The abbreviation RO stands for Reverse Osmosis and DI is short of De-Ionisation, which are both techniques of purifying, removing the impurities from, tap water so that it is suitable for use in a marine aquarium.  RO/DI is using both techniques, first RO then DI, to obtain the water.  RO by itself has difficultly removing some of the ions from the water, so typically that treatment is followed by DI to ensure the last lot are removed.

The difference between RO and DI water is the technique used to remove the impurities/ions. RO uses a semi-permeable membrane which is fine enough so that essentially only water molecules will pass through it. As a result you produce about 3 times as much waste water as purified water. DI uses ion exchange resins, which exchange the ions in the water, such as iron, magnesium, copper for hydrogen and nitrate, sulphate, phosphate for hydroxide. DI is fine to use, and if done correctly is better quality than a straight RO system (without a DI on the end).

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