Can you post a pic of your aquasafe unit set up?

[sharuq1]

Can someone show a picture of how they put the tds meter on?

Is this plumbers dope stuff permanent? If so, will it still be possible to change the filters?

[digital-audiophile]

So I have no idea what I was fretting for. Getting this thing up and running really was super easy!

I skipped the whole piercing aspect of the installation and just got a tee adapter for under the sink. I just have the drain and the production line running through the wall into the utility room.

The thing is slow as heck though.. I expected a lot quicker output for it. Took almost two hours to make 5 gallons of water :O

[Delphinus]

Told you it would be easy!

Throughput you mention is about 60 gpd, so about 60% of rating if you're using a 100gpd membrane. That's actually not far off the mark. We don't get 100% of the rating through these things anyhow, but it is a function of a couple of variables. The most obvious is the household pressure. If you have a pressure regulator on your house (seems to me a lot of newer houses have this), it will dial down the capacity of the RO/DI. When I moved into my new house I noticed my RO/DI production capability went down dramatically, I found that my old house was running about 96psi, my new house around 80psi on the inlet side but only about 60psi after my pressure regulator.

I first tried opening up my regulator all the way, then found out that the reason for my house to have the regulator is that the showers have valves that are "on or off" (ie, no pressure control, just temperature control), and showers at 96psi hurt

So I dialed it back down to 60psi, and just tapped my RO/DI to before the regulator. Now that my area has grown the city has increased supply pressure back up to 96psi so I get about 80gpd out of my 100gpd unit.

Before summer comes I'm going to bypass my outside tap lines as well. 60psi isn't enough pressure to run two impulse sprinklers (the ones that go tsh-tsh-tsh-tsh-tsh!tsh!tsh!tsh!-tsh-tsh-tsh). I can get by with one but as soon as turn on two they just sit there and stop tsh-tsh'ing.

Another factor to consider is temperature, and our water comes in pretty cold. There's not much you can do about this one though. Tapping hot water into the RO/DI supply is a bad idea because although it increases water production, it causes early membrane failure. So a lot more expensive in the long run.

But you can look into things like pressure booster pumps and permeate pumps to aid in increased production if you find "you need a little more".

Anyhow welcome to RO/DI

[Matt]

That's 60+ gallons per day from a 100GPD unit? Not too bad, but how high is your household water pressure? <edit>So, taking three phone calls and a meeting between starting and posting a message allows Delphinius to compose and post a much more complete answer.

[digital-audiophile]

I think what I need to do now is get a float valave and figure out how to use that thing (it should only take me a year or so once I buy it to gte it going at my work rate ) What I want to do is either use one of my rubbermaid garbage pails or get a good rain barrel at UFA that I can run the RO/DI into so I can have a full barrel at all times for top off and water changes. Having to sit through Brigette Jones diary last night while making water was painfull (I know .... I know... but it's what Glenda wanted to watch) LOL!

[Delphinus]

I run the 50g rain barrel for my RO/DI. I use Rubbermaids for water changes, but two drawbacks: 1) Even though they're called "30g Rubbermaid garbage cans" you can only get about 24g useful water level in them and 2) the plastic they use is not as robust. (It's also not "food grade" but I have no idea what that is supposed to mean.) I have 2 that I use for water changes and one of them has a tiny little hole in it, so when I do water changes I end up with a tiny little puddle forming under it. I've tried about 6 different things to plug the hole, silicone, plumbers goop or whatever it's called, weldon-16, etc. etc. and nothing seems to stick to the plastic for long. So I suggest the rain barrel approach, it's a sturdier plastic.

[fkshiu]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I run the 50g rain barrel for my RO/DI. I use Rubbermaids for water changes, but two drawbacks: 1) Even though they're called "30g Rubbermaid garbage cans" you can only get about 24g useful water level in them and 2) the plastic they use is not as robust. (It's also not "food grade" but I have no idea what that is supposed to mean.) I have 2 that I use for water changes and one of them has a tiny little hole in it, so when I do water changes I end up with a tiny little puddle forming under it. I've tried about 6 different things to plug the hole, silicone, plumbers goop or whatever it's called, weldon-16, etc. etc. and nothing seems to stick to the plastic for long. So I suggest the rain barrel approach, it's a sturdier plastic.

Go for the Rubbermaid Brute garbage cans. Much sturdier than the standard Rubbermaids and they actually do hold the advertised volume. They also come in varying sizes from around 20 gals up to 50 gals.

[mark]

I'm probably at ~20gpd at 60psi.

Flow rate post question

[Matt]

Slightly off topic: does anyone know where to get quick-connect fittings in Edmonton? Home Depot carries a very limited range, and not the one(s) I need.

[digital-audiophile]

I found that the home depot here actually had the best quick connect selection, suprisingly, Rona which I prefer had very little