Water Quality Issues; RE: RO/DI & Bad Well Water

[Ulta]

Ok so a little background: We live in a rural area with notorious bad water quality. One main issue is "rust"? Our water is very rust colored and leaves orange stains around any outlets (sinks,tubs, faucets, ect.)... Well I came across a real good deal on a brand new coralife ro unit, and after setting it up and trying it out I have a few concerns... First off after only about ~30 gallons through it the filters were already turned orange and discolored :/ Well now I'd say I've ran who knows ~60ish gallons through it and I am getting quite a bit of algae forming in my tanks (Green Hair & a long brown Stringy type) and I'm quite sure its b/c of bad water quality. I had my g/f get our water tested (since I don't have a TDS meter yet) and they returned me with a reading of 365ppm "total hardness" (guessing that's TDS?) Straight from the tap (not after the RO unit).

So my questions are:
What do you think my RO Unit consists of? (I have no clue, possibly a membrane(no clue the quality), 1 Sediment Filter, 1 Carbon Block?)
What do you think I should do to make my RO unit adequate? (I am doing an order from BRS this week, plz tell me what I need to incorporate into my RO system to make it adequate!)
What other suggestions do you guys have for me? I really don't want to go back to filling 5 gal jugs =*(

Here's the pics:

 

[Hiker4twenty]

You can always add on more sediment and carbon filters. I would also look into adding a DI canister to futher filter it. My parents run into this same issue with high iron in their well water. They have a whole house filter because of it and change the filters 1x per month.

 

[tankedchemist]

What pH is your tap water, before the RODI unit? Also, did you have them test the TDS after the RODI unit, or just the tap water?

 

[Ulta]

Just Tested pH out of the tap with my Marine Lab test kit, got the lowest reading on the card of 7.4.

And yes, it was tested from the tap...

Straight from the tap (not after the RO unit).

Guess I should get one tested after also to know for sure eh? Its PITA to get it tested, I have to go to a clinic >_< still haven't been able to find a TDS meter for sale locally.

 

[Ulta]

So my guess is that I have a Sediment Filter on the Right, Carbon Block on the left, the RO Membrane on top and no DI filters? And it goes through that order: Sediment Filter -> Carbon Block -> RO Membrane. (If my guess on which is which is correct)

If so is it set up correct and all I should do is order a few more filters (maybe 1 micron?) and maybe a pair of DI filters?

 

[Ulta]

change the filters 1x per month.

ugh... I think buying water at $0.25/gal would then be a cheaper route...

I hope this is not the case >_<

 

[Bifferwine]

You should get a TDS meter on Ebay. They only cost around $15.

 

[tankedchemist]

Just Tested pH out of the tap with my Marine Lab test kit, got the lowest reading on the card of 7.4.

And yes, it was tested from the tap...

Guess I should get one tested after also to know for sure eh? Its PITA to get it tested, I have to go to a clinic >_< still haven't been able to find a TDS meter for sale locally.

that's probably not really your pH.. if you have a pool supply store somewhere, pick up some litmus paper. It will accurately determine pH from 0-14. The reason I ask is, how you remove iron is dependent on what pH your tap water is at. Adding other filters (maybe another sediment filter in particular) would help remove some of the iron, but there are more efficient ways to do it.

Your guess about which filters you've got now is what I'd guess, too. Adding a DI filter can't hurt, though with that high of TDS, your DI resin might need regeneration regularly. That's not difficult, though.

I agree with Biff... get a TDS meter off the internet, so you don't have to guess what your outgoing (post-RO unit) TDS is. :)

 

[yote]

You've got a lot of Iron in your water.I'm guessing that coal mining is big in your area.
You can install a regular ole filter in front of your RO system and pull most of the iron out before it gets into the membranes.