What do you do with your waste water?
- Thread starter Fretfreak13
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jeff@zina.com
New member
I'm wrestling with this as I build out the fish room. I have easy access to a drain for the RO/DI waste line and the washer is 50 feet away across a living room and kitchen. Looking at the possibility of running it to a freshwater pond/fountain or to landscaping, but no great solution yet.
Jeff
Jeff
d0ughb0y
Active member
I used to go through the trouble of saving the waste water for use in laundry and other things, then I realized I am saving less than $1 (including sewer charge) for all that trouble. (water cost $1.77 per 750 gallons). so I just let it down the drain. but since my RO membrane stopped working, I just bypass the ro membrane so no waste water anymore as someone else mentioned in this thread (my tap water tds is between 20-50).
if you are doing it to save money, check your water bill to see how much you are actually saving. if you are doing it for philosophical reasons to save the planet, then that is great.
if you are doing it to save money, check your water bill to see how much you are actually saving. if you are doing it for philosophical reasons to save the planet, then that is great.
acropora1981
New member
Firstly - for the people afraid to cook with waste water - keep in mind that it has gone through all the prefilter stages. Carbon block, micron cartridge - and that makes it likely more pure than normal tap water.
Second - my waste water goes into a large barrel, and feeds the washing machine.
Second - my waste water goes into a large barrel, and feeds the washing machine.
At a 4:1 waste ratio it costs me .04 cents per gallon to make my RO/DI water and that includes the sewage costs and water costs. Our sewage costs are based on our water usage so no way around that unless I have a dedicated meter put in for lawn care which is a huge hassle.
I'm curious though, how are you guys using it in your washing machines? Just stick the waste line and fill it up, how are you bypassing the part where the washer tries to then fill itself up with water? Can't say I've ever tried washing clothes by bypassing the water fill up stage of the washing machine
I'm curious though, how are you guys using it in your washing machines? Just stick the waste line and fill it up, how are you bypassing the part where the washer tries to then fill itself up with water? Can't say I've ever tried washing clothes by bypassing the water fill up stage of the washing machine
d0ughb0y
Active member
At a 4:1 waste ratio it costs me .04 cents per gallon to make my RO/DI water and that includes the sewage costs and water costs. Our sewage costs are based on our water usage so no way around that unless I have a dedicated meter put in for lawn care which is a huge hassle.
I'm curious though, how are you guys using it in your washing machines? Just stick the waste line and fill it up, how are you bypassing the part where the washer tries to then fill itself up with water? Can't say I've ever tried washing clothes by bypassing the water fill up stage of the washing machine
If you calculated your filtered water costs 0.04cents per gallon (which means for one gallon filtered, you used 5 gallons tap), then 100 gallons waste water you saved costs 0.8 cents, not even 1 cent.
you can only use it in a washing machine if you use one of those old top load washer. just put the waste water line into the washer to collect the water. I don't think it can be done with front load washers. even with top load washer, you need to be careful, as it can overfill the tub and flood your laundry room floor.
.04 = 4 cents per gallon. Sorry if I typed that out incorrectly! 100g of waste water would actually cost 80 cents.
d0ughb0y
Active member
are you sure? what is the cost shown in your water bill? it should be $ per hcf or hundred cubic feet, which is about 748 gallons. mine is $1.77 per hcf, which is about 0.24 cents or $0.0024.
if you are saying its 4 cents, then does your bill say about $6 per hcf? or perhaps you included the sewer charge in it? in that case, then it looks right. so 100 gallons you save is worth 80 cents.
when saving water in a top load washer, obviously you can do it before the wash cycle start (washer will go back to tap water for rinse cycle), which is about 20 gallons. when I was saving the waste water, filling up one 5 gallon bucket fills up the washer nicely almost exactly to the full load water line, so that's about 20 gallons. too much trouble to save about $1 for 5-6 wash loads since my family gets mad at me because they could not do their laundry until I fill up the washer with the waste water. so not worth the aggravation.
if you are saying its 4 cents, then does your bill say about $6 per hcf? or perhaps you included the sewer charge in it? in that case, then it looks right. so 100 gallons you save is worth 80 cents.
when saving water in a top load washer, obviously you can do it before the wash cycle start (washer will go back to tap water for rinse cycle), which is about 20 gallons. when I was saving the waste water, filling up one 5 gallon bucket fills up the washer nicely almost exactly to the full load water line, so that's about 20 gallons. too much trouble to save about $1 for 5-6 wash loads since my family gets mad at me because they could not do their laundry until I fill up the washer with the waste water. so not worth the aggravation.
