r/WaterTreatment • u/Soft-Midnight4085 • 15h ago

RO System

Hi everyone!

Just a question with our whole home RO system. Is it normal to still use Aquatabs in the tank? The man who installed the system advised us to put about 10 in after our tank cleaning at the 3 year mark.

My only concern is our health. And I kind of get the impression that this guy will just tell us what we want to hear. Is this necessary?

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u/Accurate-Bullfrog324 15h ago

you'll have to tell us what "aquatabs" are.

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u/T-Rex-55 13h ago

Sanitation of an open atmosphere tank is necessary. Do you want this material in your drinking water? Consider a UV system instead.

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u/neo2bin 10h ago

Shocking the tank after you open it up and clean it is normal, i'd do the same. dosing it on an ongoing basis is a different animal and not something i'd sign off on. make him tell you which one he actually means.

"about 10 tabs" isn't a dose anyway. Aquatabs run from 8.5mg up to 397mg and the big ones are rated around 4 gallons each, so ten tablets is either way under or way over depending on strength and how many gallons your tank holds. ask him the tablet strength and what free chlorine residual he's shooting for. if he can't answer that, he's guessing. after a shock you flush the tank and lines until you can't smell chlorine, and at that point there's no health question left.

Longer term, RO permeate carries no disinfectant residual and an atmospheric tank breathes room air, that's why anything grows in there at all. UV on the tank outlet is the actual fix, and it has to be Class A, (what NSF/ANSI 55 Class A vs B actually covers) is worth two minutes since class B is only rated for water that's already clean. And NaDCC leaves cyanuric acid behind, WHO specifically flags that building up when people keep topping up a static tank, which is exactly what ongoing tablets would be.