R/O Waste Water Uses

[JPags]

I know this is about re-using waste water, but I use two RO membraines chained together so the waste output of one is the input of the other, with this method I have decreased my waste substantially.

I currently do not collect the waste water but will be looking to do something soon.

I am not sure if the recycling thing will work correctly because you need the contaminates to go somewhere.

John

 

[richardhmc]

Can I use the "waste water" for freshwater fish tanks?

 

[Slim_jim989]

Can I use the "waste water" for freshwater fish tanks?

I would collect some of the water and then check out the parameters of that waste water but should be fine for fresh.

 

[richardhmc]

awesome. Do I need to dechlorinate it or use something like Prime? or is it already safe

 

[Slim_jim989]

test it and see if it would work meaning using test kits lol. and check for TDS see what it is.

 

[jeepguy242]

i used my waste for several years in a planted freshwater tank, never used dechlorinator or even tested it, the plants growth was great, but i dont think i would have used it in a fish only tank with no plants, my tank looked like a jungle

 

[Golden Angel]

I use both product water AND waste water on my tank. No problems so far. Then again my tap water TDS is only about 15.

 

[PurdueWaterGuy]

Oh Noooooo!

Oh Noooooo!

WHats needed:
2 Brutes
Booster pump***Important***

Basic operation-The water comes in through your main source.Waste water is gathered in the brute.Once that is filled you will need the booster pump to send pressurized water back into the ro unit.**Remember that we cant actually think of this as waste water** Its still drinkable etc.We will call it rejected water and because of that it has been filtered once and can easily be filtered again.Hope this helps.

So you are going to endlessly concentrate the water until you destroy the RO membrane?

Run the waste water to the laundry, toilet tank, koi pond, swimming pool, garden, whatever

Trust me, I am responsible for a 19,000 gallon per day two-pass RO

 

[loganbug3]

No offense, but you are way over thinking this. Use what you can to water your plants and fill your machine. If you have a couple gallons left, then water the grass. At least you will not waste as much as before.

 

[fortysixandtwo]

I like the idea of watering your garden with the waste water. Seems like a great way to recycle it. I'm sure plants love it. I also till the harvested hair algae from my tank into my soil.

 

[TheFishMan65]

Harvested algae may contain salt. I may kill your plants if it is too high a concentration.

 

[jchase1970]

Swimming pool top off.

 

[jchase1970]

Harvested algae may contain salt. I may kill your plants if it is too high a concentration.

I hope he doesn't have that much of a HA issue in his tank. But then again he has enough to think it is worth while in the the garden

 

[~JSG~]

is using the waste for watering animals like dogs, cats, parrots, iguannas, ponds, ferrets, chameleons etc. okay if i use a product like Reptisafe from ZooMed?

 

[fortysixandtwo]

I hope he doesn't have that much of a HA issue in his tank. But then again he has enough to think it is worth while in the the garden

I really doubt the cup of algae I pull out every month or two is enough to over saturate my soil in salt. Composting isnt about overloading the soil with large amounts of the same thing, its about mixing a wide range of organic materials decomposing together for the best results. I figured the algae would be a nice addition to my composting. A lot of composts these days invovle seaweed among other things so it seems logical to me to mix what I harvest every couple months into my dirt.

 

[steamer51]

I don't have an RO/DI yet. But I still have a lot of waste water. Every water change. So a little off topic. Is there a way to get the salt out so that you could use it to water grass? Could you use and old RO filter?

I don't know how to remove the salt from a water change but a 5 gallon bucket of saltwater flushes a toilet quite nicely. Just pour it directly into the bowl and it will flush automatically. When I was in the Navy evaporators were used to make freshwater from seawater for our use but all the toilet facilities were plumbed for straight seawater.

 

[TheFishMan65]

I forgot all about your response steamer, but I came up with the same idea for the waste water - flush the toilet. So can I use a float valve in the toilet tank on the waste water line and a second a a RO/DI holding bucket. I realize the obvious that if I don't use the toilet I don't get clean water and if I don't use the clean water I can't use the toilet.

But can you just block the waste line like the RO line? If not is there a float switch that can co inline some how. Place one in the toilet tank and another in the RO bucket?

 

[klepto]

Does anyone have some input on good winter time uses for rejected water?

I am finding that using it for laundry has been the best solution for me.. but I'm sure there are some other good ones that I can use during the rainier months. Plus, I don't always NEED to run the laundry.

None the less, reusing via the washing machine has kept my water bill to a minimum. With two units in the house I feel that putting in a little extra effort to use the water has easily paid off. Not only that, I have found that I am not as concerned about efficiency. 98% rejection or 90% rejection... close to 100% of the total volume of water is being used, so I am saving money by not having to be constantly changing prefilters & membrane in an effort to keep the rejection rate high. Plus, my time is saved by not having to be testing post RO tds.

I realize that my DI will expire faster with the high TDS, but this doesn't overly concern me because the post DI TDS is still only 1 and I have been using it for easily a year.

Some method I have recently been employing came by way of good ole Melev. He discusses TDS creep in an article and I found it quite useful.

Essentially, to preserve the life of the DI resin, run the "RO only" line for a few minutes (I usually shoot for at least 30) BEFORE making up any DI. The bulk of the TDS that hits the membrane is usually in the early stages as the pressure is evening out across the membrane. This can be confirmed with a TDS meter.

Avoid turning the unit on and off regularly because this is another area where efficiency is lost. Instead make up large volumes of water at one time.

Happy reefing.

 

[Mike31154]

Search the net for Home Grey Water Systems and you'll find some useful info on recycling water. Although these are primarily designed to reuse shower, bath, dishwater etc. to flush toilets, one could easily plumb RODI waste water into these systems instead of sending it down the drain. A number that pops up regularly is that 30% of our potable water is used to flush toilets. Seems like an awful waste of drinking water. Here are a couple of links to get you started. The caveat is that you do need to be mindful that the greywater system does not pose a risk of feeding back and contaminating your potable water supply.

http://www.bracsystems.com/

http://guelph.ca/living.cfm?itemid=77268&smocid=2338

 

[RGibson]

Mike in my system i have a back flow valve so the potable water can not mix with the gray water ,