RODI Installation Location

Icedog · Feb 4, 2020

I am considering getting an RODI setup but the only place I have room for it, with easy access to plumbing, is in my garage. The garage is enclosed but not artificially heated nor cooled. I live in the desert, and the outdoor temp ranges in my area can go anywhere from 32 to 110 degrees F. Of course this means that the garage will pretty much endure these same temps.

I'm concerned that the temperatures ranges in the garage will affect the operation of the unit and/or the quality of the water.

Any thoughts or suggestions on this?

theMeat · Feb 4, 2020

Production rate and/or rejection rate will suffer the colder it gets. Think membranes are tested at around 60-65 degrees. Also want to keep it below freezing so unit doesn’t get damaged

lpsouth1978 · Feb 4, 2020

Garage in the desert (i live in Phoenix) should be ok. You will see some production changes, but nothing too significant. I have mine in the laundry room and hooked up to the washer water supply.

zalick · Feb 4, 2020

Agree with above. Most important is that your lines/unit don't freeze. Spectrapure bases their production rates off 77 deg water at 60psi. There are charts that show you how much drop in production you get when the temp drops. Cold water makes production plummet. My main water is usually around 50-55 deg and my production on a 180gpd unit is about 100gpd at best.

The temperature in your garage will have little to do with production rate. That will be dictated by the temp of you main water supply.

AZMSGT · Feb 4, 2020

Also in the Phoenix area. I was concerned about heat and cold on my system same as you. Originally I had mine installed under my kitchen sink. I had it set up to provide drinking water and I could make RO-DI as needed. I later installed mine inside my cabinet in my Laundry room. It feeds a tank now in my Garage. See the last few pages of my Build thread for pictures of the RODI set up.

Here in Phoenix though the garage has never gotten down to freezing inside it. Maybe 45 at the worst and it's not insulated.

Greybeard · Feb 4, 2020

Mine is mounted in a cabinet on the back side of the wall where the kitchen sink is, on an unheated, but enclosed, sun porch. Temps get down to near freezing, and up to over 90. No problem. Makes for easy access, too

RobertP · Feb 4, 2020

Have mine in the garage in my old house in southeast Texas where it gets really hot in the summer. Not a big deal at all.

Montiman · Feb 4, 2020

I am also in phoenix and have mine in the garage. Best place I've found for an RO unit. So much easier to clean and maintain.

Reef. · Feb 4, 2020

Temp as far less affect on the production rate than the water pressure.

clffthmps · Feb 4, 2020

Icedog said:
I am considering getting an RODI setup but the only place I have room for it, with easy access to plumbing, is in my garage. The garage is enclosed but not artificially heated nor cooled. I live in the desert, and the outdoor temp ranges in my area can go anywhere from 32 to 110 degrees F. Of course this means that the garage will pretty much endure these same temps.

I'm concerned that the temperatures ranges in the garage will affect the operation of the unit and/or the quality of the water.

Any thoughts or suggestions on this?

Please don’t laugh at me,I keep my RODI system in my laundry room.Then I will put the drain holes in the washer and let it fill it up, So I can utilize any water instead of just wasting it.

Greg P · Feb 4, 2020

You wrote temps as low as 30.
As mentioned, be aware of freezing risks. The clear housings will crack if frozen. Not sure about the membrane housing as I haven't seen one split yet but I'd bet it will from expansion.
Consider wrapping them during your cold months.

Icedog · Feb 4, 2020

theMeat said:
Production rate and/or rejection rate will suffer the colder it gets. Think membranes are tested at around 60-65 degrees. Also want to keep it below freezing so unit doesn’t get damaged

Tks for your reply, but I'm a bit confused. "Also want to keep it below freezing so unit doesn't get damaged"? Does that mean I should keep the RODI unit below freezing?

Icedog · Feb 4, 2020

Greg P said:
You wrote temps as low as 30.
As mentioned, be aware of freezing risks. The clear housings will crack if frozen. Not sure about the membrane housing as I haven't seen one split yet but I'd bet it will from expansion.
Consider wrapping them during your cold months.

Great suggestion - I do wrap my outdoor pipes during freezing weather and can certainly remember to do this my RODI unit1

Icedog · Feb 4, 2020

Thanks to all of you who responded so quickly to my post! This really is the greatest reef group!

And I especially appreciate the responses of those from similar, desert, areas. Our climate can sometimes be especially gruesome to deal with.

My overall take-away from this, at this time, is:

1. The hot temps in the summer in the garage will not affect the RODI unit nor the water expelled from it.

2. The cold temps in the winter in the garage may affect the RODI unit, but not the water expelled from it. I will need to wrap the RODI unit to keep it from freezing during those cold months.

3. Others have done this, with no issues to the RODI unit nor to the water quality.

Thanks, again! Please let me know if I've made some mis-interpretations here!

Greg P · Feb 4, 2020

If your garage is insulated, you could take the lazy route and install a couple baseboard heaters set to just above 'too cold'

Icedog · Feb 4, 2020

Greg P said:
If your garage is insulated, you could take the lazy route and install a couple baseboard heaters set to just above 'too cold'

Good idea, but the garage is not insulated. Tks, for the idea, tho.

theMeat · Feb 4, 2020

Icedog said:
Tks for your reply, but I'm a bit confused. "Also want to keep it below freezing so unit doesn't get damaged"? Does that mean I should keep the RODI unit below freezing?

Yea , keep it above freezing. Glad you figured that out lol
Agree with water supply temp will mostly control temp when in use, and agree garage will be a bit warmer than outside

Icedog · Feb 5, 2020

theMeat said:
Yea , keep it above freezing. Glad you figured that out lol
Agree with water supply temp will mostly control temp when in use, and agree garage will be a bit warmer than outside

Tks for your reply - was a bit confused, there!

AZMSGT · Feb 5, 2020

Heat does effect the RO membranes. They can fail if they get to hot. While it can be 115 outside the inside of a garage will not likely get above 105 unless you park a hot car in it. Then temps can sore to 140 or higher. So use cation with the heat and your RODI unit.

Also a more scientific look at cold water on RO membranes.

Combating the Effects of Cold Water on Reverse Osmosis System Performance

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