Rodi, Cheap vs BRS

MichaelP121579 · Sep 25, 2019

Rodi Question, I bought a 4 stage " Amazon special " rodi unit, well its putting out around 9 tds, it started putting out 0 but after a few hours the resin cartridge was copper color. I'm gonna get a brs one today, question is What stage do I need? My water is mid 200 tds out of tap.
Thanks in advance
And I have about 50 gallons of 9 tds made up I guess it gets trashed

motortrendz · Sep 25, 2019

You could add a second di chamber.

Retro Reefer · Sep 25, 2019

If the one you purchased is a standard RO system I would just replace your RO membrane and carbon blocks with quality ones, be a lot cheaper than buying new system.

redfishbluefish · Sep 25, 2019

I would not use 9 tds water.

What is your water source....city water or well water?

What is the pressure?

Oh, and one more....is this a unit with a 3 - 5 gallon holding tank, used for purified drinking water?

madweazl · Sep 25, 2019

You're seeing 200 from the tap and 9 post RO membrane or post DI resin? Most units that have two probes read post RO membrane and post DI resin.

Silent · Sep 25, 2019

I like airwaterice.com Great units, filters, and slightly less expensive than BRS IMO. Just replace your filters and you should be good. No need for a new unit.

BayouReefer · Sep 25, 2019

It’s hard to say not knowing more about your water. Like is it city water, well water, does it have chloramines there are many other determining factors. You may need anything from a 3 stage all the way up to a 6 or 7. You can request a copy of the test results on you water from the city if that’s where it is coming from.

MichaelP121579 · Sep 25, 2019

redfishbluefish said:
I would not use 9 tds water.

What is your water source....city water or well water?

What is the pressure?

Oh, and one more....is this a unit with a 3 - 5 gallon holding tank, used for purified drinking water?

City water, I work for city on the waste water side now , but have been on distribution end for a couple years. Our water comes from underground springs. It has alot of calcium in it, the only treatment at our plant is allium and bleach. And no it's the Aquatic Life RO buddy

ArmyReefer · Sep 25, 2019

I am on well and get well over 200 coming in and 0 coming out with a BRS 4 stage water saver. The one thing I learned after burning through DI resin quickly was to flush the system prior to start making water and watch the TDS fall coming in. I wait till its down to under 20 before I start having water going through the DI resin. I am now getting 5-6 times more out of my DI resin.

WWIII · Sep 25, 2019

Good filters can make a difference. If the resin is copper colored that probably means it's depleted. Adding a second or even a third di stage can help get you 0 tds water for longer.

MichaelP121579 · Sep 25, 2019

WWIII said:
Good filters can make a difference. If the resin is copper colored that probably means it's depleted. Adding a second or even a third di stage can help get you 0 tds water for longer.

It turned copper within a few hours

redfishbluefish · Sep 25, 2019

The issue with changing filters is that the RO Buddy does not take conventional size filters. I believe they only fit RO Buddy filters.

A quality membrane will have an ejection of 98% or better. Note that the pressure and temperature will impact this number.

WWIII · Sep 25, 2019

MichaelP121579 said:
It turned copper within a few hours

Your BRS unit should perform much better. Hard to know what stage unit you should get, but you can always add stages later on. I really like their 7 stage unit with the 3 different di stages, but their 5 stage with single di should last much longer than a couple hours of producing water. Even horrible water with chloramines you should get a couple hundred gallons with a BRS setup.

The amazon unit may have had old materials in it? If your still having problems with rapid di resin exhaustion with a BRS unit, then some other things can be looked at to help with that.

Intheflesh · Sep 25, 2019

IMO - the BRS RODI unit vs A cheap "Amazon" unit shouldn't matter (meaning the filter housings).... but the Filters that are in it, and the options will. I bought my first RODI as a Chinese Ebay unit. Slowly added some options - dual TDI meter, Running Parallel RO Membranes, upgrading the filters, booster bump, auto shutoff switch, then finally upgrading to Dual DI chambers.

I think a basic RO DI unit is fine, but just upgrade the filters and RO membrane, but at that point you're in the same price bracket as just buying a better one from the start.

WWIII · Sep 25, 2019

@MichaelP121579 Is your cheap Amazon unit the ro buddie or is it a standard sized ro unit like BRS?

MichaelP121579 · Sep 25, 2019

WWIII said:
@MichaelP121579 Is your cheap Amazon unit the ro buddie or is it a standard sized ro unit like BRS?

No its compact

HKAVR45 · Sep 25, 2019

My incoming TDS are about 300 and I started with a 5 stage RODI from AirWaterIce. Over time my water volume requirements changed and I've made the following additions to the system:

1. Added a 2nd membrane which filters waste water from the first membrane. This has increased my output while also reducing the % of waste water compared to final product.
2. Added a booster pump. Someone else asked about your pressure. That's a good number to know. If its very low my understanding is that the membrane will not perform optimally. I have about 80PSI now going into the system.
3. Added an additional canister of DI resin. I make 100g at a time so I don't like to stop production in the middle of a run to change out the resin. Having 2 resin containers allows me to fully deplete the first canister without worrying about making water greater than 0 TDS. Once production is complete, I take the 2nd canister and swap it to the first and then refill the 2nd with new DI resin.

I've also added an inline TDS meter which captures 3 data points. This is helpful because you can see TDS going in, TDS from the membrane which helps determine when it needs to be replaced, and final TDS of the product.

WWIII · Sep 25, 2019

MichaelP121579 said:
No its compact

Yeah I'd go ahead and get the BRS unit then. Once you have the basic unit you can just replace filters and resin with high quality ones in the future. If I were I'm your shoes I'd probably get the value plus 4 stage unit. That is really the heart of all rodi systems and you can add on later if needed. Not really wasting any money by going that route.

count krunk · Sep 25, 2019

You will want a standard size ro/do so you can get the membranes from many places and also expand it over time.

I have a 200 gpd 6 stage unit. Craigslist find for $150.

It will need new membranes soon and a booster pump, but it still works well enough now.

At some point I will also up it to 8 stage, since it is a standard size it will be easy to do so.

dantimdad · Sep 25, 2019

I use a boosted RO buddie with the add on DI and get zero TDS out and around 170 in.

The RO buddie is really good, the cartridges are inexpensive and I am getting a true 80+ gallons a day.

I had an air water ice unit in the past that was nice. It got broken in a move. Given the price between what I have and what I had, I would take my current setup hands down.

BTW, I reload my own DI resin. It saves a TON of money.