RO question

[G Santana]

For over 20 years I have wondered if rather than wasting RO run off, could one take a pump to push water through an RO unit in say a garbage can have the filtered water collected outside of the can and the run off returned to the garbage can to be run through the RO unit again.
Just wondering!!! This, if it worked, would save a ton of water.
I'm no RO unit expert, but alot of that run off can't be bad.
Just a thought.

 

[sfin52]

You can add a second ro membrane and do the same thing. There are plenty of people who run 2 ro membrane.

 

[G Santana]

I've seen those for sale, but it still gives runoff. I'm just wondering if that could be severely limited. Again just something that I have thought about for years.

 

[sfin52]

I've seen those for sale, but it still gives runoff. I'm just wondering if that could be severely limited. Again just something that I have thought about for years.

You have to have waste water and there is really nothing that can be done about that. You can use the wate water cor flowers

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

The water would continue to get more concentrated as more salts are sequestered in the brine. It would likely work for a while, but ultimately would cause premature membrane failure. Unless you took care to monitor the solids in the staged water. I really don't think this is worth the trouble.

I've always been really amused by how concerned hobbyists are with the "waste water" (technically, it's called brine) that our RO filters produce. Let's say you have a 100 gallon tank, you do weekly 10% water changes and need a gallon for top off per day. Your RO filter is likely only using around 210 gallons total per month. Since tap water costs about a penny for 5 gallons in the US, that amounts to $0.42 per month. Even at 10x the national average, your filter is only using four dollars worth of tap water per month.

Totally ignoring how cheap tap water is, our RO systems are one of the smallest water uses in the home. The average US family uses 300 gallons of water every single day. That's 9,000 gallons a month. In the example above, your RO unit accounts for just 2% of your water user for month.

Increasing water efficiency elsewhere in the home would have a much bigger impact than trying to squeeze a few more gallons out of your RO unit.

For those really interested in water conservation, reducing the amount of processed foods you consume is a cheap and easy way to make a difference. It takes almost 700 gallons of water to produce a 6oz steak, 600 gallons to produce a hamburger, 50 gallons to produce a single egg, and nearly 50 gallons to produce a small bottle of soda. Cutting back on any or all of those would have a significant impact on water usage.

 

[a4edwin]

I don’t know but I see a $180 water bill a month. I just get upset.

 

[sfin52]

I don’t know but I see a $180 water bill a month. I just get upset.

I would loo km at other ways a toilet would be the first place I would check

 

[a4edwin]

My meter doesn’t budge unless something is open. It’s a danged if I do danged if I don’t situation with the ro. I upgraded from the 75 to the 100 my next move is the booster pump because my psi is at 45. Beats running to the store and buying distilled water or driving even farther to the lfs.