Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)

[Hookup]

Not sure what kind of starfish you have but some require a mature sandbed to get their nutrients from, for exapmle the sand sifting starfish should not be added until the bed is nice and mature, one year as a rule of thumb, and needs sufficient size of bed or it will starve.

 

[Cougarman]

My stars seem to like the diatoms that film the glass. Should only take a day or two of the lights on to grow them in a new tank. Should be plenty enough food for them in a tank that size.

 

[nineball]

My stars seem to like the diatoms that film the glass. Should only take a day or two of the lights on to grow them in a new tank. Should be plenty enough food for them in a tank that size.

That would make sense except there is a bylaw for the Town of Oakville. Nothing is allowed to grow on glass (as far as they are concerned, acrylic is in the same family). Plus, the Brothers Grimm use diatoms as a pizza topping.

Peter

 

[dave.m]

My money is still on the sea stars being captivated with bipolar Shara leaving her current boyfriend and sometimes therapist Dan to shack up with Evan, the former husband of Dan's third ex-wife and old enough to be Dan's father ... and maybe he is! We won't really know the shocking truth until tomorrow afternoon.

Dave.M

 

[Chago09]

My money is still on the sea stars being captivated with bipolar Shara leaving her current boyfriend and sometimes therapist Dan to shack up with Evan, the former husband of Dan's third ex-wife and old enough to be Dan's father ... and maybe he is! We won't really know the shocking truth until tomorrow afternoon.

Dave.M

Thats 2 hahahah

 

[Chago09]

RO system

RO system

Ok here is the drawing for Peters RODI system. I will explain the reason why everything is the way it is below.

Ok to start off, when I arrived in Peters fish room I noticed 2 residential units that each were having their own problems. The bright side though, they were connected individually with their own lines, which means I have 2 water sources for my build. My initial posts way back in the thread were in favour for bringing in a large plug and play commercial unit. It could produce 1200gpd and water would be 0TDS for a long time, as these filters and membranes have long life expectancies. Well another thing I noticed when walking into Peter's fishroom is you could literally hear a pin drop. You would swear that nothing was plugged in. He has one fan that makes a slight humm and thats it. So I wasn't going to be the guy who screws up the fishroom with a noisy pump that all commercial units use and need. Unfortunately no one makes a quite pump, sure many claim there pump is "quite" but they mean compared to the other ones in the industry which sound like trains. That industries quite is like our hobbies loudest one we can find. So this ment I needed to take basic residential practices but somehow boost it up without using a pump. At the same time, follow Peters criteria for reliability and most importantly 0!!! TDS. So below I have attached the drawing and my explanation.

To start off you will see 2 rows of filters. Both are connected by there own 3/8" line. This brings me to my first and second issue with drinking water units. And so I am clear residential units, are drinking water units. Drinking water units do not require 0 TDS, actually most shoot for less than 25 TDS because water that is too pure is actually argued as not healthy to drink (thats a whole other topic). Commercial units are not or very rarely used for drinking water, most are for manufacturing, medicine etc. People who need ultrapure water for processes etc. This is why going commercial is so important in this hobby because thats what we need. Ultra pure water and in larger quantities. My second issue is the gpd ratings. Everyone puts 75gpd, 100gpd, 50 gpd... whatever, has anyone actually measured how many gallons they got in one hour? Most of you would be surprised to know that you are getting less than your gall per day rating. This is mostly due to water supply, so I am using 3/8" tubing throughout the first stage of Peters system.

So again you have 2 lines from the wall. Each 3/8" tubing will lead into their respective first filter which is the one coloured in yellow. These are 20" watts canisters which are great for not allowing any bypass and will hold a 20" 1 micron Sediment filter. This is our first line of defence which takes care of like the filter says... sediment in the water. Then each system will run through 2 x 20" watts canisters both holding 20" GAC filters. I swear by GAC in Southern Ontario because we have high iron. Iron causes all sorts of problems with Carbon Block. Iron can create a gelatin which coats the Block, slowing down flow and of course not allowing us to make the amount of water our RO Membrane is rated for.

