Author Topic: Ro/DI unit WOW!!!!! (Read 3969 times)

Amstar · « **on:** February 11, 2009, 20:25:22 »

okay so I got a new ro/di unit. in the past I never had any waster water (because I didnt have it hooked it right) i got a new membrane, filters and a double DI unit.

how much waste water do you guys have? this will take forever to fill up a tank.

UD Flyer · « **Reply #1 on:** February 11, 2009, 20:30:41 »

Im not positive but generally there is 4 gallons of waste for one gallon of Ro/Di

cyberwollf · « **Reply #2 on:** February 11, 2009, 20:31:00 »

that was my first thought when i got one too. I feel bad for waste, so i do laundry with it.

slandis3 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 11, 2009, 20:31:31 »

I think most ro/di units ar 4:1 4bad to1 good. Im not 100% sure on that.

Amstar · « **Reply #4 on:** February 11, 2009, 20:43:45 »

that is just crazy. so when the water comes out of the "good" end does it just trickle out of the tube or do you have a constant flow?

mine just trickles out and the waste water is just flowing nice and steady

slandis3 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 11, 2009, 20:44:17 »

what size unit do you have?

UDJustin · « **Reply #6 on:** February 11, 2009, 20:54:54 »

I have a 50 gpd membrane and yes it just trickles out compared to the waste just flowing, and yes it is typical of most membranes to be a 4:1 ratio

ohioreef · « **Reply #7 on:** February 11, 2009, 20:55:32 »

Mine tends to trickle out the "good water" end, but I live on a well so my pressure is pretty low.

Amstar · « **Reply #8 on:** February 11, 2009, 20:59:10 »

its either 75 or a 100 membrane. is there anyway to get it to move faster?

UDJustin · « **Reply #9 on:** February 11, 2009, 20:59:32 »

no not really

verper · « **Reply #10 on:** February 11, 2009, 21:07:44 »

4:1 is correct.

Remember, by this time tomorrow you will have 75 to 100 gallons of RO/DI water

Amstar · « **Reply #11 on:** February 11, 2009, 21:12:52 »

and 400 gallon of waste water

ohioreef · « **Reply #12 on:** February 11, 2009, 21:15:54 »

Quote from: verper on February 11, 2009, 21:07:44

Remember, by this time tomorrow you will have 75 to 100 gallons of RO/DI water

Not necessarily. That will depend on his water pressure. I have a 75gpd membrane, but with my water pressure it takes a good 2 days to fill my 30g container.

slandis3 · « **Reply #13 on:** February 11, 2009, 21:18:53 »

Quote from: ohioreef on February 11, 2009, 21:15:54

Not necessarily. That will depend on his water pressure. I have a 75gpd membrane, but with my water pressure it takes a good 2 days to fill my 30g container.

Have you looked into adding a booster pump? That might help you out and get a little more good water.

Amstar · « **Reply #14 on:** February 11, 2009, 21:20:43 »

I just hooked it up. I have an inline pressure gauge I just havent hooked it up yet to see how much pressure I actually have.

how was I not having algae problems before this? I never had any waste water (b/c i didnt have a line hooked up).

150 gallon tank will take 2 days to fill and have almost 600 gallons of waste water?

ohioreef · « **Reply #15 on:** February 11, 2009, 21:25:03 »

Quote from: slandis3 on February 11, 2009, 21:18:53

Have you looked into adding a booster pump? That might help you out and get a little more good water.

Yes, I have, but at the price they want for one I can be patient!!

Amstar · « **Reply #16 on:** February 11, 2009, 22:05:50 »

can a bad ro membrane be a cause for more rejected water than good water?

slandis3 · « **Reply #17 on:** February 11, 2009, 22:06:46 »

Yea there a little pricy .

UDJustin · « **Reply #18 on:** February 11, 2009, 22:15:26 »

Quote from: Amstar on February 11, 2009, 22:05:50

can a bad ro membrane be a cause for more rejected water than good water?

yes

verper · « **Reply #19 on:** February 11, 2009, 22:18:03 »

If your unsure, test. Fill a gallon jug with the waste and you should have about 1 qt of RO.

micki · « **Reply #20 on:** February 12, 2009, 13:44:02 »

We put a booster pump on ours and it made a huge difference in time! I would have to ask Randy about the difference in waste water amount.

Amstar · « **Reply #21 on:** February 14, 2009, 05:04:51 »

well I have a problem. I filled the entire washer up of waste water and got less than a gallon of good water.

what would cause this? low water pressure through the ro membrane? a bad membrane? just really crappy water?

Amstar · « **Reply #22 on:** February 14, 2009, 09:41:43 »

could it be the flow restrictor coming off of the ro membrane (the waste line)? maybe I need to restrict it more and this will cause less waste water?

I need to hook up my dual tds meter to see what the waste water readings are.

ohioreef · « **Reply #23 on:** February 14, 2009, 10:00:56 »

Do you have an adjustable flow restrictor? If so, I would try restricting it.

If not, then it is possible that your flow restrictor is not matched to your membrane.

verper · « **Reply #24 on:** February 14, 2009, 20:22:53 »

Your flow restictors can be the problem, a bad membrane, or low water pressure.

