Just got clean water

[killereef]

Phu and I finally moved up with the big boys. We both hooked up are ro/di this weekend. I was so happy. I was so happy so I was watching the unit make water, boy thats funny. Every 10 mins, I would check on the unit just to see if the water level moved up at all, man that slow. Phu was calling me every5 mins, to check in, just joking. Was it fun for you, reefer, like it was for me to install the unit?

 

[Pickupman66]

Goo job on hooking it up. Mine is in the garage, and talk about slow on a cold day. WOW!!!! Took almost 2 hours to get 12 gallons.

 

[gflat65]

Just don't look at how much is going down the drain. I've wondered if I used the waste water to water the yard, if it would have any detriment.

 

[crumbletop]

The waste water is probably better than the water coming out of your tap. Remember that it typically (depending on the unit) goes through a sediment filter, and 1 or 2 carbon blocks before making it to the RO membrane. Sure the waste water will have more concentrated stuff that the sediement and carbons miss, but it will still be fine. I'm not sure if that applies to places that have 500+ TDS source water, but ours here isn't that bad (~100 - 150 TDS). It should be fine for the yard if you have an easy way to utilize it.

 

[crumbletop]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8396150#post8396150 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pickupman66
Goo job on hooking it up. Mine is in the garage, and talk about slow on a cold day. WOW!!!! Took almost 2 hours to get 12 gallons.

6 gallons per hour of production is smokin' for an RO/DI. Thats ~150 gpd. Mine does about half that (75 gpd membrane).

 

[killereef]

Mine is 50 gpd, a lot slower. My next membrane will be 100 gpd. I wish made that much pickupman66.

 

[Angela Short]

After heavy use for 8 months and filling the 270 running the RO for 6 days straight mine makes about 15 GPD now! Down from about 100 GPD. I have a compleate set of replacement cartriges and reisin to give it a tune up soon. I am still only getting about 12 TDS with no resin and shot prefilters so not to bad. It is funny how you watch it work when you first hook it up.

 

[killereef]

What will happen if I put a ball valve on the waste water to slow it down?

 

[DMBillies]

My filter said about 400 times that you should never restrict the waste outlet. Not sure what it would do. I've heard that you can change the rejection rate through the RO membrane somehow (I don't personally know how) but that it puts a heavier load on the DI resin (an expensive part to replace).

It sucks when you're paying for water to waste so much, not to mention having to wait so long to get a decent amount of water. On the other hand (to put it in perspective), a big standard washing machine uses about 40 gallons per load (depending on size and settings), so making 10 gallons of water is roughly about running one load of laundry. As long as you aren't topping off and doing water changes on a behemoth (or trying to fill that behemoth initially), your water needs shouldn't be much more than the equivalent of a couple of loads of laundry per week... and certainly amounts to less than having to drive around buying the water (gas, water expense, wear and tear on body, etc.).

 

[crumbletop]

Mine has been up for about 10 months and my guess is that I have made around 1500 gallons of RO/DI in that time. My rate of production has stayed about the same -- right at around 3 gallons per hour of output. It is a little less in the winter when the water is colder. My post RO TDS is 0-1, and my post DI TDS is 0. Input TDS is between 120 and 150. I'm about 1/2 - 2/3 the way through my DI resin. The speed of water making isn't really a factor for me because I have the RO/DI directly feed a storage container with a float valve to control on/off. That way I always have plenty of water on hand when I need it.

RE further restricting the waste water flow:
a) that will raise the pressure on the membrane (could be a bad thing).
b) That will decrease the flow by the membrane and gunk will plug the membrane more quickly. It should last ~3 years of typical use. With further restricted waste water flow, the life of the membrane would be decreased.
c) That will likely increase the TDS of the post RO water, which as Brian mentions will cause you to wear out your DI resin more quickly, which = more $ to operate.

 

[killereef]

I have another question. On air water and ice, they have a a unit called Monsoon that makes from 150 to 200 gpd. The unit has 6 stages. 1st stage is the 10 mircon sediment, 2nd stage is 5 mircon carbon block, 3rd stage 1 mircon carbon block, the 4th and 5th stages are ro, and the last is di. They are using two ro membrane, either two 75 or two 100. What is the theory on how that work and how does that make 150 or 200 gpd, beside adding the numbers up?

 

[crumbletop]

It uses the RO membranes in parallel and from what I understand has a flow restrictor that is specifically tuned to running them that way (to keep the pressure up). I noticed that you are posting about storage containers (wanting 2x35 gallons instead of a single 100 gallon). Unless you need tons of water on a continual basis, I think plumbing in a storage tank to a 75 gpd unit would be adequate.

 

[killereef]

I was just trying to free up some space, because my garage is just filled with everything. I am also wanting to make drinking water.

 

[crumbletop]

I think you probably just need to add something like this:

You might even be able to find this locally at Home Depot or Lowes. I don't use one, so I'm not sure.

 

[DMBillies]

My RO/DI unit has an RO only output. Instead of the storage tank that Jack posted (which would certainly work nicely) I simply ran this line to a smaller 5 gallon container with a float valve. Then, I just empty this container into a smaller water container I keep in the fridge. A much cheaper option and keeps my water nice and cold. Also good for me because I didn't have a really good place to mount the tank and spigot in a place that would be easily accessible enough to just get a glass of water when I needed it.

 

[Pickupman66]

MIs calculation

MIs calculation

OK.. so after thinking about it. I am only doing about 8 to 10 gallons of fill up. a good 2 hours at least. cannot wait till it gets colder. may have to figure out a way to wrap the feed line of the water supply around my water heater!

I did spring for the 100gpd membrane.

blocking or restricting the waste is not a good idea. it will in turn change your rejection rate and wear out your filter faster. plus you need to monitor that rejection water to make sure you dont need to ajust the system to maintain proper rejection rates.

For my system, I mounted a 12 gallon storage tub and lid on a shelv at the top of the garage jsut above the ro/di unit. water goes directly to this and then down and under the floor to the sump where I have a float valve. talk about a very very sweet deal. never lug a bucket to the tank for top offs. just hope your siphon dont break and end up flooding the living room.

 

[killereef]

I wish I can do the same, pickupman66. I have to carry those buckets

 

[Angela Short]

You can put your feed water line goinng through a bucket of warm water to warm it up before going in the unit. I have a 25 foot line from my tap under the sink looped up and I drop it in a bucket with a tiny PH and heater to knock the chill off the feed water before it hits the RO.

 

[danieljames]

Consider dow's filmtec membrane Huy. From everything i've read, the 75gpd membrane is the most efficient at removal. I haven't changed my media for over a year in my filter direct ebay unit (I have the filmtec membrane). I changed the di resin about 3 wks ago, and my tds went back down to 1-2, from 25.

(By the way..i run into this guy Huy today down in the village. He is absolutely WASTED and cussing at people in the pub. It was embarrassing. You need to get help bro.)

 

[crumbletop]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8410775#post8410775 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by danieljames
I changed the di resin about 3 wks ago, and my tds went back down to 1-2, from 25.

You may have a problem with your membrane -- either that or your DI was adding TDS back into the water. The source TDS would need to be aroudn 1200 for an RO _only_ TDS of 25 using a 75 gpd filmtec. For source water TDS of around 150, you should have a post RO TDS of about 3 with the 75 gpd filmtec and a post RO TDS around 15 with a 100 gpd. Even with the GE desal membrane, I think you would expect around 15 post RO. I'd check your post RO TDS just to make sure your membrane doesn't have issues.