Aquatic Life RO Buddie output

[brianpagansd]

Just installed an RO Buddie + DI yesterday. I followed all the instructions but it seems to be producing way more than the 50GPD. It did 20 gallons in 2 hours. The water produced tested 0 TDS. The source water was 430 TDS. My house has really high water pressure, so i'm curious if this would be the cause?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Just installed an RO Buddie + DI yesterday. I followed all the instructions but it seems to be producing way more than the 50GPD. It did 20 gallons in 2 hours. The water produced tested 0 TDS. The source water was 430 TDS. My house has really high water pressure, so i'm curious if this would be the cause?

I have the same unit with low household water pressure and during the winter, I get 40 gallons/day.

When I hear of super high production with an RO unit, I always think of a plumbing issue, or a ruptured membrane. However, in your case, if it is producing 0 TDS, it is functioning properly.

I suspect your high water pressure has something to do with this. I've put booster pumps on other units and have gotten greatly increased production.

Jay

 

[Pod_01]

Just installed an RO Buddie + DI yesterday. I followed all the instructions but it seems to be producing way more than the 50GPD. It did 20 gallons in 2 hours. The water produced tested 0 TDS. The source water was 430 TDS. My house has really high water pressure, so i'm curious if this would be the cause?

I would double / triple check all your connections. Here is a quick description what to expect from RO unit:

So best case scenario a 50 gal RO unit should do 2 gal an hour(with proper pressure). Your system (I used the exact same system) produces 10x that. Nothing is impossible but your system is braking some laws of physics and making clean water out of thin air.
If everything checks out WOW, good for you.

 

[penguinexdeus]

You'll get more output with higher pressure if you're over the pressure the membrane is rated for. They have curves on the RO membrane data sheets.

If you have high / consistent pressure in house you likely don't need the RO buddy. My house pressure on well fluctuates so it's more like 50psi on average.

My 75gpd system with RO buddy boosts to around 90psi and gets me a 5 gallon bucket filled in an hour. Have to grab it after 45 min or it gets close to overflowing and it has before. I set a 8 to 10 hour timer to fill my 55 gallon drum for mixing.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Here is another thought: the RO membrane could be ruptured and you are getting zero TDS because of the DI cartridge, but that would be exhausted very soon.
Jay

 

[Joj]

I use an Aquatic Life RO buddy too and when I increase my GPD rating on my RO membrane, I did produce more water faster (44g per 8 hours or so) but yours is way too much. I do burn thru DI resin a lot faster too as stated above though.

 

[razorskiss]

I have the same unit, also with high source pressure (qualitatively, never measured) and I fill a 5g bucket in a little under an hour, tests at 0 tds and I've had to change the DI resin once every 8 mo or so. I run an extra carbon plus cartridge since my municipality uses chloramine.