective way of life?     

This web site offers some good information on http://www.fluoridealert.org its well worth reading.

This Web page will give you even more information: http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2001/09/28/is-fluoride-really-effective-in-preventing-tooth-decay-or-could-it-be-doing-us-more-harm-than-good/
 

Aquarium reef and the pH of reverse osmosis

Generally, you will find that the pH from a RO system reads around 6 to 6.5 if you measure the ph of reverse osmosis (RO) water directly. All it takes is a minute measure of additive or impurity to make a large value difference, although this might seem like a problem, this is not an issue of pH measurements of water which is pure and means very little, to be adding something with such a low pH to an aquarium reef. Carbon dioxide is the most influential element as it adjusts the pH to a region of six when left for a good amount of time while the pH is allowed to rise and reach its equilibrium. As it only takes a small additive to change the pH of pure water as it has an extremely low alkalinity that is a sure measure of how well water will resist the change of pH. As a result, it is easier to change the pH with an alkalinity that is lower. Since the alkalinity is so much, lower and will not affect the pH of an aquarium’s reef water. Therefore, adding low ph water to your aquarium’s reef water is not a concern, you will not be endangering the ecosystem you have already provided for you aquarium’s reef life or fish. Understanding that using a lower alkalinity of pH to your aquarium’s reef water should allow you more comfort in knowing the water of your aquarium’s reef is safe.

All pipes should be cut squarely to reduce the chance of leaks. See here for a suitable tool 

Step 1 - Assemble the connection

We often get asked how to operate standard quick-connect fittings

Push up to pipe stop.

Push the pipe into the fitting, to the pipe stop. The collet (gripper) has stainless steel teeth which hold the pipe firmly in position while the ‘O’ Ring provides a permanent leak proof seal.

Pull to check secure

Pull on the pipe to check it is secure. It is good practice to test the system prior to leaving site and/or before use.

Disconnecting standard John Guest push-in fittings

Ensure system is depressurized before removing fittings. Push in the collet against the face of the fitting. With the collet held in this position the pipe can be removed. The fitting can then be re-used.

Step 2 - Verify the connection

It is recommended (and good practice dictates) that you remember to pressure test the completed installation before use. For recommended test procedures please refer to the Technical Documentation (available in our catalog).

Images shown are provided by John Guest.

The answer is “If you are using DI resin supplied by Ro-Man then definitely yes, for other resins maybe not” The reason is that the resin we supply is classified as food safe by the Federal Drugs Authority in America, notoriously the toughest food and drug regulator in the world. But not all DI resins are the same, and depending on the use it is being sold for, it doesn’t have to be approved as food safe. So if we haven’t supplied the resin, you would need to check with your supplier if their resin is food safe quality.

However from experience we don’t actually recommend using a DI stage for drinking water. We have found that in some areas, when the resin starts to become depleted, it can cause the water to have a strange taste/and or odour; particularly when it is heated, ie boiling in a kettle. This appears to be caused by the resin leaving inert substances in the water as it removes the contaminants, and while this is harmless, one of the main points of purifying your water is to improve the taste. Also the RO system alone removes around 98% of all the impurities and makes water that is far healthier and tastes so much better than what comes out of most of our taps; making a DI stage unnecessary for normal use.Our De-ionizing Resin (DI) products can be seen here

We often get asked “how can I connect my Reverse Osmosis (RO)  system to a garden tap or Washing machine type tap?”

This high quality fitting will convert a 3/4 garden tap to the size pipe we use for our RO systems. By using this tap you can use your system Intermittently (Please look at our Information for Intermittent Usage)

Click on picture for more detail

When using this connector on a washing Machine Tap you may want to use the Washing Machine from the same point, you will find this part will allow you to do this:-

Click on picture for more detail

You simply connect this to the tap and fit our tap connector to one site of the Y connector and fit the washing Machine hose to the other.

Customers often say this fitting works great, but how do they isolate the RO systems easily as Washing Machine taps are ofter awkward to access, We advise using a Valve near to the RO system.

Click on picture for more detail

Welcome to the RO-MAN Blog, We are going to put some support answers in here and also show you hoe other people have used our equipment