3 Stage Reverse Osmosis System with Chloraguard filter enough for chloramines?

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aarunt1

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Hello. I've been researching RO systems for my brew water. I live in SoCal and we have chloramines so I need to filter those out but I'd like to have as few stages as possible.

Most 3 stage systems look like this and come with a standard 10" carbon block filter.

Sediment > Carbon Block > RO Membrane

If I swap out the standard Carbon Block with a Chloraguard or similar, will I be set?

I've seen a lot of 4 stage systems that just have 2 standard carbon blocks or a combination of a standard carbon block and a some type of finer micron carbon block which makes no sense to me since it seems like a Chloraguard can do the job of both of those. If I was to get a 4 stage system I would probably just put 2 Chloraguards in it but that seems like overkill to me.

What are you guys with Chloramines running and why?

Also, HydroLogic has a filter called ChloraShield that claims "100% Chloramine Removal". Is this possible?

Thanks
 
Chloramines require additional contact time with the carbon for proper treatment. If you're careful (testing the concentrate for total and free chlorine), and change our 0.5 Mic Chlorine Grabber frequently enough, you may be fine. If you want a little peace of mind, add a Chloraguard, and follow it up with the Grabber. The Chloraguard is made with catalytic powdered gac rather than standard powered gac. The Chloraguard far outperforms the Grabber for chloramine treatment.
https://www.buckeyehydro.com/the-chlorine-grabber-0-5-micron/https://www.buckeyehydro.com/chloraguard-chloramine-carbon-block/
 
Chloramines require additional contact time with the carbon for proper treatment. If you're careful (testing the concentrate for total and free chlorine), and change our 0.5 Mic Chlorine Grabber frequently enough, you may be fine. If you want a little peace of mind, add a Chloraguard, and follow it up with the Grabber. The Chloraguard is made with catalytic powdered gac rather than standard powered gac. The Chloraguard far outperforms the Grabber for chloramine treatment.
https://www.buckeyehydro.com/the-chlorine-grabber-0-5-micron/https://www.buckeyehydro.com/chloraguard-chloramine-carbon-block/
Ok thanks then you are confirming that I don't need anymore stages for brew water if I run this?
Sediment > Chloraguard > RO Membrane
 
That is not the configuration we recommend.

If you go that route, keep an eye out for Total Chlorine and Free Chlorine in your concentrate.

Or, get an Add On Housing Kit and plumb it in upstream of your existing housings. Move your sediment filter to the new housing, put a Chloraguard where your sediment filter was, and a Chlorine Grabber or another Chloraguard in the next prefilter housing.
https://www.buckeyehydro.com/add-on-housing-kit/
Russ
 
Ok thanks for the info! I guess I will just take your advice and get the 4 stage system. More carbon can't hurt haha and I want to make sure my chloramines get filtered out.

Do you give a discount to forum members since you're a sponsor? Or are you doing any kind of discount for Labor Day this weekend?

Thanks
 
Ok no worries.

One more question. Your system looks like the pressure gauge is attached to the membrane housing towards the outlet side. Normally I see the pressure gauge situated before the inlet since the inlet pressure is important. Does your gauge determine the inlet pressure somehow still or is it showing the internal pressure of the housing? Or the outlet pressure?

Thanks
 
Wow you HAVE been studying! Good observation. Either location for the pressure gauge is fine. The internal pressure of the housing is almost identical to the feedwater pressure. Very little pressure is lost out of the permeate port.
 
Wow you HAVE been studying! Good observation. Either location for the pressure gauge is fine. The internal pressure of the housing is almost identical to the feedwater pressure. Very little pressure is lost out of the permeate port.
Haha yes I gotta make sure I buy the right system the first time so I've been nerding out on this stuff. I suppose I could also buy an inline gauge to verify the readings are the same but I will take your word for it. It does look a lot cleaner having the gauge on the housing though.

Anyways, I placed my order earlier. Thanks for your help! Looking forward to my first brew using it!
 
Can't you just use potassium metabisulfite?
For chlorine and chloramines alone yes but metabisulfite also adds back some potassium, sulfate and chloride which I don't want. And if I'm going to go through the trouble of running the water through RO I might as well filter out all the chloramines during that time as well.
 
For chlorine and chloramines alone yes but metabisulfite also adds back some potassium, sulfate and chloride which I don't want. And if I'm going to go through the trouble of running the water through RO I might as well filter out all the chloramines during that time as well.
In fact, those disinfectants have to be removed before the water hits the RO membrane.
 
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