At this point you will fllow the line above the line of filters on both systems and it will be entering the baby blue rectangle which is our first 150gpd commercial RO membrane from watts. Now technically this membrane is a 250gpd membrane, but it can't produce that without a pump, but the factory rating for using 3/8" tubing, full flow canister housings on the pre filters and 80PSI... it will produce 150gpd. So the line enters the membrane. On the opposite end there is two lines exiting. The red one is the drain water and the blue is product water. You will notice the product water goes off to meet the product water from the 2nd membrane and the drain is what is actually supplying the 2nd membrane. With residential membranes I like to simply split the line after the filters and have two RO's running individually. Then re connect the lines to meet at the DI. But Peter's source is 80PSI and splitting that for 2 commercial membranes will lead to disaster. So I am running them in line. With 3/8" tubing and full flow canisters, I still have a ton of pressure and water to make the second RO effective. I have built one of the sections already and have tested at my house. I have 100PSI on my tap so I used a flow restrictor to make sure I get 80. I produced 24 1/4 gallons in 2 hours, which works out to 291gpd. Peter will have 2 of these so 582 GPD as a true reading and not just a rating. My water is colder then Peters because he has a mixer on his lines so I suspect at Peter's it will perform even better then my expected 150gpd per membrane. Also where I live the TDS is 525ppm and in my test I got it down to 5 TDS. Peter's source is 100 TDS so I expect it down to 2 TDS.

After the 2 RO membranes on each unit, all 4 membranes will come together and meet as they go into the DI Resin. This is my favourite part. I am using a 4.5" x 20" Full Flow housing which holds a DI cartridge rated for 2200 grains capacity. For those of you who remember my math post earlier. 2200 grains capacity with only 3(just for argument sake) TDS coming in will last a long time. Actually it will last 12,000 - 13,000 gallons before needing replacement. You will notice a little pink square above it, this will be our TDS monitor. The TDS monitor will give us 2 non stop readings of TDS, prior to the DI and after. This way we know how high the TDS is coming out of the RO and the DI. The unit is from HM digital and is the PS- 202. These units are extremely accurate and give a non stop reading. It is a controller and can be connected to a unit like a profilux to give constant TDS readings and can even trigger shut offs etc is the TDS is to high. This way you never need to worry about TDS creep or water bypass entering your system. We spoke earlier about TDS creep and water bypass in the membrane which will give you crazy high TDS readings entering your system.

I will be installing this unit next week at Peters and will post some pics.

If you have general questions please feel free to ask, anything more specific go ahead and PM me so were not disturbing Peter's thread.

Thanks

 

[killerbee181]

just a question whats the reason for using the waste water in the 2nd membrane? We have actually been discussing this on or local forum and thought this would lead to membranes going bad prematurely here's a post that another company posted about the subject.

Yeow there's a lot of good ino in this thread, and some that isn't quite on the money.

Back to the original question - can you install a tee and run the waste water back into the feed water line?
Answer: No. The pressure in the waste water is lower than the pressure in the feedwater line.

Question: Can you drink waste water?
Answer: Sure. But you may not want to. It has been through a sediment filter, and through a carbon block. But as mentioned above the dissolved solids in the waste water will be about 25% higher than the tds in the feedwater. If the tds in the feedwater was low to start with, the high tds in the waste water wouldn't be something you noticed if you drank it. But if the tds in the feedwater is high, you might notie an off taste in the waste water. The USEPA suggests you avoid drinking water over 500 ppm due to disagreeable flavor.

Question: Can you run the waste water to a second membrane?
Answer: We feel it is misleading to tell people they can cut down on waste water by adding a second membrane. Here's why.

First - remember that what folks call "waste water" really would be better thought of as "flush water" in that this water serves the important purpose of internally flushing the surface of the semipermeable membrane to keep the membrane from fouling/scaling.

When you configure a system with two membranes in series (the waste from the first membrane going to the "in" port on the second membrane), for this discussion let's say it's two 75 gpd membranes, the system behaves like you have a single long (75 gpd x 2) 150 gpd membrane.

Now - if you use a proper flow restrictor, that is, one for a 150 gpd membrane, you'll have about a 4:1 waste to product ratio. Sounds familiar, right?

If however you don't change the flow restrictor - meaning you keep using the same restrictor you were using when you just had one 75 gpd membrane, then you'll see a waste to product ratio much lower than 4:1. But remember that the recommendation for a ~4:1 ratio comes from the membrane manufacturer. They are telling you that you need about a 4:1 ratio to keep the membrane flushed and keep the membrane from fouling or building up scale. Run the system with a lower ratio and you will foul/scale the membrane(s) quicker than would have otherwise been the case.

Instead of adding a second membrane to lower that ratio, you could have just changed out your flow restrictor ($4) instead. A much less expensive approach to get you to the same endpoint in terms of saving on waste water.

