RO/DI mod

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Jun 29, 2007
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#1
Hello,

Well, i finally decided to get off my fat, old-man A$$ and mod my ro/di filter...

It was the the wter general 106. I had already installed a permeate pump, (which replaced the auto shut off switch), and installed a pressurized storage tank, (3 gallon), and added an additional DI cannister, (the vertical one, not the crap horizontal one)

I have the ro/di water plumbed into a 'saltwater mixing barrel'. This has a float switch, so when it is full, it shuts off. I also have a manual switch, so after I fill the barrl, add the aslt, and mix it to the correct SG, I can manually turn off the Fresh Water, so if i take some out to WC or whatever, it wont add water and change the SG... (and yes, I didnt use to do that, and it would 'top off' the barrel each time I used any water, and each tim the water got more and more brackish) OOOPS

It worked great. I evap about 3 gallons per day, (my auto top off is plumbed directly to my RO/DI filter). I do 20 gallon water changes every two-three weeks. and I drink the RO water, and stuff...

I change my pre-filters every six months, and I change resin about 6-9 months...

That is about 1000+ gallons per six months..


With a 100 gpd filter, and no storage tank, water just dribbles out of the tube. That is about 15 minutes per gallon... or about 4 hours to fill my salt water mixing barrel...

So, I found some used RO membrane cannisters at a frag swap for about five bucks...

I then found a new 100 gpd membrane online/ebay for Ten bucks, and I had most of the parts and conectors laying around...


The process is simple, kinda...

The ro membrane has THREE tube connections... One for water in. Another for Brine/waste water out, and Another for RO water output...

I used 1-TEE to tap teh sourc water to both cannisters.

I used another TEE to tie the 'waste water' tube togher, and the last tube was for the 'clean' RO water which I tied / TEEd together.

This is called PARALLEL, installation, and you can stack as many membranes together as you want or phyucically can...

The issues would be tube size as after a certain point, you will be generating more water and flow AFTER teh TEE then the tube size canhandel, and you are inessence, CHOKING the supply sysstem

Anyways, I spoke with Russ at BUCKEYE about this and he had a coupl commnts...

First, he and most folks inthe industry, do not reccomend a pressurized tank for REEFers... It pushes the water through the resin faster and decreases the 'dwell time' and may not allow sufficient time for the contaminates and other stuff from being removed properly...

He also said there are otehr ways to 'skin the cat'

and those methods would be to install teh membrane in series, *which I wont describe now), and to use different 'restrictors'

his ideas make sense, but, I was not prepared, mentally or with the proper parts and fasteners to do it his way, (the part I could not get locally would have been the different restrictors)

Anyways, I am now getting over 200 gallons per day, at ZERO ppm, with a tap reading of almost 200 ppm

My pressurize tank fills up and tops off in minutes, and the flow out of the drinking faucet is strong, just like city water pressure...

Anyways, I would take pics, but they really would not show much othr then seeing anothr cannistr stacked on top of all the original one..

thanks
 
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