I plan on putting together a RO/DI set up over Christmas break in next couple weeks. I have well water, no sulphur,and run a water softener, should I put the RO filter beofre or after the softener. I am going to put everything down in the basement where the well pump, softener and all the plumbing is. It will be reallyu easy to put a fitting anyplace before or after the softener, so thats not an issue. I plan on running the waste line from the RO to the sump crockwhich will then be pumped outside. Also, when hooking it up, I plan on using some kind of trash can type reservoir, can I just install a float valve in it that will shut of the RO flow when it is full? If anyone has any pics of their RO setup that would probably help me out also.
Setting up RO/DI
- Thread starter fanandy8
- Start date
I ran my after the softener also at my old house that used well water-- the softener will filter out some sediment from the water. Ignoring the sediment issue for a moment, I don't think it matters-- the TDS before or after the softener will be the same as the softener is an ion exchanger-- so it should not affect the RO's ability to reduce TDS--
Not ignroring the sediment, it can clog your prefilters sooner decreaseing the pressure at your RO membrane decreaseing its efficiency/production rate.
I use an old rubbermaide trash can (not a brute) to store about 30 gallons or so-- it has a float valve on it to shut it off. YOur RO unit will need a ASOV (auto shut off valve) on it for the float valve to shut off the water to the RO unit-- otherwise it will keep dumping waste water even though it is not producing anything.
If the unit does not have one you can purchase one pretty cheaply.
I use my unit for drinking water too-- I tee off before the DI stage for drinking water-- if you do this you will need some check valves so you don't supply water to the DI stage from your pressure tank as it will flow too fast to effectively filter it.
Lemme go take a picture real quick for you.
Not ignroring the sediment, it can clog your prefilters sooner decreaseing the pressure at your RO membrane decreaseing its efficiency/production rate.
I use an old rubbermaide trash can (not a brute) to store about 30 gallons or so-- it has a float valve on it to shut it off. YOur RO unit will need a ASOV (auto shut off valve) on it for the float valve to shut off the water to the RO unit-- otherwise it will keep dumping waste water even though it is not producing anything.
If the unit does not have one you can purchase one pretty cheaply.
I use my unit for drinking water too-- I tee off before the DI stage for drinking water-- if you do this you will need some check valves so you don't supply water to the DI stage from your pressure tank as it will flow too fast to effectively filter it.
Lemme go take a picture real quick for you.
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thanks for the help spuds, I think I got it figured out now, I haven't purchased the RO filter yet, is the auto shut off valve something that most units have built in to them? I plan on using something similar to what you are to store the water and then will just use a maxi jet to pump it into some buckets or jugs to haul upstairs to put in my ATO reservoir.
Sorry for the late response-- I don't come by RC too often-- it tends to suck up too much of my free time.
Regarding the ASOV, it depends-- if you buy one for drinking water, these are usually built into it (you won't see it) -- many other ones for sale have them as an "option" before the unit-- I bought my SpectraPure unit used for $75-- it did not have one so I bought one, some plumbing fittings, and a pressure tank from PurelyH2O.com to convert mine over for both.
You can see my ASOV in the first picture-- it is the white thing about 2 feet below and slightly to the left of the unit.
Since you are using Well water, IMO you should spend a little bit extra for a quality unit-- this will eventually pay for itself in reduced DI resin use-- however, the time it takes to recoup your investment will depend on how high your TDS is and your usage.
If you look around the equipment/lighting section I'm sure you will see plenty of recent RO/DI threads-- any recommendation by AZdessertrat is what I would buy.... I haven't been around RC alot lately so don't know if he is recommending anything different then what he used to....
He used to recommend-- the "optima" from Purelyh20.com
and
the "typhoon III" from airwaterice.com
If you want a dual drinking/reef unit -- after deciding on which you want-- I'd consider calling one of them up-- and telling them exactly what you want to do with it and what you have (well water)-- for this reason alone I would maybe go with the Typhoon III as it has an extra prefilter stage-- that being said, I had no problems running mine on well water with just 2 filter stages before the unit -- I believe one or both companies offer a discount to Reefcentral members-- once again-- I'm out of the loop-- I'd start a new thread if you want some "new" opinions-- Spuds is out of the loop.
