Ro/Di help

[drktemplar]

I bought a Ro/di unit last year from Bulk Reef Supply. No lie, within the same night of flushing it and starting to fill up my reservoir the Di resin turned dark brown. tds was almost at 60. :headwallblue: by the time i filled up the reservoir (36 gallons) it read at almost 314 ppm. I bought the 6 stage dechlorinating unit system.

I have a well for my water supply, would this be the cause of it?

or should i buy a new unit because its faulty.
Any advice would help.

I just wanted to save money instead of buying water at the LFS. Anybody out there have a well that uses a system that works good? I just hope its not that my water is so bad. Im a college student I cant afford going out and buying ro/di water all the time.

 

[ganjero]

It could be something is setup wrong, but it could also be your well water. Did you test the well water? Some wells have extremely high TDS so you would still have some after the RO/DI unit but 314 is way to high, how did you measure this?

I have well and public water. My well has about 1000 TDS and the public 120; I decided it was not worth using the unit on the well since I would go through membranes a lot faster than using public water.

Also when you say " I bought the 6 stage dechlorinating unit system" you mean the system specific for chloramines? Do you treat you well regularly with chlorine or chloramines? or what was the reasoning for getting this unit?
Since you are on well, do you use a salt water softener? My resin once turned brown almost immediately and I had no idea but somebody messed with my softener and the setting was at 99 instead of 9. Also water with low PH or with high CO2 levels can exhaust the resin fast.

 

[drktemplar]

I have a tds meter and the reading says 314 ppm coming out.
its specific for chloramines. I have well specifically so i cant use city water.

I do have a saltwater softener in my basement. I may just have to buy another unit to clean it from the 314 ppm down to 0. I just dont like thinking about spending all that money right now. :fun5: my pH right now after doing a test is 7.2 so its almost neutral. Idk about my CO2 levels in my water.

I may just try to replace the filters and also get another unit. Ill try seeing if my setting on the saltwater softener is too high as well.

 

[ganjero]

Well you should not have chloramines in your well water unless you treat the well with them, so a standard system should have been good for you.
You have this one, let's try to make it work.

These systems usually come with a 98% rejection membranes, which means if you are getting 314 after the filter you should have around 15000 tds in your well water, which I doubt. Can you try to post pics where we can see all the connections? maybe a hose is connected in the wrong place

Did you buy this new or use? If you bought it use the membrane might be bad (it dried or it was used up) and replacing it should fix your issue.

Again, you should measure the TDS before the filter. Also what are the settings in your water softener (which I am assuming it treats all the water coming in the house)?

You also say "after flushing it", so that indicates you have a flush kit, can you post pics of that or make sure is installed correctly?
Do you have the dual tds meter? make sure is install correctly and use the switch to see before and after readings.

I'm not trying to offend you or make you seem dumb, but we all make this small mistakes that cause big issues and your unit should not give a 314 reading after all the filtration.

 

[drktemplar]

Ill post up pictures soon. I'm not offended, I want to make sure its right, if its a mistake on my part I'd be happy because it might be a simple fix. I got the system new. pics will be up around 6 pm EST since im in school now.

 

[drktemplar]

it then goes through the second unit and then to the third

heres the waste line and membrane hosing stuff

a close up

when it goes into the Di resin heres the TDS meter readout

and when it comes out of the Di resin into the container

 

[drktemplar]

heres the system as a whole

Here is where i tapped into the water line and came down

here is where it turns on from

it then attaches to here which pumps it into the system

heres a picture of the first meter. never understood it tho.

 

[drktemplar]

it then goes through the second unit and then to the third

heres the waste line and membrane hosing stuff

a close up

when it goes into the Di resin heres the TDS meter readout

and when it comes out of the Di resin into the container

 

[ganjero]

The flush valve is facing down,is it closed (the knob perpendicular to the hose)? Also, it usually has an arrow pointing the direction of how the water should flow.
This is important to forced the water through the membrane.

The TDS meter electrode for the output should be installed after the DI cartridges other than that the connections seem fine. Maybe you water softener is putting a lot of salt in the water and throwing off the readings.

Post on the Chemistry forum and link this thread, see if Randy Holmes can give you a definite/better answer

 

[drktemplar]

thank you for your help. many thanks!!!

 

[Hamsternuts]

I have a BRS 6 stage unit also, but not the chloramine one. All of your connections appear to be the same as mine.

What is your water pressure as it reads on the gauge when the unit is on? I know an RO system needs at least 35-40 psi to function at all. I know some wells don't make this kind of pressure.

 

[drktemplar]

it doesnt have any pressure in it. how do u propose that i increase the pressure? get an external pump or something?

 

[ganjero]

it doesnt have any pressure in it. how do u propose that i increase the pressure? get an external pump or something?

Something must be out of place then. It should have pressure from your water source. As the others suggested in the other thread I'd check the membrane, it's probably not sitting correctly or you have a bad seal.

Did you measure the water ratio (waste vs clean)?

 

[lchaleff]

you might need a boster pump and I recall reading on my ro/di unit that you need ideally 50 to 60PSI for the unit to operate optimally (this takes into account the waste water restrictor)...

 

[Hamsternuts]

Hmm...

The gauge doesn't read any pressure at all when its running? Is that what you're saying? Unless its broken or different than mine, it should read the pressure after the pre-filters and before the membrane.

Are you fully opening the valve on the faucet when you turn the water on, or just cracking it a little bit?