RO/DI expectations

[suzannemay]

Hey all RO/DI folks, I started filling my 180g tank with RODI water since it is supposed to take several days.

I want to make sure the RO DI unit is working correctly..
I have it hooked up but it is only getting about 35 PSI. It seems to be making water faster than waste water...so something probably isn't right? I have a 100 GPD barrier reef model.... I probably got about 40 gallons or so in under 2 hours.
I looked at the TDS and it says going in my tap is at 45-60 going out it started at 0 and as time went on it is now up to 7 now 12. So I backflushed.

So is it me..or is that backwards..shouldn't it take longer especially at the lower PSI with cold water? Am I missing something?

That said.. I am aiming for TDS of 0 right? So if my filter is new..why am I not getting 0 TDS? Do I need a booster pump?

Also.what tips do people have for care of these units? I am guessing I will only need it once a week for water changes..

Of course it came with no instruction or expected results..so I guess someone here may know...Thanks for the help!

 

[james734]

Could by chance have you got something plumbed wrong and actually taking waste water instead of the filtered water. What is the TDS going in the filter? If you measure the TDS from both of you outputs is one lower than the other. Just trying to understand why you're getting more filtered water than waste. You are correct as that is not right. Do you have any directions that came with it that might help confirm things are connected correctly? At this point I'm suspect something is not hooked up correctly and your filing the tank with waste water instead.

 

[NC2WA]

u own a home or in an apartment?

if a home, you should have regulator to boost the psi....35 is low, needs to be around 60-70psi...this does not sound right...too fast..
can you post a pic?

 

[blk822822]

Is this a new unit or used? And as stated already the waste should be about 90% more than usable water, some units produce less waste but still should be about 75 to 90% waste. Also some people collect the waste in barrels to use on plants or gardens. I have even heard of people using rain water and a pump to make there Ro/Di water to save on there water bill, but you would probly go through more frequent filter and membrain changes.

 

[Ed Hahn]

Another guess would be flushing each filter idividually. You take the lines off of sediment filter flush, Carbon filters or filter flush. See if this brings up pressure? Goal is to be around 60psi on gauge as you have heard. If you do have a used RO/DI filter. I would remove the sediment filter first. Replace with new sediment filter, flush new filter for any debrie, hook up lines and see if pressure improves, if that does not work move on to each carbon filter repeat the above process (flush individually) and check pressure. If you go through DI resin fast it is usually the membrane bad or a membrane with low rejection rate. There are a few of my guesses. Good luck, Ed

 

[suzannemay]

Hi all. The unit was new. Barrier Reef's 100 GPD Deluxe RO/DI - Barrier Reef Aquariums here is the model from Barrier Reef Aquariums. I am in a home. I expected my water pressure to be better than 35..but it looks like it is not.. of course I don't know how else to check.
I believe I have it set up correctly..it was fairly simple in and out was all I had to do and connect up the meter.

Here is a lovely view of my small downstairs bathroom.. WP_000386 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Black hose..to faucet.. blue hose to bucket, yellow waste.

 

[Ed Hahn]

Is there a diagram of which color hose goes to where? I thought black was waste water, I thought blue was output, I thought yellow was input from faucet. Each maker is different.

 

[suzannemay]

The faucet connector was already attached to the black hose. I connected it to the in labeled side. The yellow was preconnected. So that left me with placing the blue in the out side. The unit labeled in and out. I also loaded the membrane on top. That was it. When I backflushed it was zero pressure when going the other way to filter I was getting 35 psi. Tds in on the black line was 45-80. The out line blue Tds read 0-7 the first day. The next day read 10-12. So it is getting worse. So I backflushed which helped for a little bit..

 

[NC2WA]

maybe I missed this, but I thought you said in another thread, you do have a TDS meter and the water coming out of the tap is 35ppm??

if not, then what is the TDS of the tap water?

also do you know where your water regulator is located??? (mine was in my garage, and once I increased it, i went from 40psi to 65-70psi)..

IMO...to be sure you dont void the warranty on the unit, a quick call to BRA to ensure you have it properly connected might help.

 

[suzannemay]

Tap water going in reads 49-80ppm, at 35 PSI. Water coming out reads 0-7 first day PPM then 10-12 second day PPM. Too high I want zero to under 10%. I will have to check where the water regulator is..seems like I should get more than 35psi at home. I will go look near the water heater when I get home. I will call BRA..well I wont be home until late tonight so it looks like I can't get water in to check plumbing by Friday night.. darn..

 

[IPisces]

With that low PSI, your probably not going to get any better than that. You may need a booster pump kit to get the pressure up higher.

 

[barrierreefcf]

Just received an email regarding this. Something is either hooked up wrong or there is no flow restrictor installed in the waste line. Every unit comes with one but the manufacturer forgot to put them in four units we received recently. We thought we caught them all, so I can't be certain this is the problem. The low PSI could be from the source water or the missing restrictor. I just emailed you back with Tim's cell number. He will go over the unit in person and make sure nothing is missing and everything is hooked up correctly Thank you for emailing us!

 

[NC2WA]

He will go over the unit in person and make sure nothing is missing and everything is hooked up correctly

suzanne,

Looks like BRA is going to take care of you.

 

[suzannemay]

Yes they are on their way now
Yea!

 

[NC2WA]

suzanne,

good to hear...pls let us know the resolution. (may help someone else in the future).

thx

 

[suzannemay]

Well lucky me..they haven't had this one before..so they don't know. At least I feel better that I put it correctly together. Seems to be defective equipment. They will get back to me tomorrow with a new membrane container to see if that fixes it.

 

[suzannemay]

Update: So Tim from BRA came to my house and replaced the housing and viola all was good. He also changed my filter out with a fresh new one. Nice service! Thanks BRA. My TDS is looking perfect now. Now to wait..and wait...for the filling of the real water in the tank.

 

[barrierreefcf]

Yep...turns out there was a small deformity in the RO membrane housing. It was allowing water to pass by the membrane. First time I've heard of this in my 22 years in the profession. Always learning Glad Tim was able to figure it out and sorry you had to deal with the hassle.

 

[suzannemay]

No worries. You all were quick and very helpful!
Thanks!