DI Resin - exhausted in 2 days?

[Browner20]

I have dual DI chambers added brand new in 10/2015. I replaced one side about 4 months ago based on the color turning almost completely clear. I noticed my TDS starting to creep towards 1 so I just replaced the resin in the other chamber on Monday. I looked at the chamber last night and the whole chamber has already turned light brown from the BRS blue color. The other, older side is still very dark except right where the water enters the chamber from below.

When I switch one or the other should I also rotate the chambers? What would cause the whole chamber to exhaust so quickly? I haven't had a chance to take the chamber off, is it possible the exhausted resin is just the resin on the perimeter of the cannister?

Besides the two DI chambers the system is basically a 6 stage, micron>micron>carbon>DI>DI>membrane>carbon polishing>reservoir.

 

[TheEngineer]

What is the TDS coming out of your RO membrane?

 

[redfishbluefish]

DI comes after the membrane....and carbon "polishing" isn't necessary.

 

[TheEngineer]

DI comes after the membrane....and carbon "polishing" isn't necessary.

I completely missed that strange order. Is that the way it is actually hooked up?

 

[mfinn]

Besides the two DI chambers the system is basically a 6 stage, micron>micron>carbon>DI>DI>membrane>carbon polishing>reservoir.

I'm not a expert, but that order seems wrong.
The di should be on the other side of the membrane?
Not sure what the extra carbon at the end would be for. The water should be 0 tds after the di.

My di resin turns brown pretty fast, but continues to pump out 0 tds water for months afterwards.

 

[tom39]

A pic of the setup may help with the diagnosis.

 

[Browner20]

Thanks all, I took a quick glance while ushering the kids through the garage today and the order I recorded above is how I have it set up. Weekend project > move DI dual chamber after RO membrane and move dual TDS meter to one after membrane and one after DI.

 

[AZDesertRat]

The order should be one 0.5 or 1 micron sediment fillter, one 0.5, 0.6 or 1 micron carbon block, the RO membrane, DI filter and a second DI filter if you have dual DI.
RO acts as pretreatmemnt for the the DI and the sediment and carbon block are the pretreatment for the RO. Nothing after the DI.

Throw the inline TDS meter in the trash and get a good ATC compensated handheld TDS meter which is much more accurate and can be calibrated.

 

[tom39]

One recommendation is: Do you have a RO membrane flush kit installed? If not, you should definitely consider adding one. I have found that flushing the RO membrane for 2-3 min at the start of making water keeps the rejection rate of the RO higher and seems to extend its life.

 

[Leland Foley]

You'll also need to know if your water has Chloramines in it. If so you'll need a catalytic carbon cartridge before your carbon block. If you have Chloramines, your membrane is likely damaged from your current cartridge configuration depending on how much water you've ran through it. If so you'll need to replace the membrane/membranes too.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Flush kits have no proven documented value other than to lighten your wallet. If you want to extend DI life install a DI bypass valve between the RO membrane and the DI filter and open it for 30 seconds to a minute each time you start to make water. Flush kits are on the waste line and do nothing for TDS creep which is on the treated side of the membrane. Two very different things.

No need to waste money on so called chloramine carbons either. ANY high quality, 1 micron or smaller carbon block is more than capable of removing the chlorine portion of chloramines and breaking the bond with the ammonia which is removed by the RO and DI. Carbon DOES NOT remove chloramines.

 

[Leland Foley]

Flush kits have no proven documented value other than to lighten your wallet. If you want to extend DI life install a DI bypass valve between the RO membrane and the DI filter and open it for 30 seconds to a minute each time you start to make water. Flush kits are on the waste line and do nothing for TDS creep which is on the treated side of the membrane. Two very different things.

No need to waste money on so called chloramine carbons either. ANY high quality, 1 micron or smaller carbon block is more than capable of removing the chlorine portion of chloramines and breaking the bond with the ammonia which is removed by the RO and DI. Carbon DOES NOT remove chloramines.

It's my understanding that the Chloramines will rapidly exhaust the 1 micron carbon block after a couple hundred gallons or less unless you preceded it with a catalytic carbon cartridge. I've tested this myself on my own RO/DI, and could test positive for chlorine/Chloramines after my carbon before my membrane. BRS also did a detailed video on the same situation.

 

[mfinn]

If you want to extend DI life install a DI bypass valve between the RO membrane and the DI filter and open it for 30 seconds to a minute each time you start to make water.

Can you explain what that will do?
Maybe a little detail on how it's done? What exactly to use?

 

[redfishbluefish]

When you first turn on your RO unit you get a fair amount of break-through TDS from the membrane. In my case, my TDS shoots up to 60 - 70 for a couple minutes. By simply allowing this to get pulled out by the DI, you'd go through your DI pretty fast. What I do, using THIS valve from BRS, I run the first couple of minutes down the drain.