Now, to confuse things just a bit. Filmtec specs call for the 4 to 1 ratio on the basis of assumptions about the water that will be supplied to the membrane. If you have very soft water you MAY be able to get a decent service life from the membrane running at a ratio lower than 4 to 1 (e.g., 3 to 1). Remember that the waste water from the first membrane is about 25% harder than your tap water.

Bottomline: If what you are after is reduced waste water, experiment with a different flow restrictor for $4 instead of messing around with a second membrane plumbed in series.

As a side note, you can also lower the ratio by increasing the pressure delivered to the membrane (with a booster pump), because flow restrictors are sized assuming you are providing factory spec conditions (50 psi and 77 degrees for Filmtec membranes). Increase the pressure and you'll drive more water through the membrane and viola - less waste water. But as I mentioned above, if you do this (just like over-restricting a membrane) - the lower the waste to product ratio, the shorter the lifespan on the membrane.

Russ

and here is the link to the thread.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1930493&page=2

Thanks,
Terry

 

[dave.m]

But Peter's source is 80PSI and splitting that for 2 commercial membranes will lead to disaster.

Sorry, but could you please explain "disaster"? Wouldn't it just mean there is insufficient pressure on each of the split lines, or am I missing something?

re. the GAC filters you mention, do these come as prepackaged filters for the Watt brand canisters, or can you use whatever GAC is cheapest?

Thx,

Dave.M

 

[Chago09]

just a question whats the reason for using the waste water in the 2nd membrane? We have actually been discussing this on or local forum and thought this would lead to membranes going bad prematurely here's a post that another company posted about the subject.

Yeow there's a lot of good ino in this thread, and some that isn't quite on the money.

Back to the original question - can you install a tee and run the waste water back into the feed water line?
Answer: No. The pressure in the waste water is lower than the pressure in the feedwater line.

Question: Can you drink waste water?
Answer: Sure. But you may not want to. It has been through a sediment filter, and through a carbon block. But as mentioned above the dissolved solids in the waste water will be about 25% higher than the tds in the feedwater. If the tds in the feedwater was low to start with, the high tds in the waste water wouldn't be something you noticed if you drank it. But if the tds in the feedwater is high, you might notie an off taste in the waste water. The USEPA suggests you avoid drinking water over 500 ppm due to disagreeable flavor.

Question: Can you run the waste water to a second membrane?
Answer: We feel it is misleading to tell people they can cut down on waste water by adding a second membrane. Here's why.

First - remember that what folks call "waste water" really would be better thought of as "flush water" in that this water serves the important purpose of internally flushing the surface of the semipermeable membrane to keep the membrane from fouling/scaling.

When you configure a system with two membranes in series (the waste from the first membrane going to the "in" port on the second membrane), for this discussion let's say it's two 75 gpd membranes, the system behaves like you have a single long (75 gpd x 2) 150 gpd membrane.

Now - if you use a proper flow restrictor, that is, one for a 150 gpd membrane, you'll have about a 4:1 waste to product ratio. Sounds familiar, right?

If however you don't change the flow restrictor - meaning you keep using the same restrictor you were using when you just had one 75 gpd membrane, then you'll see a waste to product ratio much lower than 4:1. But remember that the recommendation for a ~4:1 ratio comes from the membrane manufacturer. They are telling you that you need about a 4:1 ratio to keep the membrane flushed and keep the membrane from fouling or building up scale. Run the system with a lower ratio and you will foul/scale the membrane(s) quicker than would have otherwise been the case.

Instead of adding a second membrane to lower that ratio, you could have just changed out your flow restrictor ($4) instead. A much less expensive approach to get you to the same endpoint in terms of saving on waste water.

Now, to confuse things just a bit. Filmtec specs call for the 4 to 1 ratio on the basis of assumptions about the water that will be supplied to the membrane. If you have very soft water you MAY be able to get a decent service life from the membrane running at a ratio lower than 4 to 1 (e.g., 3 to 1). Remember that the waste water from the first membrane is about 25% harder than your tap water.

Bottomline: If what you are after is reduced waste water, experiment with a different flow restrictor for $4 instead of messing around with a second membrane plumbed in series.

As a side note, you can also lower the ratio by increasing the pressure delivered to the membrane (with a booster pump), because flow restrictors are sized assuming you are providing factory spec conditions (50 psi and 77 degrees for Filmtec membranes). Increase the pressure and you'll drive more water through the membrane and viola - less waste water. But as I mentioned above, if you do this (just like over-restricting a membrane) - the lower the waste to product ratio, the shorter the lifespan on the membrane.

