question for Randal and the other RO guys

[Jason]

I've decided to try to de-salinate my well water wich is extremly hard, over 600 tds sometimes.

The water goes through a giant 20 micron pleated cartridge and a giant s. steel carbon vessel where it enters the house.

I'd like to make about 100 gallons of product water per day and use the waste aswell, wich will have a bit of iron, 1 grain per gallon or so.

should I buy/build a "bare bones" type with a pre-filter and membrane or a 3-4 stage one?

would it be better to use di after to really drop the tds and then recon or just use straight ro ? as I suspect with just a membrane some tds will slip through.

my limitations are the waste water as I've run the well dry a few times already.

any 411 or pointers would be greatly apreciated.

I can also use water from a softner to feed the ro if that makes a difference.

Thanks for any help!

[RandalB]

I would think all you'd need was a 5 Micron Sediment filter and a couple of membranes. You have enough prefiltration with your other system so all you'd need was the 5 Micron to protect the membrane(s) from carbon fines (from using granulated carbon). Look into a KDF filter if the iron stays a problem.

As far as DI, Can't really tell without running water through and seeing what the TDS is following the Membrane, but I'd hazard a guess that you wouldn't need it.

So to sum up:

Single 5 Micron Sediment filter
1x or 2x Membranes (use 75GPD filmtec's)
as much pressure as your well pump can crank

As far as wastewater goes, pump it back onto the lawn so it works it's way back into your well.

HTH,
RandalB

[Jason]

Thanks Randal!

I've got a aquatec from you still in the box if I need more pressure.

:confused: guess I better make sure nothing whizzes on my lawn