New RO/DI Unit - any thoughts...

[scottkel]

I am looking at getting a RO/DI unit for my personal use. It seems like there are a lot of you guys with the Typhoon III unit. Does everyone like this setup??? Is there anything that I need to know before buying one? I have been using tap water (I know - everyone says BAD)...

Any other thoughts - - - - -

Thanks everyone?

Scott

 

[crumbletop]

I don't know what the others who recently got a Typhoon think of their purchase, but I really like my RO/DI from them. RO/DI units use standard size parts, and the quality has to do with the filters that go in them. Air water ice uses high quality parts as do several other RO/DI outlets.

One thing to also keep in mind is that Air Water Ice is a big sponsor of our upcoming swap. I appreciate their willingness to support our club.

 

[gsusfreak]

i love mine.....but i was one of the recently owners from the group buy....so i can say much for it.....but so far so good.....was super easy to set up

 

[NeveSSL]

Wow! I didn't know they were a sponsor... really glad we did our group order with them.

I have to say I LOVE my TyphoonIII. It seems to be a very high quality unit at a fair price and has some good upgrades if you'd like. The RO/DI's are pretty simple in general, but I'm definitely happy with the Typhoon III.

Brandon

 

[DMBillies]

I've had mine running now for over a year and a half. I've been happy with the unit and minor problems I have had were fixed quickly and for free by the company. Excellent customer service.
The problems I had were that the hose fitting for connecting the RO/DI to a washer outlet was leaking at the quick fit when I initially set the unit up. They expressed me a new one and it has worked fine since. Washer inside must have been scored or something. The other problem I had was that I noticed the auto shut-off was not cutting off the drain outlet. This meant that any time I left the unit running and the float valve shutoff the output, the waste drain continued flowing water. This was six months after I bought the unit and they quickly replaced the part. I haven't had a problem since. I have heard that the auto shut-offs on most RO/DI brands are finicky and prone to this type of failure...
Since setting up the RO/DI, I have self-installed a number of modifications including: 1) a dual in-line TDS meter for keeping track of what the unit is producing, 2) an output after the initial sediment and charcoal filters for beer brewing water, and 3) an output after the RO but before the DI for drinking water. I also self-installed the replacement shut-off valve. Point being, as Jack said, it uses standard parts that are easy to use and easy to modify should your water needs change.

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Scott - considering the size of your tank, you might want to consider a 150 gpd RODI system.

Russ @ BFS

 

[scottkel]

Buckeye - Im not really sure that i understand how all of these systems really work. I have read multiple places that the 75gpd filters are 98% rejection rate and the 100 and 150gpd units have a lower rejection rate - what exactly does all of this mean?

Also, with your systems, whats the rejection rate? How many gallons does it usually take to make a gallon of RO/DI ready water - AND - how long does this process take?

Like i said, im new to the RO/DI units and any info. would definately help out!

Scott

 

[crumbletop]

The 150 gpd systems generally use 2 75 gpd membranes so you get the 98% rejection rate. If you get a decent size reservoir to hold RO/DI, I'm not sure you really need 150 gpd. The reservoir can fill automatically with a float valve. I keep ~40 gallons of RO/DI on hand at all times. It is only limited by the size of the reservoir. I think c_stowers has between 60 and 80 gallons of RO/DI around at any given moment. IME, you don't really need to make stuff super fast if you have a place to store stuff.

 

[scottkel]

Jack - thats what i was actually looking at doing - i was looking at getting a 65g reservoir to keep the water on hand and available - this would allow me to make the water just to top off my resrvoir.

Another question - approx. what amount of waste water is created? is there a "rule of thumb" - - - 1 gallon of RO/DI per ___ gallons of water...?

 

[crumbletop]

round about 3-4 gallons of waste water per gallon of RO/DI.

A 65 gal reservoir would do it, I think, for water on hand

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Yes - if you have a decent sized storage contaner you could go with the 75 gpd system

Filmtec 50 and 75 gpd membranes have a rejection rate of 96 to 98%. 100 reject 90%, and our 150 gpd membranes reject 98%. We use 150 gpd membranes rather than a piggybacked set of 75 gpd membrnaes.

"Rejection rate" is the percent of the total dissolved solids a RO membrane does not allow to pass. So if your tap water readd 100 ppm tds, and your RO water was 3 ppm tds, you membrane would be rejecting 97% of the tds. The higher the rejection rate the better, for our purposes.

Because most folks do not meet at least one of the specifications defined by the manufacturer (e.g., 77 degree water, 50 psi), you won't get 50 gpd from a 50 gpd membrane. To assess the degree to which your water temperature and pressure will afect production, check out the calculator on our webpage.

When selecting a membrane, for example a 150 gpd element, we recommend you not think "I'll never need 150 gpd of purified water." The way to think about it is that 150 gpd membrnae will make water much faster than a 75 gpd membrane.

Russ

 

[scottkel]

Thanks for the information Buckeye...