I'd figure on spending $150-200 on a new/quality RO/DI unit and another $50 or so for a drinking water add on kit (pressure tank, faucet, fittings, ASOV)
One last thing, you will see some units have 100GPD or 75GPD units-- get one with a 75 GPD Dow Filmtec membrane-- DO NOT GET THE 100GPD dow filmtec -- the 75 GPD RO membranes reduce your TDS by 98%-- the 100GPD ones only reduce it by 90%-- your DI stage will remove any remaning TDS from your water--- so this means your resin will last 5X longer with the 75GPD one then with the 100 GPD one-- the 75 GPD membrane is plenty... also the DOW membranes will work better with lower water pressures -- which you will encounter with a well pump... with lower pressure you will experience less production-- so if you are running only 50 PSI or so, expect your production to be about 40-50 GPD-- I only got my unit to produce its capacity after I moved and switched to city water running at 75 PSI.
HTH..
Bill
PS-- I know I mentioned I am using city water-- yet you can see a well pressure tank in one of my pics-- I believe my house used to run on just a well-- it now has city water. The well supplies my outdoor faucets for watering and stuff-- it has alot of sulpher in it and stinks alot-- I won't even let my kids use it for their summer pools/sprinklers-- I run a hose from my laundry room outside for that stuff.
Regarding the ASOV, it depends-- if you buy one for drinking water, these are usually built into it (you won't see it) -- many other ones for sale have them as an "option" before the unit-- I bought my SpectraPure unit used for $75-- it did not have one so I bought one, some plumbing fittings, and a pressure tank from PurelyH2O.com to convert mine over for both.
You can see my ASOV in the first picture-- it is the white thing about 2 feet below and slightly to the left of the unit.
Since you are using Well water, IMO you should spend a little bit extra for a quality unit-- this will eventually pay for itself in reduced DI resin use-- however, the time it takes to recoup your investment will depend on how high your TDS is and your usage.
If you look around the equipment/lighting section I'm sure you will see plenty of recent RO/DI threads-- any recommendation by AZdessertrat is what I would buy.... I haven't been around RC alot lately so don't know if he is recommending anything different then what he used to....
He used to recommend-- the "optima" from Purelyh20.com
and
the "typhoon III" from airwaterice.com
If you want a dual drinking/reef unit -- after deciding on which you want-- I'd consider calling one of them up-- and telling them exactly what you want to do with it and what you have (well water)-- for this reason alone I would maybe go with the Typhoon III as it has an extra prefilter stage-- that being said, I had no problems running mine on well water with just 2 filter stages before the unit -- I believe one or both companies offer a discount to Reefcentral members-- once again-- I'm out of the loop-- I'd start a new thread if you want some "new" opinions-- Spuds is out of the loop.
I'd figure on spending $150-200 on a new/quality RO/DI unit and another $50 or so for a drinking water add on kit (pressure tank, faucet, fittings, ASOV)
One last thing, you will see some units have 100GPD or 75GPD units-- get one with a 75 GPD Dow Filmtec membrane-- DO NOT GET THE 100GPD dow filmtec -- the 75 GPD RO membranes reduce your TDS by 98%-- the 100GPD ones only reduce it by 90%-- your DI stage will remove any remaning TDS from your water--- so this means your resin will last 5X longer with the 75GPD one then with the 100 GPD one-- the 75 GPD membrane is plenty... also the DOW membranes will work better with lower water pressures -- which you will encounter with a well pump... with lower pressure you will experience less production-- so if you are running only 50 PSI or so, expect your production to be about 40-50 GPD-- I only got my unit to produce its capacity after I moved and switched to city water running at 75 PSI.
HTH..
Bill
PS-- I know I mentioned I am using city water-- yet you can see a well pressure tank in one of my pics-- I believe my house used to run on just a well-- it now has city water. The well supplies my outdoor faucets for watering and stuff-- it has alot of sulpher in it and stinks alot-- I won't even let my kids use it for their summer pools/sprinklers-- I run a hose from my laundry room outside for that stuff.
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