Am I really that stupid? Membrane Flush Kit

[BlazinNano]

Ok I am new to having a RODI filter. I got the filter off a friend and changed the filter and added a flow restrictor because there was not one. That is working great. Now I bought a flush kit from BRS but there is no instructions. How in the world to I hook it up? I can't figure it out at all.

 

[CoralBandit]

Call a place called aquafx they are a RO/DI whole sale. There is a guy named Pete he should be able to help you (tell him its his product lol) He knows everything and then some about H20 filters heres the link http://www.aquariumwaterfilters.com/

 

[Eggs]

Check the BRS web site, they have allot of how-to-do videos for their products.

 

[Psychographic]

Basically the flush kit is used to bypass the flow restrictor on the waste line.

In this pic, "1" is the waste line output from the membrane, "B" is the location of the flow restrictor. When the valve is closed the water flows through the restrictor, when the valve is open it allows the waste water to bypass the resrtictor.

 

[AZDesertRat]

I wouldn't waste my money, flush kits have no proven value. The 4:1 waste ratio when a RO membrane is in use is what flushes the membrane and keep its fresh.
Unless you plan to make water wate rmanually and flush the membrane each and every time you shut the unit off there is no way you will benefit from it. The only possible good would be to use it every time you shut the unit off to flush the accumulated solids away from the membrane before shutting it down. If you miss flushing, the solids would build up as they normally do and solidify on the membrane and at that point no amount of flushing will develop the velocity needed to scour the membranes surface.

Just keep your waste ratio at 4:1 and don't worry about it. Its when people try to reduce the waste ratio they run into trouble as it does not flush the solids away on a continous basis like it needs. Raising the velocity for a couple minutes through a 1/4" line is not going to make up for this.

 

[CoralBandit]

I agree ^^^^ I dont have one and my TDS have been 0 for a solid 6 months with no cartridge replacements. It started coming out of membrane at 7 now but then DI takes it down to 0.

 

[Harry_Y]

I flush mine at the start of every batch of water and have an
auto flush valve that flushes it for about 18 seconds every hr.

 

[AZDesertRat]

If you are not flushing it at the end of a cycle you are wasting your time. The reasoning is you want to remove all solids from the area surrounding the membrane so they do not collect and solidify on the membrane.
As of now the only stsrem on the market that is succesful at this is the Spectrapure MaxCap UHE which uses a booster pump, solenoids and stored DI water to do both times flushes and does two final flushes again with DI on shutdown so the membrane is stored in DI which further cleanses it. Using tap water really doesn't do much since you are flushing with the very same TDS you are trying to flush away then storing it in higher TDS that migrates across the membrane while its off, TDS creep.

 

[ReeferBen]

I use this vertex Puratek unit that has an auto flush feature as well. Alls I know is this thing works excellent and has never gave me any trouble. I dont know how much the auto flush feature helps but it does do it all for me. I need a unit with a booster pump in any case as my home water pressure is too low. The unit claims a production to waste water ratio of 1:1.5 as well.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Since the Puratek flushes with tap water and not DI, it will have a greatly reduced RO membrane life running at 1:1 or even 1.5:1. It sounds like a simple idea but others who have been in the industry for dozens of years have tried it and dismissed it years ago. Wait until some of the owners have had them long enough failures start showing up, I have heard of many already. If it were that simple others would have jumped on the bandwagon years ago. They won't be in the RO/DI business for long.

 

[Harry_Y]

BlayzinNano

Did you get it figured out????