High Efficiency RO/DI Systems

[Myka]

Mike, thanks for your detailed posts! I will look for a PRV although apparently I shouldn't have one. I would be very nervous turning it up though because the house was built in the 60s, and a broken line would reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally suck!

Our house is quite small and the fish have pretty much taken over already so collecting the waste water is mostly out of the question. I have overflowed the washing machine several times with waste water already, and we just don't have the space for more 55 gallon barrels.

However, in the summer this might not be such a bad idea. A friend of mine just bought a couple 55 gallon barrels and a pump to hook up to his sprinklers. Good idea.

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

Mindy, buy a JG valve or any falve that will fit on your waist water line and then you can measure the output and adjust as nessasary. as for flushing just flush ever 5 or 10 min manual while you are making water.. cheeper than a auto flush.

Steve

Ya good call. Didn't think of that...sooo simple.

Aquatec has a simple, compact auto flush. Found it online for $50. I sent an email to BRS to see if they can get one in for me since their booster pumps are Aquatec too. From reading BFS's post on RC it sounds to me like frequent flushing would be quite important if I am going to be mean to the membrane. On the other hand, the auto flush is the same cost as replacing a membrane. Not really economically smart. Again though, it's the waste that drives me nuts.

[mark]

go through at least 2g a day plus water changes, might flush once a month, use a adjustable restrictor valve set for 3:1 , on my second membrane in 5+ years (and thinking probably replaced my first membrane well before needed) and still get over 6 months before I replace my DI.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Myka

Mike, thanks for your detailed posts! I will look for a PRV although apparently I shouldn't have one. I would be very nervous turning it up though because the house was built in the 60s, and a broken line would reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally suck!

My house is old as well, built around the same time as yours I reckon. A tag on one of the gas pipes has 1958 on it! As far as I can tell the copper water pipes are the original installation and they're handling 86 psi no problem, in fact, the water line into my house is the same diameter copper pipe and it's dealt with city water pressure since the place was built. Not sure it was always at static 110 psi, but it has been since I moved in 2004. I did have a pinhole leak between the city's shutoff valve on the street and my house though. Had to get the yard dug up to repair, but it's patched and holding up fine. I still have more confidence in good old copper pipes than the new plastic stuff.

If you have a PRV it shouldn't be too far downstream from your water meter. If its the same Watts 25AUB, it wont' be difficult to adjust at all, in fact the spec sheet I pulled off the net says you should clean out the sediment screen from time to time. A wrench & screwdriver (pressure guage too I guess) is all you need to adjust the pressure. Loosen the locknut with the wrench, use screwdriver to turn the adjustment screw clockwise for more pressure, counterclockwise for reduced pressure. Once you have the desired pressure, tighten the locknut. Edit, might be two wrenches, not screwdriver.

http://www.watts.com/pages/_products...ls.asp?pid=776

[Myka]

I forgot to look today. I will look at some point. Going to BC for a week, and then back to work until July, so no changes will be happening to my RO/DI before then. Life - in a suitcase.

[Myka]

So I switched out my 150 gpd flow restrictor for a 75 gpd flow restrictor using my BRS 150 gpd 98% rejection membrane. I always use a bit of hot water in with the cold water so the input temperature is about 70 degrees. I just measured the good:waste and am getting 1:1.75. I previously measured the output of my 150 gpd membrane at about 120 gpd (tap produces 62 psi), and with the 75 gpd restrictor I am getting much faster output of good water. I should measure it. I am also still achieving 0 tds in the good water.

I am saving myself a TON in water, not only am I not using 3/4 of the water for waste, but the amount of time needed to make 50 gallons of water is significantly less.

I am currently manually flushing the membrane for about 1 minute every hour. I plan to get an auto flush kit in the near future.

I am interested to see how long the membrane lasts run in this manner. I tested the tds coming out of the membrane and will compare in a few months if the membrane lasts that long. Haha!

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Myka

I always use a bit of hot water in with the cold water so the input temperature is about 70 degrees.

Ok so stop doing this, you are adding zink and other stuff to your water by using the hot water tank which may or may not be removed. also your water from a hot water tank that has some age behind it will be higher tds than the cold water.

Steve

[Myka]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

Ok so stop doing this, you are adding zink and other stuff to your water by using the hot water tank which may or may not be removed. also your water from a hot water tank that has some age behind it will be higher tds than the cold water.

Steve

Yes thanks Steve, this I know. Zinc is only found in trace amounts in straight hot water even in old tanks. An RO unit will remove that trace amount. That trace amount is also diluted by only using a small amount of hot water with the cold water. The amount of wear on the membrane is much less significant compared to the amount of water saved by using slightly warmer water. I also start up the RO unit after having a shower, which will further dilute the amount of zinc in the water in the hot water tank.

I tested the tds of the hot water (before having a shower), and found it to actually be the same tds at the cold water.

You brought up a good point though, something that people should be aware of.

[mike31154]

I used to coil a long section of the input tubing in a bucket warmed with a heater but found gain in production speed negligible using this method. Mentioned something along this line in one of my earlier posts, but might bear repeating - I've found my 75 gpd membrane takes the 210+ TDS tap water at 8 degrees C down to 0 TDS during the colder months. In the summer, once the water temp rises to 12-16 C thru the system, the best I get is 1 TDS after the membrane. Haven't had to replace the DI & I'm going on better than 2 years. Been keeping a record of throughput on an Excel spreadsheet since day 1 (April 2009) & so far have produced 322 gals RO & 1610 gals RODI. Sneaking up on 2000 gals total. I guess I prefer waiting a little longer for the water than speed it up with warmer water and lose TDS efficiency through the membrane.