Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

Do you make your own RO Water at home?
If so, what system do you use? Where did you purchase it?
All of the fill your own RO Water stations are closed for the duration as a result of the Covid-19.

I am ready to buy an RO system. Any suggestions would be welcome.

I had mine professionally installed along with our softener. I wanted it done right so was willing to pay more. But I don't think they are particularly hard if you just want water for brewing.

I wanted a tap for drinking and I also wanted a good sized storage tank. I think mine is 15 gallons but you don't really get that because the flow slows down a lot as it empties. But I always have more than enough to brew whenever I want without having to plan a few days ahead. But I'm also not doing 10 gallon+ batches.


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who did you use?

Witte's water in n Marion.

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I'll let you know if i have luck with my local RO place, i think they still are filling jugs, even if it's curbside pickup. The office lady is there Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'll let you know Tuesday if it's open. I'll need some for a lager im doing next week.

What do they charge you per gallon? Are they in Monticello?

I had said that all of the stations are closed...but I can only confirm that HyVee/Marion is shutdown for now. Have not confirmed if the Walmart filling stations are closed.

Anamosa Walmart has a Primo (sp?) system, and folks can still fill their jugs there.

My son works at the Marion Walmart....he believes their station is still open too.

Darn it, I spent $16 yesterday for 5 gallons of water, with $6 refills...but at least I have a handy water carrier now (better than plastic carboys).

I have a custom 5-stage RO filter that I designed and purchased through Air, Water & Ice (https://airwaterice.com). It has a 10-gallon storage tank to allow me to pull enough water for the brew day in only one or two pulls. Seems to work pretty well, at least as indicated by the TDS meter that came with it.

10 Gallon tank....that is just the ticket I need...doing 10 gallon batches.

Where did you install your unit?

Total water(Culligan) in Monticello $1.75 for 5 gallons. $0.35 per gallon. I was looking into a RO system, but for that price i can't afford not to just buy as needed.

HyVee Oakland Rd is shut down, as is New Pi COOP.

A $1.75 for five gallons is pretty good. And someone else is responsible for maintaining the equipment. But for me the drive time and the gasoline would eat that up.

Several years ago I got a sink and countertop free from someone's kitchen remodel project. The filter unit is mounted under the sink. The Tank is next to the washing machine just outside the sink cabinet. The countertop spans over the tank, but there's no cabinet under the countertop there.

I have the 150GPD version of this: https://www.buckeyehydro.com/premium-ro-systems/ with an additional booster pump (my city water was only 40PSI, need to be 70 for good operation), 3Gal tank, and all of the surrounding stuff to add fittings to my kitchen and brew areas.

My "do over" changes would be:
-get a much larger Tank -- to save time even when just filling a 1Gal jug in the kitchen
-make all of the water tubing between the tank and the serving faucets 3/8 or 1/2 inch instead of 1/4, for faster outflow from the tank. small diameter really restricts that flow rate, which matters IF you care about that, and haven't emptied the tank (since then your limitation is the production rate).
-direct the waste to a rain barrel in the backyard, to be "green"

I can throttle back on this purchase for a while...I was in a little bit of a panic when I found out that HyVee had shutdown their RO station.
If Walmart keeps theirs up and running; I'll stay the course and purchase my water for now.
I get alot of weird looks getting 20 gallons at a time.
Thanks for all of the great input/advice.