Question
Hey guys, Jason here from Arizona. My water situation is getting expensive. So I'm looking into an RO system. Our water here comes from a well and I found out that our water treatment is with chlorine liquid not the gas. I'm looking at a system called "Hydro-logic?Stealth Merlin Garden Pro, Reverse Osmosis System". It's for garden use and it says will remove 95%+ chlorine. Will this work? What do you recommend. Thanks for your help and see you in July.
Jason
Apache Junction, AZ

Answer
Hi Jason,

This is actually the same system we use here at the nursery.  From what I could tell, GE may have sold the rights to Hydro-logic for manufacture and distribution.  The Merlin was originally marketed as an "on-demand" R.O. system for homes, but was poorly designed for that purpose, and people hated it.  However, those of us that used it for what we do, produce lots of water all the time, it works great.  The Merlin works best if you are pushing lots of water through it rather than just a little here and there.  During the summer ours goes almost 24/7, and it does produce right around 700 gallons per day.

Depending on your line water pressure, you may need to consider getting the booster pump to go with it.  It increases the efficiency of the unit dramatically if your line pressure is below 40 psi.  Ours is right at 40 psi, and our TDS on the purified water is around 20 ppm.  When I first got the unit it was around 7 ppm, and I've changed  membranes twice in 4 years.  The pressure increases the rejection rate.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com