I got a new RO\DI system with a booster pump. It has 3 canisters, the membrane, then 2 more canisters for individual DI resins. What is the recommended connection of the system? Right now I have source water coming into the sediment filter, then through 2 carbon blocks, then to membrane and out to the 2 DI canisters. I noticed that the DI canisters will change colors within a couple of days of running. I have the output going to a float valve in my sump to auto top-off. Any suggestions?
RO/DI question
- Thread starter Billycaicedo
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Sounds like it is hooked up correctly, did you flush the membranes? What is the TDS of your water before the RODI? What was your water pressure before installing the pump and what is it withhh the pump? How many gallons are you making before the DI is exhausted?
You should adjust the pump down to 65psi or so unless your membranes say differently. Too much pressure could contribute to exhausting your DI rapidly.
Turn the pump pressure down to 65psi or so. Too much pressure will contribute to exhausting your DI more quickly.
Philipgonzales3
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Is this why DI exhausted so quickly? My water pressure is 90psi. I've made an estimated 200 gallons of RODI. My DI has already turned orange and I am now at 2ppm on my production water. :-(
Hybrid Ken
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Are you using a TDS meter in your system? Is there a flush valve on your system?
I run my RODI in flush mode right into the drain for 5 min every time I start it up then again when I am finished. This flushed the membrane clean and helps prolong its life. Since you have yours hooked up directly to your sump you may want to figure a way to flush the membrane every so often as recommend by the membrane manufacture. Have you thought of upgrading to a 7 stage RODI (what I have) you have the sediment filter, two carbon block filters, the membrane then it goes into the cation followed by anion and finally a mixed bed. I have put a lot of water through mine and the resin hasn't changed color one bit and I am getting zero TDS. My pressure runs about 60 to 70.
Hybrid Ken
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Hybrid Ken
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This is an auto flush system.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...26F012D75D85BBA0C2D226F012D75D85&&FORM=VRDGAR
Opus
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Flushing the membrane doesn't do anything for the membrane, it just doesn't work on our hobby grade units. Now running the RO unit for a few minutes after startup and have the product water go to the drain instead of the DI cartridge is recommended to prolong the life of the DI resin. This initial product water is a lot higher in tds. Your psi is also OK. It is my understanding that it is the cartridges and fittings that could possibly be damaged by really high pressure.
To understand if you have an issue, we need more info. What is your tds after the membrane but before DI. Also, are you on city water or well water.
By the way, your source tds is not high. Plenty of people see double that or more. Mine runs between 400 and 450 depending on the water level in the lake.
I don't know much about the smart buddy. Does it shut everything off when the float valve has shut the water off?
To understand if you have an issue, we need more info. What is your tds after the membrane but before DI. Also, are you on city water or well water.
By the way, your source tds is not high. Plenty of people see double that or more. Mine runs between 400 and 450 depending on the water level in the lake.
I don't know much about the smart buddy. Does it shut everything off when the float valve has shut the water off?
Philipgonzales3
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I created a threat about my RODI issues.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/di-resin-exhausted-after-200-gallon-of-product-water.536240/
Feel free to chime in with any advice.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/di-resin-exhausted-after-200-gallon-of-product-water.536240/
Feel free to chime in with any advice.
Opus
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There may be something wrong with your RO membrane or it isn't setup correctly. If it is brand new I would expect better than the 94% rejection you are seeing. Most seem to get 98% or better. For comparison my tap tds is 400 to 450 and my tds after the RO is 2. At 2 tds my DI will last for around 2200 gallons of water. With your 10, you will only get around 440 gallons from a DI cartridge.
ravi197699
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I agree with Opus, you need to check the TDS coming out of the membrane, if your membrane is working as it should then you should get expected life out of DI, Lowering water pressure will not resolve the issue, higher the pressure better the rejection rate out of membrane, I bought larger reverse osmosis system and I will be running the unit at 150 psi nothing less..
Hybrid Ken
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I concur with the above two in that your TDS from the membrane should be a lot lower. My very first run on my system I saw a TDS of 6 to 8 for a few minutes most likely due to not flushing the membrane long enough or just the fact it was first use all water produced before I saw a TDS of zero got tossed). That dropped to a TDS of 3 and then crept down to one over the next 10 minutes. It now runs a TDS of 1 from the membrane and zero after the cation and anion chambers and zero from the final mixed bed chamber. Most manufactures do say that the unit should be ran a few times a month just to prevent any bacterial growth that could occur. Bacterial growth will mess the membrane up.
Let's back up a little Billy.
Your feedwater TDS of 160 is really pretty good - I wouldn't consider 160 high at all. something around 250 is pretty common, so you are probably lower than most.
Have you installed your booster pump AFTER all your prefilters? 80 psi pump pressure will not prematurely exhaust your DI resin. I'd leave the pump pressure right where it is, assuming the pump is installed in the correct location in the system.
At 10 ppm RO water, you should be getting about 500 gallons from a DI cartridge. But you reported you're only getting 10% of that. So yes, your RO water TDS should be lower than it is, but high TDS RO water is only a contributing factor to what you're seeing.
Maybe you want to give us a call when you are in front of your system and we can troubleshoot it with you. It's hard to do the troubleshooting in these threads unless the problem is really straightforward.
Russ
513-312-2343
Your feedwater TDS of 160 is really pretty good - I wouldn't consider 160 high at all. something around 250 is pretty common, so you are probably lower than most.
Have you installed your booster pump AFTER all your prefilters? 80 psi pump pressure will not prematurely exhaust your DI resin. I'd leave the pump pressure right where it is, assuming the pump is installed in the correct location in the system.
At 10 ppm RO water, you should be getting about 500 gallons from a DI cartridge. But you reported you're only getting 10% of that. So yes, your RO water TDS should be lower than it is, but high TDS RO water is only a contributing factor to what you're seeing.
Maybe you want to give us a call when you are in front of your system and we can troubleshoot it with you. It's hard to do the troubleshooting in these threads unless the problem is really straightforward.
Russ
513-312-2343