Amstar · « **Reply #25 on:** February 15, 2009, 21:26:17 »

well i got it measure out and its a 10 to 1 ratio. I checked my tds and I have 157 going into the filter, my waster is 187 and my good (when i get some) is 0.

I am in the process of installing an inline pressure gauge to see how much psi I am running. I am going to tear down the whole unit then rebuild it again to make sure I put everything where it goes right the first time

micki · « **Reply #26 on:** February 16, 2009, 07:29:49 »

Our booster pimp reduces a lot of waste water. Probably by at least 50%. We can make 100 gallons of RO/DI water in less than 24 hours. It was well worth the money for us.

Amstar · « **Reply #27 on:** February 22, 2009, 15:47:02 »

well its either the membrane of the restrictor.

the pressure going into the membrane is 100psi

verper · « **Reply #28 on:** February 22, 2009, 19:10:43 »

Well that gets rid of the pressure supply issue. If you take it apart, the restrictors are usually color coded. I don't know what the codes are, but there are red, white, yellow ones with different restrictions.

Amstar · « **Reply #29 on:** February 22, 2009, 19:40:32 »

i will tear that part down next

slandis3 · « **Reply #30 on:** February 22, 2009, 19:43:58 »

i have a 75gpd and my restrictor is red

Amstar · « **Reply #31 on:** February 22, 2009, 19:56:05 »

is this the restrictor?

slandis3 · « **Reply #32 on:** February 22, 2009, 19:57:54 »

thats not what mine looks like.

verper · « **Reply #33 on:** February 22, 2009, 20:13:05 »

Could be. Not like most.

Now to the flow restrictor: The other end of the vessel has two connections.
One waste the other pure water. Locate the waste water line follow it and
see if you have a flow restriction device on it. If you find the device
replace it with the new correctly sized flow restrictor. The arrow points to the drain.

If you do not find one it is because the flow restrictor you have in inside
of the drain tube. Remove the drain (waste) tube at the membrane housing and inspect it for a
funky little piece of tubing and a small cap. Remove this in-line flow restrictor. Reconnect the tube to the membrane housing .
Then install the new flow restrictor on the waste water line.
Arrow pointing toward drain.

verper · « **Reply #34 on:** February 22, 2009, 20:16:52 »

That's it. Not like most of the newer ones you see but that is it. Newer ones look similar to this:

http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/showproducts.asp?Category=197&Sub=109

Amstar · « **Reply #35 on:** February 22, 2009, 20:38:42 »

bingo... that could be my problem

ohioreef · « **Reply #36 on:** February 22, 2009, 20:40:31 »

100psi? That seems pretty high!

Amstar · « **Reply #37 on:** February 22, 2009, 20:43:16 »

would closing the valve from the actual pipe help lower the pressure for now until I order something to regulate the pressure?

ohioreef · « **Reply #38 on:** February 22, 2009, 20:43:17 »

Here is a neat little calculator. It estimates your output per day based on various parameters.

http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/calc.asp

Amstar · « **Reply #39 on:** February 22, 2009, 21:44:50 »

ahhh that bothers me even more.

it says that with a 75 GPD membrane at 100psi and at 61 degrees (water) and a tds reading of 250 going in, I should be able to make 119 gallons a day.

It has to be the membrane.. or the restrictor..or both.

I think I am going to replace the membrane and get a newer (or get one) restrictor

verper · « **Reply #40 on:** February 22, 2009, 21:47:01 »

It most likely is the membrane but you always want to rule out the cheaper things first.

Amstar · « **Reply #41 on:** March 02, 2009, 20:33:06 »

I am finally making a good ration of waste water 2 to 1 ration actually. I bought the 150 gallon membrane and flow restrictor from the group buy at bulkreef supply. So I am making up a 20 gallon batch of water now to do a water change on some of the totes and 16 gallon nano I have. I will then begin to fill up the 150.

so in the end it was the membrane.

verper · « **Reply #42 on:** March 02, 2009, 20:58:37 »

Just a FYI. I saw a presentation on RO/DI units given by Russ with Buckeye Field Supply maybe 2 summers ago. He says not to think about the bad water as "waste" water. It is needed to wash your RO membrane, keeping it clean and from scaling up. That is the reason for the 4:1 ratio. You could do a 1:1 ratio, but your membrane will clog up pretty fast and you will have to buy another one much sooner than than the normal expected lifespan.

Amstar · « **Reply #43 on:** March 02, 2009, 21:03:09 »

interesting that makes sense though. I must say I have one heck of a ro/di unit now. double DI filters on it, dual inline tds meter, and an inline pressure gauge. just glad to be able to make some useable water now.

Russ · « **Reply #44 on:** April 01, 2009, 07:35:57 »

Quote from: verper on March 02, 2009, 20:58:37

Just a FYI. I saw a presentation on RO/DI units given by Russ with Buckeye Field Supply maybe 2 summers ago. He says not to think about the bad water as "waste" water. It is needed to wash your RO membrane, keeping it clean and from scaling up. That is the reason for the 4:1 ratio. You could do a 1:1 ratio, but your membrane will clog up pretty fast and you will have to buy another one much sooner than than the normal expected lifespan.

Your memory is right on the money!

I understand I'll be iving a presentation re RODI at your April meeting.

Russ

2024 Ohio Reef Frag Swap

Author Topic: Ro/DI unit WOW!!!!! (Read 3969 times)

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