150 GPD Water Saver Upgrade Kit?
- Thread starter lsaint88
- Start date
- Tagged users None
alan.reef
Well-Known Member
The BRS 150 GPD Water Saver Upgrade Kit will also work with different brand 75 GPD reverse osmosis systems. The kit requires 65psi into the first membrane in order to function properly. If your home's water pressure is less then the recommended psi a booster pump will be necessary.
Dual membranes should never be considered a water saving device. Since you are sending the concentrated waste from the first membrane into the second it is even more critical you keep the waste ratio up or the membranes will fail prematurely. Anyone who sells membranes should know this and if they tell you differently they are doing you a disservice.
All RO membranes must be flushed continously when in use, there is no getting around it. Some vendors use "reduced waste", "water saver", "low waste" etc as selling points but they do not tell you the whole story. When you reduce the waste ratio from the recommended 4:1 waste to treated, you reduce the cleansing the membrane receives and shorten its useful life since the solids (TDS) surrounding the membrane which are removed from the treated water do not get rinsed off as well and sent down the drain. This eventually plugs or fouls the RO membrane and it fails.
Depending on your water quality you may be able to reduce the waste ratio from 4:1 to possibly 3:1 or in rare cases 2:1. If you have normal moderately hard to hard tap water and normal to high TDS (250 is about the national average) then don't even consider it as you will be spending much more in membrane and DI replacements than you will save in water and sewer bills. Remember for th eaverage user it only costs about 5 cents to produce a gallon of RO/DI including the water and sewer rates and replacement filters. Slow the waste and this number goes up significantly since membranes and DI cost more than the wate rand sewer bills. If you have softened water and lower than normal TDS you can probably reduce the waste to 3:1 and no see any increase in replacements since a water softener is the best thing you can do for your RO membrane since it does much of the work for it ahead of time. If you have ultra soft water and very low TDS you may be able to go down to 2:1 but I don't recommend it for the few $$ you may possibly realize in water and sewer bills versus the potential for increased replacemnt frequency and costs.
The "water saver" reduces the amount of water from the two membranes to about what you would normally have with one but what they don't tell you is the concentrated waste from the first membrane is being sent into the second membrane so it is even more concentrated and both membrane will fail sooner. With the normal 4:1 waste ratio the waste or brine leaving the membrane is about 20-25% higher than the tap was to begin with, reduce the amount of waste and the concentration gets higher and higher depending on how much you reduce it. Give your membrane(s) a chance and keep the waste ratio in the manufacturers, not the vendors, range of 4:1 or maybe 3:1. This is easily accomplished with a properly trimmed capillary tube flow restrictor which you yourself adjust with a razor blade once you install the system in your home, no guessing.
Depending on your water quality you may be able to reduce the waste ratio from 4:1 to possibly 3:1 or in rare cases 2:1. If you have normal moderately hard to hard tap water and normal to high TDS (250 is about the national average) then don't even consider it as you will be spending much more in membrane and DI replacements than you will save in water and sewer bills. Remember for th eaverage user it only costs about 5 cents to produce a gallon of RO/DI including the water and sewer rates and replacement filters. Slow the waste and this number goes up significantly since membranes and DI cost more than the wate rand sewer bills. If you have softened water and lower than normal TDS you can probably reduce the waste to 3:1 and no see any increase in replacements since a water softener is the best thing you can do for your RO membrane since it does much of the work for it ahead of time. If you have ultra soft water and very low TDS you may be able to go down to 2:1 but I don't recommend it for the few $$ you may possibly realize in water and sewer bills versus the potential for increased replacemnt frequency and costs.
The "water saver" reduces the amount of water from the two membranes to about what you would normally have with one but what they don't tell you is the concentrated waste from the first membrane is being sent into the second membrane so it is even more concentrated and both membrane will fail sooner. With the normal 4:1 waste ratio the waste or brine leaving the membrane is about 20-25% higher than the tap was to begin with, reduce the amount of waste and the concentration gets higher and higher depending on how much you reduce it. Give your membrane(s) a chance and keep the waste ratio in the manufacturers, not the vendors, range of 4:1 or maybe 3:1. This is easily accomplished with a properly trimmed capillary tube flow restrictor which you yourself adjust with a razor blade once you install the system in your home, no guessing.
Dapperjman
Active Member
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2014
- Messages
- 168
- Reaction score
- 99
- Location
- Georgia
- What state or country do you live in
- Georgia
I see. Thanks for taking the time to elaborate on that, I might rethink adding my additional membrane. I hope I didn't hijack your thread too much lsaint 
90, not .90 since what appears to be a decimal point is really a power ON indicator, is very good. Some areas like the Pacific Northwest and around Atlanta are in the 50,s while the Desert Southwest where I live can be anywhere from 500 to over 1600. Mine bounces between 550 for a low and 860 for the high depending on the treatment plants and source waters being used at the time. A softener is a must for us.
DirtDiggler2823
If I can't break it, it doesn't exist
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2018
- Messages
- 1,667
- Reaction score
- 2,077
- Location
- Gambrills
- What state or country do you live in
- Maryland
Old post, i know, but what if they were run in parallel instead of in series?
