eColi - Making RODI with a Boil Water Ban

[gdemos]

My town of South Kingstown, RI has had an eColi ban going on a week.
I'm past due to make ATO water, and soon a routine WC.
My RODI is a robust commercial unit with a commercial 1000gph membrane, 14" chambers for floss, 2 carbon, and DI resin with a hefty booster pump... so i can make water fast, but i dont know if i can make water Safely given the bacterial ban. I presume the town will be chlorinating the system as well - which frankly i've never had to deal with before.

So, what should I do? (besides not drinking town water!)
Thanks in advance,
-Greg

 

[Breadman03]

@Buckeye Hydro

 

[gdemos]

yes, buckeye- i built my RO with your guidance & products a couple years ago
do i/will i maybe need some type of dechlorinator perhaps inlieu of one of my carbon blocks?
my two carbon blocks are (i think) .1 and second is .05 micron
should i attempt making water now? wait till they lift ban (not sure i can wait till then)? should i assume if making water now that it has more chlorine than normal (never had chlorine to begin with)
my source water is relatively low TDS, like 7-12 ppm last i tested

 

[OriginalUserName]

Do you know if they are using chlorine vs chloramines? I would think a quick test of the water post RODI to confirm you got all the chlorine out would be sufficient. Your carbon blocks should handle chloramines as well, assuming it's some normal levels.

 

[NY_Caveman]

This is a total shot in the dark, but if you had a UV sterilizer, could you put that inline before the RO/DI unit somehow?

My mother in law is in Narragansett and it is a pretty crappy situation.

 

[OriginalUserName]

IMO it's not the bacteria I'd be worried about, but rather what your utility is doing to kill it. Ecoli should be filtered out by your RO and if not I'm sure it will die in SW.

 

[wesman42]

IMO it's not the bacteria I'd be worried about, but rather what your utility is doing to kill it. Ecoli should be filtered out by your RO and if not I'm sure it will die in SW.

I'd assume the larger danger here is cross-contamination. However, you'd probably see similar cross contamination filling a pot to boil anyway.

 

[OriginalUserName]

I'd assume the larger danger here is cross-contamination. However, you'd probably see similar cross contamination filling a pot to boil anyway.

True, presumably somebody tied the poop water in with the clean water somewhere in the system. RODI should take care of that too.

 

[squampton]

From the CDC:

• A reverse osmosis filter has a pore size of approximately 0.0001 micron.
• Reverse Osmosis Systems have a very high effectiveness in removing protozoa (for example, Cryptosporidium, Giardia);
• Reverse Osmosis Systems have a very high effectiveness in removing bacteria (for example, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli);
• Reverse Osmosis Systems have a very high effectiveness in removing viruses (for example, Enteric, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, Rotavirus);

Minimum pore size for high effectiveness for e coli is 0.01 micron.

https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/home-water-treatment/household_water_treatment.html

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

There’s no reasonable chance of bacteria getting through a properly functioning RO membrane. They can grow on both sides of it, but don’t get through.