Spectrapure MaxCap RO/DI

The standard SpectraPure® MaxCap® 90 and 180 gallons per day (GPD) RODI systems include a 90 GPD TFC membrane for high silicate removal, a 0.5 micron MicroTec sediment and 0.5 micron carbon block prefilter, and a MaxCap® and SilicaBuster® DI cartridge.

5-stage osmosis system with ion exchange resin cartridges for ultra-pure water for your marine aquarium.

Hand selected membrane with 99% retention rate. All membranes are tested in a proprietary testing procedure at Spectrapure, as the quality of the membranes varies. Only the best membranes with the highest retention rate are selected for the SpectraSelect Plus and the test result is noted on each individual membrane.

The 0.5 micron sediment filter filters tap water before it reaches the osmosis membrane. The better the sediment filter, the longer the osmosis membrane will last. The 100% polypropylene filter filters larger particles in the outer layer and the smallest particles in the inner layer of the filter, giving it a higher absorption capacity.

The block filter has the advantage that no channeling can take place and the water is completely cleaned by the block. The 0.5 micron combines both a sediment and carbon filter. Only the 0.5 micron activated carbon block filters remove trihalomethanes, lowest levels of chlorine, pesticides, volatile organic chemicals and 99.95% giardia and cryptosporides.

The heart of the MaxCap system is the MaxCap cartridge which is suspended in front of the mixed bed resin or SilicaBuster cartridge. The MaxCap cartridge has a very high capacity and ensures that a downstream mixed bed resin cartridge, for example, lasts up to 4 times longer, as the water is prepared accordingly. This saves you enormous costs. Also removes ammonium that remains in water with chloramines in the water.

The mixed bed resin primarily removes silicate, nitrate, phosphate and heavy metals. Specially developed for already treated water and therefore extremely efficient. Silicate is removed up to 99,5 %. The SilicaBuster outperforms all competitors in the range of these cartridges.

The terms RO and DI stand for RO = reverse osmosis and DI for ion exchange. An RO/DI system is therefore a reverse osmosis system with downstream inonene exchange resin cartridges, hereinafter referred to as DI cartridges.

The manual 2:1 90 and 180 GPD purge systems include a SpectraSelect hand-tested membrane, a 0.5 micron MicroTec sediment and a 0.5 micron carbon block prefilter, and a MaxCap® high capacity and a SilicaBuster® high capacity DI cartridge. These systems maximize pure water production by using lab-grade resins used in our specially formulated deionization cartridges, providing 99.95 % silica removal and extended DI cartridge life! With SpectraPure®, you get ultra-pure water at half the price!

The reverse osmosis (RO) membrane is the workhorse of the water purification system. It uses a thin film (membrane) technology to retain impurities. RO membranes are particularly good at retaining large atoms, molecules and other items that have a relatively strong electron charge. They are less effective with small atoms, molecules smaller than water, and those with relatively weak electron charges. RO membranes pass all dissolved gases, including ammonia and carbon dioxide. The percent retention rate of a membrane is an indication of how many of these contaminants pass through the membrane and on to the DI cartridge.

A membrane that has a retention rate of 98 % will pass about half the contaminants that a membrane with a rate of 96 % will pass. The direct result of using a 98 % retention rate membrane as opposed to a 96 % membrane is that the life of your DI cartridge is doubled. It is important to note that all membrane manufacturers maintain a lower percent retention rate for small membranes, which means you will need to purchase your membranes from a source that looks for higher retention rates to ensure you get the quality you need.

Spectrapure's experience has shown that not all RO membranes are created equal. SpectraPure's membranes are treated with a proprietary process to improve the percent retention rate and production characteristics. They have been testing RO membranes for more than 20 years using the industry standard of 60 psi (4.1 bar). RO membranes that do not pass this test are discarded.

Contrary to popular belief, reverse osmosis does not remove 100 % of contaminants. Depending on the quality of the RO membrane used, 96 - 99 % of TDS (Total Dissolved Solids or salts) will be removed.
To achieve the ultrapure water needed by the aquarist, ion exchange resins are used to remove the remaining contaminants from the RO water to get to 0 TDS.

Called DI (deionization) in English, hence the term DI cartridge. When an RO/DI system is used to produce ultrapure water, by far the largest cost is the replacement cost of the DI cartridges. This makes the retention rate of an RO membrane a critical factor. By using a SpectraSelectPlus™ membrane with a typical stabilized retention rate of 99 % (98 % guaranteed minimum), you will save 2 to 4 times the cost of your DI resins, as illustrated in the graph below.

If you need one DI cartridge to remove the 5 ppm TDS that remains after using a SpectraSelectPlus™ membrane, you already need 2 DI cartridges to remove the 10 ppm TDS that remains after using a 98 % retention rate. The initial ppm of tap water does not affect this ratio, as a 98 % retention rate membrane will still leave twice the amount of contaminants than a 99 % retention rate membrane (2 % vs. 1 %).