Testing the water before diving in...

[thetedinator]

Hi all,

A fire where I lost my sump, skimmer, kalk reactor, chiller and more (but the tank itself was spared) cured my addiction to this hobby 7-8 years ago.

I briefly spoke with o2manyfish and he did the usual things a drug pusher does...here...try some of this, this one's free, you'll like it, it won't hurt you, nah...you won't get addicted.

So I'm thinking about it...my first issue is RO/DI water wastage. Back in the day, my RO/DI unit was rejecting on the order of 5 to 1. o2manyfish "turned me on" to the AquaticLife Smart Buddie Booster Pump.

Is anyone using the Smart Buddie and would you recommend it?
What is everyone using for RO/DI setups? 4 carts, 5 carts? I came across something (which I did not bookmark) where you could add another RO(?) cartridge and drop the rejection rate in half. Anyone have real world experience with this?

Thanks for reading all the way to the end.

 

[dodgerblew]

I use the Vertex Puratek 4 stage 100gpd. It has a booster pump and a built in TDS meter. It works at a 1:1 ratio and I use waste water on topping off freshwater tank or watering plants/lawn. I added the Spectrapure Single Stage DI canister with built in TDS meter to couple onto the DI canister of vertex unit so I have a double DI. I use Spectrapure cartridges and I am a tad better than a 1:1 ratio.

 

[specsirl]

I just recently switched over to the smart buddie booster pump and love it. I see a great increase in water made in less time with less waste on this pump. With the booster pump I'm down to a 1.5 to 1 ratio.

 

[dorkymk3]

I run a spectra pure max cap 180. With a booster pump at a 1:1 waste ratio.

 

[thetedinator]

All,

Thanks for the input. I have ordered a SpectraPure® 180GPD CSPDI RO/DI and the Smart Buddie pump to drive it.

I'll let you know how it goes H2O production wise...the H2O in Valencia is pretty crappy.

Ted

 

[dodgerblew]

Can't go wrong with Spectrapure

 

[thetedinator]

All,

Thanks for the input. I have ordered a SpectraPure® 180GPD CSPDI RO/DI and the Smart Buddie pump to drive it.

I'll let you know how it goes H2O production wise...the H2O in Valencia is pretty crappy.

Ted

Hooked up the SpecturaPure and flushed the membrane and then made about 4g of water while creating over 30g of waste (which went to my lawn). The instructions said to make and throw away 5g but the wastage was driving me nuts. The gauge on the Spectrapure showed the pressure at 40psi. Then I hooked up the smart buddie. I did not do an exact measure (maybe I'll do that at some point) but to my eye I am somewhere very close to 1:1 (good water to waste water) production.

Here are some fuzzy pictures of the ghetto test bed setup. The Smart Buddie is driving the pressure to somewhere between 90 and 100 psi.



Ted

 

[thetedinator]

...of the ghetto test bed setup. The Smart Buddie is driving the pressure to somewhere between 90 and 100 psi.

View attachment 325741View attachment 325744

Ted

It turns out I had it connected slightly wrong :spin2:
Fortunately I did not wrong the unit very long so it did not have a chance to damage anything (and I'm not sure it would have anyway since the Smart Buddie has auto shutoffs). When correctly connected, the Smart Buddie is locking the pressure in at slightly over 80psi.

 

[thetedinator]

Ok...take the following with a dose of kalkwasser...:hammer:

In a pseudo-scientific test, I measured the output of the my setup (a Smart Buddie driving a SpectraPure 180GPD CSPDI RO/DI unit). I measured the waste water output and the clean water output.

I am producing pure water to waste water at about 1.4 - to - 1. I am also producing about 205GPD which exceeds the spec on the SpectraPure.

I captured about 1 and 2/3 cup waste water in 60s. I captured about 2 and 1/4 cups of pure water in 60s. Then I did a bunch of math.

If I didn't screw this up, I am very happy with this setup.:bounce3:

It turns out I had it connected slightly wrong :spin2:
Fortunately I did not wrong the unit very long so it did not have a chance to damage anything (and I'm not sure it would have anyway since the Smart Buddie has auto shutoffs). When correctly connected, the Smart Buddie is locking the pressure in at slightly over 80psi.