Russ

and here is the link to the thread.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1930493&page=2

Thanks,
Terry

Ummm ok a few things here. I totally disagree with that persons answer. Running two RO inline or seperate from each other is like T5 vs MH. Its is always a arguement. I personally use them in different situations. for example one reefcentral member messaged me a couple days ago and I suggested against running them inline to him, only because it wouldn't work with his situation. For this person to say that you can accomplish the same thing by simply replacing the flow restrictor ($4) to a 150 gpd and now presto you will have 150gpd???? That seems very uneducated. A 75 gpd membrane needs to be matched with a 75 gpd flow restrictor... period. A membrane that is 75 gpd is not designed to make 150gpd and if they are you are either damaging the membrane or making water with a high TDS. It just makes logical sense. Thats like saying if I simply install a Ferrari motor into my SUV, the SUV will be just as fast as the original Ferrari. There is a lot more to it then just the flow restrictor.

As for why I used this method on this particular case. Well Peter needed lots of gallons with no pump, without jeopardizing water quality. His source water is 80psi, and like your post said a 150gpd needs about 4:1 ratio. So then it is fair to say that the drain from the first membrane is carrying 80% of the water that originally entered the unit. 80% of 80 PSI is 64psi. 60 PSI is what most membranes under 300gpd are rated for. So in reality the first membrane has more then enough power to supply both. We did not do this to conserve water in any way. We did this solely to boost water production any way we could, so we used 4 membranes rather than 2. If I would have had half the water in each line. To answer Dave. M that would be bad because having to little pressure would actually cause a high TDS and premature damage to membrane. Basically a flow restrictor is in the drain line and is what allows pressure to build in the membrane. If not enough water is coming in quickly enough, not enough pressure will build for "Reverse Osmosis" to properly occur. Leaving you with very little water and in some cases higher TDS. Dave when I said disaster its because for Peter, having a tiny trickly of water is a disaster when your system demands so much.

Back to killerbee, again this was not to conserve water but to make more water. I realize the second membrane is not making as much water as the first, but under my test of half of Peters unit, I produced 24 1/4 gallons in 2 hours. Thats 291 gallons a day. So the second membrane isn't really slacking much at all.

The most effective way to get full production from each membrane would to have 4 seperate systems. Although for the little loss I got out of my second membrane, its not worth the cost of having double the filter housings, filters and not to mention waste of space. Peter needs room for more of his toys.

Hope I answered that for you

 

[Chago09]

Sorry, but could you please explain "disaster"? Wouldn't it just mean there is insufficient pressure on each of the split lines, or am I missing something?

re. the GAC filters you mention, do these come as prepackaged filters for the Watt brand canisters, or can you use whatever GAC is cheapest?

Thx,

Dave.M

Sorry I skipped your filter answer. No I do not use only one filter fits systems. I buy normal housings that use standard sized filters. However don't go for the whatever is cheapeast. Thats the biggest mistake hobbyists make with their RO units. They love spending money on 1 micron Sediment filters, then get some crap carbon filter. Just the opposite is true. Sediment buy whatever you want, carbon spend money on really good ones. Chlorine is the number 1 killer of membranes. If chlorine passes your carbon, your membrane is shot. Cheap filters and cheap filter housings will allow 1 of 2 things to happen, if not both. 1. Housing or filter will allow bypass. Basically water passes through without even being touched by media. Just like our reactors, we use them so phosphate media has lots of contact time. If you simply plop a bag in the sump it isn't as nearly as effective. 2. Carbon has a finite amount of filtering it can do. Again just like our aquariums, carbon can only absorb so much, as it does with chlorine. It can only take so much, then water just passes through freely taking chlorine along for the ride. Once it hits your membrane, say goodbye. This is why I am putting high grade GAC filters in Peters system and I am even putting a second one just for extra protection. A really good GAC at 20" will run you $20-$30. These will last the average hobbyist a year. So $40-$60 a year is not a huge cost when you compare everything else in this hobby. Some of us use that a month just on salt.

 

[killerbee181]

Back to killerbee, again this was not to conserve water but to make more water. I realize the second membrane is not making as much water as the first, but under my test of half of Peters unit, I produced 24 1/4 gallons in 2 hours. Thats 291 gallons a day. So the second membrane isn't really slacking much at all.

