RO/DI Question

noahcw · Jun 19, 2020

Hey,

I bought this unit used and the guy i got it from gave me no direction or advice with it - fair enough. It's reading 4 tds and I'm looking to get it down but I'm not sure which cartridges to replace, or what to buy to replace them with. To my knowledge I have an aquaticlife 100 gpd. Any advice would be really appreciated, thanks!

cvrle1 · Jun 19, 2020

If you dont know how old those filters are, I would just replace them all for piece of mind. Whole set is like $30 from BRS.

BRS 4 Stage Value Replacement Filter Kit

Why does BRS recommend this? For almost all 4 Stage RODI systems we recommend the BRS 4 Stage Value replacement filter kit. This kit included high quality filter elements including the Purtrex 1 micron sediment filter and BRS Universal Carbon. We would be very wary of using cheap, low quality...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Membrane may also need to be replaced, so keep that in mind as well. I would also look into adding a flush valve. It will prolong life of your membrane.

Reverse Osmosis Membrane Flush Valve

The Membrane Flush/Flow restrictor valve is an all in one flow restrictor equipped with a flush valve for easy worry free use. Keeping the flush and flow restrictor in a single package keeps fitting count down which means less chance for possible leaks or failures down the line. 550 mL/min for...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

noahcw · Jun 19, 2020

cvrle1 said:
If you dont know how old those filters are, I would just replace them all for piece of mind. Whole set is like $30 from BRS.

BRS 4 Stage Value Replacement Filter Kit

Why does BRS recommend this? For almost all 4 Stage RODI systems we recommend the BRS 4 Stage Value replacement filter kit. This kit included high quality filter elements including the Purtrex 1 micron sediment filter and BRS Universal Carbon. We would be very wary of using cheap, low quality...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Membrane may also need to be replaced, so keep that in mind as well. I would also look into adding a flush valve. It will prolong life of your membrane.

Reverse Osmosis Membrane Flush Valve

The Membrane Flush/Flow restrictor valve is an all in one flow restrictor equipped with a flush valve for easy worry free use. Keeping the flush and flow restrictor in a single package keeps fitting count down which means less chance for possible leaks or failures down the line. 550 mL/min for...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Thanks for the reply, I'm in Canada but just learnt I can order from BRS, just wondering what a flush valve does? Also if I were to look in Canada, how do I know which would fit?

cvrle1 · Jun 19, 2020

noahcw said:
Thanks for the reply, I'm in Canada but just learnt I can order from BRS, just wondering what a flush valve does? Also if I were to look in Canada, how do I know which would fit?

Take a look at the video that BRS has in the flush valve link (it is underneath all the pictures of it) It explains what it is and what it does. Size of your valve depends on your membrane and GPD it produces. This specific one:

550 mL/min for 75 GPD single membranes or 150 GPD Water Saver Systems
800mL/min for 100 &150 GPD single membranes or 200 GPD Water Saver System

FreakPrism · Jun 19, 2020

Hey noahcw, if I look up this model on google I came to this Canadian Site

AquaticLife Classic 100 GPD, 4-Stage RO/DI Unit

Product No. ROAL-540326

It seems to match your picture and indicates there is a manual flush valve already present. In your first picture I see a blue faucet by the RO membrane that might be your manual flush valve.

This unit seems to use standard 10" cartridges so you can search for those based on your labels (Sediment, Carbon, DI) as there are places in Canada that sell them.

Personally I just bought the 7 stage BRS system and had it shipped to the GTA as I wanted to start off on a good foot. I found places in Canada that sold similar systems but they either had no reviews or mixed. Once I come to 6 months I will see what I do. If I''m planning to visit the US as my brother lives there then I'll just order from BRS and ship to US.

noahcw · Jun 20, 2020

FreakPrism said:
Hey noahcw, if I look up this model on google I came to this Canadian Site

AquaticLife Classic 100 GPD, 4-Stage RO/DI Unit

Product No. ROAL-540326

It seems to match your picture and indicates there is a manual flush valve already present. In your first picture I see a blue faucet by the RO membrane that might be your manual flush valve.

This unit seems to use standard 10" cartridges so you can search for those based on your labels (Sediment, Carbon, DI) as there are places in Canada that sell them.

