Watermill Express?

[KarlBob]

H'lo all. I'm a fairly new convert to SW, with several years of FW* experience. I've had a 20 gallon (long) reef tank set up since August, and a 90 gallon FOWLR since October.

Does anyone have strong opinions on the Watermill Express kiosks in the Phoenix area? I live a few blocks from one, so I've been using it for top-off and for blending salt water. Have any of you had particularly good or bad experiences with their water?

*Pretty basic FW experience, as it turns out. I'd never heard of planted tanks with CO2 feed until I started researching reef tanks earlier this year.

[aztbs]

Welcome to FRAG KarlBob!

I have not heard of Watermill Express, but I am assuming that they probably sell RO water. For the first year of keeping my tank, I went to the water and ice stores or to the RO machines outside the grocery store. Some were good and some were bad, it all depends on how they are maintained.

The best thing to do is get yourself a handheld TDS meter and check it out. If the water is reading a TDS above 10, you should nag them to change their filters or go to a different location.

RO/DI water with 0 TDS (total dissolved solids) is the ideal. My tap water registers over 1000!

[aztbs]

Here's a link to the meters, I use the COM100:

http://www.spectrapure.com/St_quality_p5.htm

[racecaraz]

I used to use a watermill express (a kiosk in a parking lot). At the time I was not privy to TDS meter so I don't have a reading. I can tell you I struggled with nitrate and finally did a nitrate test or its RO water its was approx. 20 ppm.

The bottom line is exactly as aztbs says, it all depends on how well it has been maintained, and how recently the filters have been replaced. So your Watermill express might be good, even though mine was not.

Edit - Just an FYI the watermill express by me said it was maintained daily. If this was true (I seriously doubt it) it certainly was not properly maintained.

[jasonh]

and that's why I get my water from Aquatouch

When I first set up my 20g I used Sparkletts water (bought the filled 5gal jugs from HD). Since that initial fillup I've used AT's water, except for this last 5g of topoff I got at a Glacier machine in Safeway because I was out and AT is closed Thursdays.

[racecaraz]

I would use AT to if it wasn't 45 miles away. 90 miles is a little far for water

I have heard, on a fairly good account, that Santa is going to bring our family a RO/DI unit this year

[jasonh]

Originally posted by racecaraz
I would use AT to if it wasn't 45 miles away. 90 miles is a little far for water

Youch. Lucky me I guess...it's on my way home from work.

[KarlBob]

Thanks for the welcome.

I ran a nitrate test on the Watermill kiosk near me once, when I suspected that it was causing algae outbreaks. It came out zero. Of course, that could have been the day they swapped out the filters.

A TDS meter would be a good idea. First priority, though, is still decent lights for the 90 gallon tank.

Jasonh, do you buy AT's Catalina seawater, too or just their RO/DI water?

[Owen2thebank]

I agree with the others, a meter would be good for you. (I have a laboratory meter but I don't use it because I get my DI from a lab. I do use it for checking my pH and conductivity.)

Why don't you ask WaterMill to let you know when they next change their filters? I feel certain that any merchant would like to let customers know when they improve their product.

[jasonh]

KarlBob, I get the RO/DI and use ReefCrystals. There's just something about the Catalina seawater that just rubs me the wrong way.

The other thing that rubs me the wrong way is I went to AT last night to get water. I thought they stayed open till 8 on Fridays. I got there at 7:05 and they were closed

[AZDesertRat]

Rather than a WaterMill try going to a Water & Ice store that has a person on staff. The ones by me have conductivity meters and are glad to test the water in your presence. I am leery of unmanned kiosks as there are absolutely no regulations on water treatment and reselling in Arizona or most states in fact. What part of the Valley are you in? I know the Water & Ice stores at 28th Dr and Bell and the one at 35th and Northern are reliable.

Long term I would look at owning a RO/DI unit. Our water here is extremely hard and high in TDS, often over 800 TDS in fact so even if the stores are doing a good job, they are only RO and not DI so you will still be getting a pretty good dose of junk.

There are group buys in this forum all the time on Spectrapure systems which are the best in the industry. It helps they are here in our backyard and like to support the local reefers!