The most effective way to get full production from each membrane would to have 4 seperate systems. Although for the little loss I got out of my second membrane, its not worth the cost of having double the filter housings, filters and not to mention waste of space. Peter needs room for more of his toys.

Hope I answered that for you

thanks for the reply but if your trying to produce more water why not just T the supply line and run it into the 2 membranes instead of using the waste. This will increase production and not damage the membranes as quickly. The prefilters should be able to handle the 2 membranes this way.
Terry

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Running membranes in series, or in parallel can both work, as long as you have the appropriate water pressure, feedwater tds, and recovery at each membrane.

My comment above applies to situations that don't meet those critieria.

Russ

 

[Chago09]

thanks for the reply but if your trying to produce more water why not just T the supply line and run it into the 2 membranes instead of using the waste. This will increase production and not damage the membranes as quickly. The prefilters should be able to handle the 2 membranes this way.
Terry

Actually just the opposite is true. If I split 80 psi neither RO will have enough pressure and both will perform poorly and damage the RO. Inline, the first one gets full 80 psi which is more then enough and the second gets 64psi which is just perfect, most membranes are rated for 60PSI. I performed a test and got 291gpd, so I only lost 9gpd on the second membrane and had full from the first. If I split them I wouldn't even get 150gpd from the entire unit.

Splitting works on high psi or with a booster pump. Again I don't have either on this project.

 

[killerbee181]

ok thanks for clearing that up for me
Terry

 

[Cougarman]

Ok here is the drawing for Peters RODI system. I will explain the reason why everything is the way it is below.

Ok to start off, when I arrived in Peters fish room I noticed 2 residential units that each were having their own problems. The bright side though, they were connected individually with their own lines, which means I have 2 water sources for my build. My initial posts way back in the thread were in favour for bringing in a large plug and play commercial unit. It could produce 1200gpd and water would be 0TDS for a long time, as these filters and membranes have long life expectancies. Well another thing I noticed when walking into Peter's fishroom is you could literally hear a pin drop. You would swear that nothing was plugged in. He has one fan that makes a slight humm and thats it. So I wasn't going to be the guy who screws up the fishroom with a noisy pump that all commercial units use and need. Unfortunately no one makes a quite pump, sure many claim there pump is "quite" but they mean compared to the other ones in the industry which sound like trains. That industries quite is like our hobbies loudest one we can find. So this ment I needed to take basic residential practices but somehow boost it up without using a pump. At the same time, follow Peters criteria for reliability and most importantly 0!!! TDS. So below I have attached the drawing and my explanation.

To start off you will see 2 rows of filters. Both are connected by there own 3/8" line. This brings me to my first and second issue with drinking water units. And so I am clear residential units, are drinking water units. Drinking water units do not require 0 TDS, actually most shoot for less than 25 TDS because water that is too pure is actually argued as not healthy to drink (thats a whole other topic). Commercial units are not or very rarely used for drinking water, most are for manufacturing, medicine etc. People who need ultrapure water for processes etc. This is why going commercial is so important in this hobby because thats what we need. Ultra pure water and in larger quantities. My second issue is the gpd ratings. Everyone puts 75gpd, 100gpd, 50 gpd... whatever, has anyone actually measured how many gallons they got in one hour? Most of you would be surprised to know that you are getting less than your gall per day rating. This is mostly due to water supply, so I am using 3/8" tubing throughout the first stage of Peters system.

So again you have 2 lines from the wall. Each 3/8" tubing will lead into their respective first filter which is the one coloured in yellow. These are 20" watts canisters which are great for not allowing any bypass and will hold a 20" 1 micron Sediment filter. This is our first line of defence which takes care of like the filter says... sediment in the water. Then each system will run through 2 x 20" watts canisters both holding 20" GAC filters. I swear by GAC in Southern Ontario because we have high iron. Iron causes all sorts of problems with Carbon Block. Iron can create a gelatin which coats the Block, slowing down flow and of course not allowing us to make the amount of water our RO Membrane is rated for.

