MikeInToronto - Did you have the API unit adjusted to the recommended output for best results? When I did that it ran a lot slower than my RO/DI. It is possible to run run water through it a lot faster.
It's been a few years (10, I think) since I last used an API. You set it for 1 cup per minute or something, right? All I can remember is setting it lower than the recommended rate and testing the water afterwards.
rb1414 - no wastewater with the API unit. One line in and one line out
The cartridges are a carbon/DI resin combination - no RO membrane. The advantage to an RO membrane is that it will remove a lot of things that will escape a unit like the API.
Yup, no waste water. I've read it misses things but I don't understand this nor did I experience it. It should be purer than RO water alone.
Just trying to picture the set up for the thing. Also, the box says it attaches to a faucet in seconds -- does that mean it is convenient to just take it on and off when you want to use it or is that a pain and I should have a dedicated faucet? Thanks for all the input. Not sure why I find the whole RO/DI set up intimidating but I do.
The API unit is a clear plastic column filled with DI resin. Attached to the top is a grey cap with a nipple for the OUT water and on the bottom is a grey cap with a nipple for the IN water. You attach a blue tube to each nipple. To the tube on the bottom you attach the rubber sink adapter and pop this over your faucet nozzle. You put the OUT tubing in your bucket or reservoir or whatever. Adjust your water to 1cup/minute. The water flows upward through the unit and comes out the top. Discard the first cup or something on a new cartridge. That's it. Once you are done, remove one of the blue tubes and plug the opposite end of the remaining tube to the exposed nipple so the DI doesn't dry out and stick it under the sink or something. Easy. It comes with instructions
The resin changes colour so you know when it's expired.
I will warn you though that it is better to buy a sink diverter than to rely on the rubber adapter they give you. (
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store...594a9c230972d/f/a/faucet-diverter-valve_2.jpg)
For me, I got 50-75 gallons on a new cartridge and about 20 on recharges (which I wouldn't recommend doing unless you're masochistic). That is with Toronto water which is pretty good water to start with.
Something you might also want to consider if you like the water quality and you get good volume is this: You can buy 2 units and once you've used them both up, you can empty them and fill one with carbon and filter floss and the other with bulk DI resin. Then you just link the units together and this works out cheaper than buyer new API cartridges. And if you can find a supplier that provides separate anionic and cationic resins, you can use a third unit and link carbon/floss to anionic to cationic (or reverse I can't remember the order). This will give you better water because with mixed DI resin, the charges in the resins counteract each other to a small degree. You may even find people willing to give you their old cartridges or caps and tubes. But at some point you'll want to consider a RO/DI unit instead before it gets too crazy. Just like with RO units, the cost is in the replacement cartridges, not the unit itself. I had about 4 units at one point and I just tossed them all out.
Some people even use the spent columns for reactors of varying sorts.