Once my TDS gets down to 2-3, I flip the valve to start to collect water now going through the DI resin. Hope this explanation is clear.

 

[mfinn]

When you first turn on your RO unit you get a fair amount of break-through TDS from the membrane. In my case, my TDS shoots up to 60 - 70 for a couple minutes. By simply allowing this to get pulled out by the DI, you'd go through your DI pretty fast. What I do, using THIS valve from BRS, I run the first couple of minutes down the drain.

Once my TDS gets down to 2-3, I flip the valve to start to collect water now going through the DI resin. Hope this explanation is clear.

That's the part I was hoping to find.

When I turn on my ro/di, my water is seldom over 30 tds. Lately it's been a little lower.

 

[paraletho]

I have dual DI chambers added brand new in 10/2015. I replaced one side about 4 months ago based on the color turning almost completely clear. I noticed my TDS starting to creep towards 1 so I just replaced the resin in the other chamber on Monday. I looked at the chamber last night and the whole chamber has already turned light brown from the BRS blue color. The other, older side is still very dark except right where the water enters the chamber from below.

When I switch one or the other should I also rotate the chambers? What would cause the whole chamber to exhaust so quickly? I haven't had a chance to take the chamber off, is it possible the exhausted resin is just the resin on the perimeter of the cannister?

Besides the two DI chambers the system is basically a 6 stage, micron>micron>carbon>DI>DI>membrane>carbon polishing>reservoir.

Pay close attention when pulling your old resin out of the cartridge, if not packed tightly and evenly I have seen the flow run through the center and the outside of the resin still show as unchanged.

 

[tom39]

Flush kits have no proven documented value other than to lighten your wallet. If you want to extend DI life install a DI bypass valve between the RO membrane and the DI filter and open it for 30 seconds to a minute each time you start to make water. Flush kits are on the waste line and do nothing for TDS creep which is on the treated side of the membrane. Two very different things.

A flush kit absolutely plays a role in the life and performance of a RO membrane. It does this by flushing larger quantities of water through the membrane channels and allowing trapped particles to be flushed away. The flushing of the membrane increases the lifespan of the membrane and also improves performance by removing impurities that are restricting the membrane. By the removal of these trapped impurities this increases the rate in which the water that is able to be passed thru the membrane, resulting in more product water and less waste water. As for proven documentation, attached are 2 short videos showing how a RO membrane works and also why and also how a flush kit is a solid under $10 investment.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Unfortunately BRS is not a good source of reliable information on RO/DI, love their chemicals but they just don't have enough knowledge or experience with RO/DI. Ask other, more knowledgeable vendors with 20+ years in the industry such as AWI, Spectrapure , Purelyh2o or Buckeye Hydro. I would go to any of those plus a few others before considering a newcomer like BRS.

Again, I have yet to see an independent study published that shows a flush kit does anything. Having worked in water treatment for coming up on 42 years now I know I'm correct on this. It's what I do as a profession.
In large municipal or commercial applications they work but are very different than simply bypassing a flow restrictor. They use large booster pumps to actually scour the membrane along with air bursts and chemical treatment, things not possible with a home use system. Sounds good in theory but doesn't do anything.

 

[Browner20]

Thank you all for your help. So I managed to get the DI switched to after the membrane but failed to take pics. Maybe I can remember tonight... @AZDesertRat I agree with the inline meters quality but I only utilize the inlines as a quick check to make sure everything is working properly and assume a 0 reading on the inline meter would not be compromised only higher readings and the accuracy of those readings?

Anyways, something weird is happening - the reading coming out of the membrane is 0 but the reading coming out of the DI it is showing 4-5. I tested a couple times draining a decent amount out of the RO reservoir to see if I could run-off some particles that were dislodged during the transition but still the same? Maybe I can drain the whole RO reservoir tonight and see if it will stabilize? Any thoughts?

 

[TheEngineer]

Thank you all for your help. So I managed to get the DI switched to after the membrane but failed to take pics. Maybe I can remember tonight... @AZDesertRat I agree with the inline meters quality but I only utilize the inlines as a quick check to make sure everything is working properly and assume a 0 reading on the inline meter would not be compromised only higher readings and the accuracy of those readings?

Anyways, something weird is happening - the reading coming out of the membrane is 0 but the reading coming out of the DI it is showing 4-5. I tested a couple times draining a decent amount out of the RO reservoir to see if I could run-off some particles that were dislodged during the transition but still the same? Maybe I can drain the whole RO reservoir tonight and see if it will stabilize? Any thoughts?

Your DI resin could be used up.