At this point you will fllow the line above the line of filters on both systems and it will be entering the baby blue rectangle which is our first 150gpd commercial RO membrane from watts. Now technically this membrane is a 250gpd membrane, but it can't produce that without a pump, but the factory rating for using 3/8" tubing, full flow canister housings on the pre filters and 80PSI... it will produce 150gpd. So the line enters the membrane. On the opposite end there is two lines exiting. The red one is the drain water and the blue is product water. You will notice the product water goes off to meet the product water from the 2nd membrane and the drain is what is actually supplying the 2nd membrane. With residential membranes I like to simply split the line after the filters and have two RO's running individually. Then re connect the lines to meet at the DI. But Peter's source is 80PSI and splitting that for 2 commercial membranes will lead to disaster. So I am running them in line. With 3/8" tubing and full flow canisters, I still have a ton of pressure and water to make the second RO effective. I have built one of the sections already and have tested at my house. I have 100PSI on my tap so I used a flow restrictor to make sure I get 80. I produced 24 1/4 gallons in 2 hours, which works out to 291gpd. Peter will have 2 of these so 582 GPD as a true reading and not just a rating. My water is colder then Peters because he has a mixer on his lines so I suspect at Peter's it will perform even better then my expected 150gpd per membrane. Also where I live the TDS is 525ppm and in my test I got it down to 5 TDS. Peter's source is 100 TDS so I expect it down to 2 TDS.

After the 2 RO membranes on each unit, all 4 membranes will come together and meet as they go into the DI Resin. This is my favourite part. I am using a 4.5" x 20" Full Flow housing which holds a DI cartridge rated for 2200 grains capacity. For those of you who remember my math post earlier. 2200 grains capacity with only 3(just for argument sake) TDS coming in will last a long time. Actually it will last 12,000 - 13,000 gallons before needing replacement. You will notice a little pink square above it, this will be our TDS monitor. The TDS monitor will give us 2 non stop readings of TDS, prior to the DI and after. This way we know how high the TDS is coming out of the RO and the DI. The unit is from HM digital and is the PS- 202. These units are extremely accurate and give a non stop reading. It is a controller and can be connected to a unit like a profilux to give constant TDS readings and can even trigger shut offs etc is the TDS is to high. This way you never need to worry about TDS creep or water bypass entering your system. We spoke earlier about TDS creep and water bypass in the membrane which will give you crazy high TDS readings entering your system.

I will be installing this unit next week at Peters and will post some pics.

If you have general questions please feel free to ask, anything more specific go ahead and PM me so were not disturbing Peter's thread.

Thanks

This is good stuff. I don't think I've ever seen someone go into as much detail in regards to setting up an RO/DI unit. Most of us just plumb it in and hope we get zero readings.

Chago09 I have a question about the zero waste systems I've seen advertised lately in the Toronto area (center of the universe). Something about forcing the waste water into the hot water lines to eliminate waste water going down the drain. Does this really work?

 

[lethose]

Im not an expert or even that experienced, but if you try and force water from an RO throwoff line into a house line(which should have higher pressure, as the RO flush line doesnt have full pressure behind it) wouldnt you risk the hot water getting up into your RODI unit and wreaking all sorts of nasty havok?

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

The RO waste water is run through a booster pump to increase the pressure above the pressure in the pipes.

RO systems are prone to bacterial colonization remember that you are suppossed to be sanitizing your system at least once a year), and you are sending this nonchlorinated waste water back into the pipes.

Check the code in your area re this issue...

Russ

 

[kharmaguru]

remember that you are suppossed to be sanitizing your system at least once a year

Russ

How does one do this?

 

[nineball]

The RO waste water is run through a booster pump to increase the pressure above the pressure in the pipes.

RO systems are prone to bacterial colonization remember that you are suppossed to be sanitizing your system at least once a year), and you are sending this nonchlorinated waste water back into the pipes.

Check the code in your area re this issue...

Russ

Good point Russ. The city inspector was here a month ago and insisted on a backflow preventer to ensure that 'what you said' didn't happen (I think).

Peter

 

[Chago09]

This is good stuff. I don't think I've ever seen someone go into as much detail in regards to setting up an RO/DI unit. Most of us just plumb it in and hope we get zero readings.

Chago09 I have a question about the zero waste systems I've seen advertised lately in the Toronto area (center of the universe). Something about forcing the waste water into the hot water lines to eliminate waste water going down the drain. Does this really work?

Ya I honestly don't know a lot about these. I think its more important to people who run gigantic RO's and make tons of water. In reality the water you waste is just going back to processing and will be recycled back to someones house. Its not as if our RO drain is toxic waste. I'm sure this system uses something like russ said, a pump or some kind of back flow preventer.

Peter yours is completely different. After taklking last night your's I think has to do with all the floor drains that have been added and the amount of water they fear might be going through them. I think your insurance was concerned that those can back up, so you were told to bring a plumber in and put something at the main drain so nothing ever backs up.