ro unit questions...

[utiliy]

im new to the ro thingy, i bought a cheapy off the bay for 85 bucks...does it usually take a long time to fill a storage barrel, or is my water pressure to low?

[DiscusOnly]

RO unit are usually rated with gallons per day. You probably got one that produces 25-50 gallons per day. Yes, it does take a very long time to fill a storage barrel and the amount of waste water produce could be 4 or more times of the clean water.

The flow restrictor is what controls the rate of clean water being produce. You will need to upgrade that along with the membrane if you want a higher gpd. You may/may not need a booster pump as you increase the membrane capability.

That's why it's makes sense to have float valve kit and auto shutoff for RO unit so that you don't have to worry about it. Other important accessories are pressure gauge and inline TDS meter.

[utiliy]

thx...i been reading about the tds thing-i have a meter on the way. i think its a 75g a day ro unit-which is about right for what its producing. ill be using this water for breeding purposes only in a 29g tank.
thanks for the info.
Rich

[Ardan]

a booster pump helps too. this increases the pressure to around 100 psi and results in more RO in less time.

hth
Ardan

[utiliy]

ok-i have a booster pump on the way...right now my tds is 43 in the storage barrel-without the booster. with the booster it should be around 0? do i just add a little tap to make it 50-80? and do i have to add any buffers or anything. if its not pure ro-i dont have to add anything else?

[DiscusOnly]

Don't measure the tds in the storage barrel. Reading from there is probably going to be slightly higher. I suggest getting an inline tds meter (they cost less than $30) that can measure tds level from tap and ro output. The output should be close to 0. On my RO unit with two 100gpd membrane and a booster pump, my tds reading for water coming in is 105ppm and output is around 3-4ppm. It's in the teen if I measure it at the storage barrel.

I am no expert with the RO stuff. Dan helped me with figuring out the percentage of mixture of RO to tap for breeding and I assume that is why you are looking at RO water.

BTW.. 43 is very high tds for the ro output.

Van

[Don Trinko]

Don't forget that most TDS meters that you and I can afford are calibrated at one point with a salt solution so it may not be all that accurate at low levels. Also most ro units do not remove everything. Some chemicals do get thru. Don T.

[utiliy]

i am hoping the booster pump brings the tds to zero...but when i add the ro water at zero, do i have to add buffer or anything-or just a cup of water?

[kpotter2]

You will never get the TDS to zero with out a DI filter I am pretty sure. Most R/o with out DI filters will have about 10ppm TDS left over form the Process of Reverse Osmosis. Adding a DI to your R/O will clear the excess TDS. Of course it depends on where you water started out at,but 10ppm is close to most water.

All the Pump will do it even out the pressure going to your Membrane. I think 40psi is the least you need to get water out of your R/O and 60 to 75PSI is best. Alot of wells need to have a booster pump put one to help boost the PSI up. Anyway that is how I understand it. I am not sure how boosting your water will take out more TDS,but if you find it does let us know.

[jaykne]

If your water pressure is 40psi or above you shoul get pretty close to what the membran is rated at, I have a 50gpd and I run it for about 12 hours and have enough water to do a 90% water change on my 29gal. I does come out at a drip to very slow stream of water. No matter what the pressure your tds should be almost zero even without a di filter, mine has the pre filter, carbon block, then the RO membran and the tds reads 2ppm, then I add tap water to bring it up to 40ppm. Larry

[kpotter2]

If your water pressure is 40psi or above you shoul get pretty close to what the membran is rated at, I have a 50gpd and I run it for about 12 hours and have enough water to do a 90% water change on my 29gal. I does come out at a drip to very slow stream of water. No matter what the pressure your tds should be almost zero even without a di filter, mine has the pre filter, carbon block, then the RO membran and the tds reads 2ppm, then I add tap water to bring it up to 40ppm. Larry

Larry, correct about the pressure. I do know that when I contacted the place I bought some of my membranes from they said the only way to get your TDS to 0 is if you put a DI on it. I told them in my use it don't have to be 0 so they said I will be fine. I ask them this question,because I was not sure mine was working at the time and wanted to know how to test that it is. They told me around 10ppm could come thru and to use a DI filter if you need the rest gone. This was with my water source at 250ppm and ph around 7.8.

I run my 100gpd system 24/7 and get a 110gal storage tank full in 24 hours at 60psi. Temp also will really slow your R/O Down. In the winter months I was only getting around 80gals in 24 hours. Colder temps slow it down along with hotter temps.

Also I have been using TDS of around 100 and have been hearing alot about this lower TDS thing. 40 and 50's. How do you keep your Bio cycles from crashing? Is it the tap water that balances it out? I can't alway use my well water,because of ammonia in it.

Nice info flowing I love hearing what others can get out of there systems.


Great,

Kyle

[utiliy]

the booster pump brought it down to 13 according to the meter-in the barrel...the ph is still at 7, so it even took it down 1 notch-it was almost 8 without the booster pump.
i added a cup of water-and acid buffer (seachem brand) got the tdh to 51, and the ph about 6.5.
like i said at the beginning of this-im new to this ro stuff-and the ro unit was a cheapy. i been asking the man i got the fish from-who is a sponsor here-and he has helped out considerably-and i thank him for that.
i also thank all of u for your imput...

[Don Trinko]

As a practical matter the TDS does not have to be zero. The fish can not live in TDS zero. You will be mixing it with other water or chemicals and even for breeding it will be easy to get the TDS low enough. Don T.