Personally I just bought the 7 stage BRS system and had it shipped to the GTA as I wanted to start off on a good foot. I found places in Canada that sold similar systems but they either had no reviews or mixed. Once I come to 6 months I will see what I do. If I''m planning to visit the US as my brother lives there then I'll just order from BRS and ship to US.

Yeah normally I can just go to New York (I live 2 hours away) and pick up packages at the border but it's a bit harder right now. Thanks for the info and advice though!

cvrle1 · Jun 20, 2020

noahcw said:
Yeah normally I can just go to New York (I live 2 hours away) and pick up packages at the border but it's a bit harder right now. Thanks for the info and advice though!

Yeah, same here. I am 7km from the border (in BC), but cant pick up my aquarium pump and few other items I have sitting there. Lets see what happens in a month.

noahcw · Jun 20, 2020

cvrle1 said:
Yeah, same here. I am 7km from the border (in BC), but cant pick up my aquarium pump and few other items I have sitting there. Lets see what happens in a month.

This site makes me jealous of everything they can get so easily in the States lol

noahcw · Jun 22, 2020

So I have replaced all three cartridges but still get a 5 tds

KStatefan · Jun 22, 2020

What is the TDS of your source water?
What is the TDS of the water after the membrane?
What is the TDS if the water after the DI?

fishguy242 · Jun 22, 2020

hi " @Hellybell80 might want to look here ,

FreakPrism · Jun 22, 2020

can you post a picture of your whole system / unit. I think the tds monitor is measuring output from your membrane and likely you are 0 out of DI. Also did you discard the first few gallons of water after changing the filter and not feed that to the DI?

noahcw · Jun 22, 2020

KStatefan said:
What is the TDS of your source water?
What is the TDS of the water after the membrane?
What is the TDS if the water after the DI?

TDS of my source water reads 49, I'm not sure the other two as I only get one "out" reading.

noahcw · Jun 22, 2020

FreakPrism said:
can you post a picture of your whole system / unit. I think the tds monitor is measuring output from your membrane and likely you are 0 out of DI. Also did you discard the first few gallons of water after changing the filter and not feed that to the DI?

Let me know if that works! Thanks for the help!

cvrle1 · Jun 22, 2020

noahcw said:
TDS of my source water reads 49, I'm not sure the other two as I only get one "out" reading.

noahcw said:
Let me know if that works! Thanks for the help!

You have dual TDS meter, so you would be getting 2 readings. It looks like 1 is connected to the out line (blue hose) after DI, which is good. Other one is connected to the water coming in from the tap (yellow hose) which is your source. You can switch between the 2 lines with controller that you have there.

With this in mind, you can provide Source number and After DI number.

noahcw · Jun 22, 2020

cvrle1 said:
You have dual TDS meter, so you would be getting 2 readings. It looks like 1 is connected to the out line (blue hose) after DI, which is good. Other one is connected to the water coming in from the tap (yellow hose) which is your source. You can switch between the 2 lines with controller that you have there.

With this in mind, you can provide Source number and After DI number.

Okay, so in that case, my source reads 49 and my after di reads 5.

member 99594 · Jun 22, 2020

noahcw said:
Okay, so in that case, my source reads 49 and my after di reads 5.

You need to measure the tap water and the water after the membrane.
Tap # minus after membrane number divided by tap #

should be no less than about 96%

if you don’t have a hand held tds meter.you can take the after di sensor out and use that to test the tap water. *use a glass jar. I find plastic makes the readings go wonky

Edit: also run the system for 20 mins before testing this.

cvrle1 · Jun 22, 2020

noahcw said:
Okay, so in that case, my source reads 49 and my after di reads 5.

Your DI cartridge, did it come pre-packed or did you pack it your self? Check that is is really tightly packed. If not, that could explain the TDS possibly. Didnt see if you answered this, did you lete several gallons flush out before you took reading? You need to replace filters properly and let water run through them before you get true TDS reading in the end.

noahcw · Jun 22, 2020

cvrle1 said:
Your DI cartridge, did it come pre-packed or did you pack it your self? Check that is is really tightly packed. If not, that could explain the TDS possibly. Didnt see if you answered this, did you lete several gallons flush out before you took reading? You need to replace filters properly and let water run through them before you get true TDS reading in the end.

I packed it myself, and let about 4 gallons through before checking, is that enough?

KStatefan · Jun 23, 2020

I would take your DI cartrige out then run the system for 20-30 minutes. Then report the two TDS numbers you get.

This way we can see how the membrane is working.