Poll: What water pressure runs through your RODI?
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squampton
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Best I can tell mine is between 90 and 100. When the booster pump is on the needle moves a bit too much for me to get exact pressure.
Without the booster pump on its around 35-40 psi. I live in a high rise apartment so not the best pressure by the time it reaches me.
We have pretty high quality tap water with very low sediment so I never notice much of a drop from clogging filters, I change them out twice a year and the sediment filter barely changed color, likely could run it longer but at 3 bucks, I just change it out twice a year.
Without the booster pump on its around 35-40 psi. I live in a high rise apartment so not the best pressure by the time it reaches me.
We have pretty high quality tap water with very low sediment so I never notice much of a drop from clogging filters, I change them out twice a year and the sediment filter barely changed color, likely could run it longer but at 3 bucks, I just change it out twice a year.
fredjr
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I have the same system. I also have the auto flush. Love the system
JimmyV
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I have a well so it use to take about 5 hours to fill a 5 gallon carboy through my ro/di 4 stage. once I purchased and installed the aquaticlife smart buddy booster pump My 5 gallon carboy fills in 75 minute at around 90 lbs pressure.
https://www.marinedepot.com/Aquatic..._Systems-AquaticLife-AK01292-FIRORABP-vi.html
https://www.marinedepot.com/Aquatic..._Systems-AquaticLife-AK01292-FIRORABP-vi.html
Idoc
Getting lazier and lazier with upkeep!
I need to get the auto-flush kit...
Sir Chris
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I’m 65 psi. Normal house pressure out the gate and I get the normal 4/1 and fill fast tho I over filled on a timer and now have a shut off but the pressure on the membrane is usually high and the feed pressure needs to b above 55 psi for proper use of media and water. But 2 high is also bad. And I feel around 90-110 would b that bad #. Maybe even 80psi. I like 65 and cant change it tho. EDIT: yep R2R vid was the 50 and so on. But the 65 does a lot.
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Pelagic One
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Local municipal water pressure is only at 50PSI so I run the Smart Buddy booster pump on my BRS RO/DI with dual DI and dual membrane. So like mfinn stated above, I like having plenty of water quickly to support my 130 gallon system, as well as the other smaller tanks around the house.
So now 80-90PSI through the RO/DI makes me feel like I should get into the bottled water business!
chipmunkofdoom2
Always Making Something
This statement is incomplete. In some cases, it is wrong. Increasing pressure generally does reduce TDS, but not in all cases. I cannot understand the obsession that reefers have with RO system pressure. 50 PSI is the pressure rating required by Dow to get their stated rejection rate of 96%. Depending on your water source, you may even get higher rejection at 50PSI. If you have 50 PSI or more (and some people have argued mid-40s is even sufficient), you don't need a booster pump.
If your tap water's TDS is exceptionally high, then yes, everything you can do to reduce the TDS going into your DI resin is beneficial. Depending on the source water, however, there's only so much you can reduce the TDS. If your water has a lot of minerals that are smaller than the membrane's pore size, no amount of pressure is going to trap those.
Additionally, in some cases, reefers have high CO2 levels in their water, which will burn through resin much faster than slightly elevated TDS. These reefers would be much better off spending the money for a degassing setup.
Please don't misunderstand my meaning: higher pressure is usually better for RO membranes. I'd be with you 100% if booster pumps were free: in that case, everyone should just blindly go out and boost their pressure to 80PSI. Booster pumps are not free though, and can often be quite expensive. We need to weigh the relative costs and benefits of these interventions instead of just blindly recommended that reefers hit a number that's not necessary (or even ideal).
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TMB
Well-Known Member
Well
Well, I can help with a very good reason for obsessing over water pressure...
Here in Phoenix we have really bad water, my incoming TDS is 900-1100! If I were to settle for the stated 96% my outgoing TDS would only get down to 44!! That’s higher than many peoples incoming TDS.
When I first moved here I could only get 100 gallons of product water with those numbers, and it only got worse from there as filters aged. In fact membranes would only last 6 months in those conditions.
I went to the Spectrapure facility in Tempe AZ to buy a “custom tuned” system for my water. And this is the result:
180GPD system with their 99% rejection membranes and a booster pump set to 85 PSI, and a 2:1 rejection ratio. The result is I now can achieve an outgoing TDS of 13, and DI resin lasts 6-7 months. Which is probably 1000 gallons of product water (I have over 500g of displays), and I think I’m being conservative with the usage estimate. My evaporation alone is 25g per week. I’m also going on 3+ years on the original membranes.
Even though that system was a bit expensive, it has saved me literally $100’s every year in water cost, membranes, and DI resin. Best money I ever spent on maintenance equipment.
Tom
Well, I can help with a very good reason for obsessing over water pressure...
Here in Phoenix we have really bad water, my incoming TDS is 900-1100! If I were to settle for the stated 96% my outgoing TDS would only get down to 44!! That’s higher than many peoples incoming TDS.
When I first moved here I could only get 100 gallons of product water with those numbers, and it only got worse from there as filters aged. In fact membranes would only last 6 months in those conditions.
I went to the Spectrapure facility in Tempe AZ to buy a “custom tuned” system for my water. And this is the result:
180GPD system with their 99% rejection membranes and a booster pump set to 85 PSI, and a 2:1 rejection ratio. The result is I now can achieve an outgoing TDS of 13, and DI resin lasts 6-7 months. Which is probably 1000 gallons of product water (I have over 500g of displays), and I think I’m being conservative with the usage estimate. My evaporation alone is 25g per week. I’m also going on 3+ years on the original membranes.
Even though that system was a bit expensive, it has saved me literally $100’s every year in water cost, membranes, and DI resin. Best money I ever spent on maintenance equipment.
Tom
chipmunkofdoom2
Always Making Something
You are one of the cases of exceptionally high TDS that I mentioned in my post. According to a R2R poll, 64% of reefers have tap water TDS of 200ppm or less (at the time of this post). Of those reefers, almost 2/3 have TDS of 100ppm or less. Only 6% of reefers voted that their tap water had TDS above 500ppm.
As I said before, in certain cases, a booster pump makes sense even if you have adequate pressure at the tap (> 50 PSI). You are one of those cases. It is rare for tap water to have TDS as high as yours. Recommending more pressure because "more is better" is not the way to decide if you need a booster pump. Not unless booster pumps are free. There is a cost to everything we do in this hobby, and the costs and benefits have to be considered on all sides of the equation if our goal is to spend our reefing money in the most effective way possible.
TMB
Well-Known Member
I understand your point and agree with you. However, that poll may be a bit misleading. In Phoenix and the surrounding areas 600-1000 TDS is the norm, and Phoenix is the 6th largest city in the country. There must be more than just me in need of help in the RODI department.
The thing I’ll end with is that, I agree, a proper assessment of incoming water should be the determining factor in deciding what equipment to employ in the RODI system. I think a lot of people could benefit from doing this and maximizing the potential of their system.
EDIT: In fairness I should also say that my opinions are just that, opinion. Which are based on anecdotal evidence, and talking to others in the know in this area. I’m also not a water professional. Have a great day.
The thing I’ll end with is that, I agree, a proper assessment of incoming water should be the determining factor in deciding what equipment to employ in the RODI system. I think a lot of people could benefit from doing this and maximizing the potential of their system.
EDIT: In fairness I should also say that my opinions are just that, opinion. Which are based on anecdotal evidence, and talking to others in the know in this area. I’m also not a water professional. Have a great day.
