RO/DI help

[Fishfinder]

i just installed a new BRS RODI system. I installed it after my house water system, just before it goes into the wall. The DI is getting depleted very quickly. I have about 10-15 gal of water made. My color changing DI resin is about half used. Anyone have a possible cause or solution? Something I can test or check?

 

[jsker]

What is your water pressure at the unit, should be about 65 psi. Do you have the waist water valve closed?
I know I burn through DI resin faster than normal here in central Florida. I could also be the home filter system need to be looked at. We do not have a home system, and I am think about putting another pre filter on before the RO/DI.

 

[Fishfinder]

I'm running at 50psi. Good to know someone else is going through it fast. I've got 20 gal made and it's half gone. My waste water is open. I'm making 0-1 ppm on the TDS. Just burning the DI up. What extra prefilter would help?

 

[Fishfinder]

I have someone coming to check our water tomorrow

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

What filters are you using? do you need to change carbon, sediment or the membrane?

 

[Fishfinder]

It's a 4 stage BRS unit, it's 1 micron sediment, carbon, RO membrane, then to the DI. It's brand new installed it yesterday. I did some research and it sounds like I might have high CO2 in the water....

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

It's a 4 stage BRS unit, it's 1 micron sediment, carbon, RO membrane, then to the DI. It's brand new installed it yesterday. I did some research and it sounds like I might have high CO2 in the water....

Yes, you could have high CO2 in the water. Also, you should check to make sure your RO membrane is installed correctly in the housing.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Do you have the ability to measure the TDS out of the RO membrane?

 

[Fishfinder]

I can disconnect my line and check the TDS out of the membrane. Give me a second

 

[Fishfinder]

Coming out of the membrane it's reading 60ppm

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Coming out of the membrane it's reading 60ppm

That's really high. I have 360 ppm TDS in my supply water and the exit water from the RO membrane usually reads 2 ppm TDS or less. You may have an issue with your membrane. What is the TDS in the well water?

 

[Fishfinder]

The TDS on my well is over 1000

 

[Fishfinder]

Just had a water guy come out, he said that my water is crazy hard. Lots of calcium and magnesium. He also said that I need a new bed in my softener.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Okay, that explains a lot. That high level of TDS in the RO effluent is what is burning through the deionizing resin. I saw a sharp reduction in resin life when my RO went from 2 to just 9 ppm TDS. Softening the water should help significantly as sodium is easier for the membrane to reject.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Also, how old is the RO membrane?

 

[Fishfinder]

Ya I just found out about the water issue, guy just left my house. I'll get my water hardness problem fixed and try again. Thank you for the help

 

[Fishfinder]

Would an extra RO membrane save my DI resin?

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Would an extra RO membrane save my DI resin?

Yes, it could help extend your resin lifecycle. However, a properly functioning membrane with prefilters that are changed out on a periodic basis should be able to remove at least 98% of the dissolved salts, so if your incoming TDS is 1000, I would expect the RO effluent to have a TDS of around 0.02*1000 or 20. A second membrane should further reduce that number, but keep in mind that water usage also goes up with a second membrane.

To perform a full evaluation, you should weigh the cost of additional membranes and water consumption against how much longer the deionizing resin would last.

 

[airwaterice]

What you need to do is ensure that your membrane is getting the correct rejection rate. We replace membranes when they don't get at least a 90% rejection if you have 60 PPM quality RO water feeding into your Di that will likely quickly exhaust your resin ...so my recommendation is to see what your house TDs is and also ensure that your sediment filter is not clogged and as someone already suggested that your flow restrictor is in the normal operations position.

 

[Fishfinder]

Just an update.... I recently moved into this house last week. I was getting 1000TDS at the house. I had someone come look at my water, they did a couple of adjustments. They told me that my carbon and softener bed were bad. I will have more updated water tests on Tuesday.

So if I had 1020 TDS going into my RO then 60TDS output would be normal