How much waste water does a RO unit produce?

paddyob · #1 11-29-2010, 05:40 AM

Seems like a strain on natural resources.

Like drinking bottled water... it takes 7 times the amount of water in the bottle to produce it.

If the few of you who mentioned it are recycling the water... good on yah... for the others that are dumping it down the drain... it's money out of your pocket everyday. Throw it my way instead.. I'll buy a fish ha ha!

MitchM · #2 11-29-2010, 01:02 PM

Temperature makes a big difference too.
I had an inline thermometer on my household water supply just before the RO unit.
In the winter, sometimes the incoming water temp was below 5 C!
The RO membrane rejection rates (and GPD) are also based on an incoming temp of 23 C.
The colder the temp, the higher the rejection rate.
I have heard of some setups supplying the RO unit with a mixture of hot and cold water.

Mitch

sphelps · #3 11-29-2010, 01:35 PM

I have a vertex which is suppose to be 1:1 but I've never checked so I doubt it. If you're concerned about wasting water many people store the waste water and use to for other purposes. If you can find a use for all the waste water then your ration will be zero.

cale262 · #4 11-29-2010, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MitchM

...I have heard of some setups supplying the RO unit with a mixture of hot and cold water.

Mitch

Sounds like a great idea...I think I'll try that, just need another saddle valve and a T.

cale262 · #5 11-29-2010, 02:03 PM

Water is cheap though,...All you have to do is tap it before your meter, not that I'm doing that...

Wayne · #6 11-30-2010, 02:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paddyob

Seems like a strain on natural resources.

Like drinking bottled water... it takes 7 times the amount of water in the bottle to produce it.

If the few of you who mentioned it are recycling the water... good on yah... for the others that are dumping it down the drain... it's money out of your pocket everyday. Throw it my way instead.. I'll buy a fish ha ha!

My water is included in my condo fees so I really don't see it.... But still its not good to waste something that many countries don't have. I will find a use for it... Maybe a mini ice rink on my balcony...

MitchM · #7 11-30-2010, 02:26 AM

If you want to run 0 waste water, run your waste line back into your household supply. In that case you WILL need a booster pump.
Before hooking up that type of advanced setup check with the manufacturer to make sure that your RO unit can stand that higher pressure.

Mitch

mike31154 · #8 11-30-2010, 03:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne

My water is included in my condo fees so I really don't see it.... But still its not good to waste something that many countries don't have. I will find a use for it... Maybe a mini ice rink on my balcony...

I lived in a condo townhouse in Ottawa for years and the water was also included in the monthly condo fees. That's the problem, if you're not on top of things, 'you don't see it' but our fees escalated every year in large part due to water usage. There was one water meter installed for every block of condo units which consisted of mainly 5 units per block. I was in a block of 3. Everytime there was a suggestion to install individual water meters, there was little to no interest. What you can't see can often hurt you, or your pocket book. In any case, pocket book or no, wasting a basic need for life such as water is never a good thing.