Last edited:
Correct.
I'm paying $2.34 per 100cf for water and paying $3.80 per 100cf for sewage. Sewage is based off our water use. So I'm basically paying $6.14 per 100cf of water used. 100cf of water equals 748 gallons like you said.
After a few tests I figured that for every 1 gallon of good RO water I get I'm "wasting" 2.5 gallons. So basically it takes 3.5 gallons of water to make 1 good gallon. I think I need to look into my RO/DI unit though as I'm told it's supposed to be around 4:1 and not 2.5:1.
748 / 3.5 = 213.714 gallons
213.714 gallons of good RO/DI water costs me $6.14
$6.14 / 213.714 = 0.029 cents per gallon at 2.5:1 ratio
748 / 5 = 149.6 gallons
149.6 gallons of good RO/DI water costs $6.14
$6.14 / 149.6 = 0.041 cents per gallon at 4:1 ratio
I'm paying $2.34 per 100cf for water and paying $3.80 per 100cf for sewage. Sewage is based off our water use. So I'm basically paying $6.14 per 100cf of water used. 100cf of water equals 748 gallons like you said.
After a few tests I figured that for every 1 gallon of good RO water I get I'm "wasting" 2.5 gallons. So basically it takes 3.5 gallons of water to make 1 good gallon. I think I need to look into my RO/DI unit though as I'm told it's supposed to be around 4:1 and not 2.5:1.
748 / 3.5 = 213.714 gallons
213.714 gallons of good RO/DI water costs me $6.14
$6.14 / 213.714 = 0.029 cents per gallon at 2.5:1 ratio
748 / 5 = 149.6 gallons
149.6 gallons of good RO/DI water costs $6.14
$6.14 / 149.6 = 0.041 cents per gallon at 4:1 ratio
d0ughb0y
Active member
so you see the monetary savings is quite minimal.you must get 4:1, that is what the "flow restrictor" is for, to get the 4:1 ratio. If you are not getting 4:1, then your RO output will not be as clean.
so if the membrane is rated 75gpd, thats 3.125 gallons per hour filtered output. So the waste side should get 12.5 gallons per hour and the flow restrictor used will pass out water at that rate.
filter guys folks can probably answer this one better.
Bananafish
Member
I'm not a scientist, but I work in a lab with lots of biologists and chemists. I ask them stuff all the time. Most of them agree (separately) that between the two, DI is more important because some bad ions are smaller than the RO membrane can filter out. Also, the water that comes out of any RO unit - even the multi-bazillion dollar ones we have at the lab - is NOT 100% pure water and nothing else. I would never consider an RO unit because of all the waste. I use DI only, which has no waste. There's enough waste to deal with after a water change - I don't want to add to it.
acropora1981
New member
Unfortunately, if you have hard water, like I do, running a DI is much more expensive than running an RO/DI. RO basically prepares my water to go through the DI. Without it, my DI resin might only last 20 or 30 gallons. With it, it lasts maybe 400 gallons.
Buckeye Hydro
.Registered Member
I see Bananafish is from NY - some of our NY customers have tap water @ 20 to 40 TDS. That may explain why a DI-only approach works OK for him.
Russ
Russ
Great attitude! :thumbdown
Gas was cheap so we wasted it, now it is not.
Water is cheap so we waste it, until it is not.
Plastic bags and bottles are really cheap and recycling is a pain, so they end up in the ocean.
We all need to start making decisions that are not based solely on personal economics.
I drain my "waste" water in the washer.
Yes and no. Clean water is renewable but not necessarily at the rate it is being consumed. The Colorado river and its aquifers are being depleted at an alarming rate due to over development in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Read this:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_15335684?source=rss
People in the Southwest are starting to realize they can not have lush green lawns in the desert.
Oh, and I'm sure 30 years ago they all thought "Water is cheap and we'll always have plenty." Clean available water is a natural resource that can be abused and depleted just like any other.
I know it's so easy to think "Well it's not MY fault, the amount I waste doesn't really matter". No it's not any one person's fault, it's the collective selfishness and arrogance of the entire community that is at fault.
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