RODI Production Rate Question

[PaulB18C5]

I recently purchased a 100gpd Reef Crest RO unit (locally) which are made by Aquafx and added the Aquatic Life DI Canister to the top, Flush valve and changed the restrictor to a 550ml to reduce waste. I changed the restrictor to a lower thinking this would increase my product water. From the tap I get a lot of pressure and run the unit at 80 PSI, water temperature is 60f right now and tap TDS is about 30 output 0. It takes about 1.5 hours to fill a 5 gallon jug. This was about the same before I changed the restrictor too. Should I not be creating water much faster with 80 PSI even with the cold water? Or am I just asking too much lol.

Main reason I am asking is because I had a 100gpd RO Buddie before with DI. I know it it had a 800ml restrictor and I could produce 5g in about 45 minutes.
Thank you for your help in advance!

 

[Water Dog]

Your water production rate seems a hair slower than mine, but nothing out of the ordinary. I’m running a Dow Filmtec 75 GPD membrane at 80 psi and getting about 5 gallons every hour and 15 to 20 minutes. As you cold water line gets warmer during the summer months, your production will improve.

Be wary about changing the flow restrictor to lower your waste to product water ratio as it will shorten the life of your RO membrane. I’d worry less about how long it takes to produce water and focus more on the proper ratio. You want to target anywhere between a 3 or 4 to 1 waste to product water ratio for the membrane to be flushed properly under pressure during operation. Without that ratio, you will get scale buildup on the membrane and shorten its life.

 

[KStatefan]

With your source water being as clean as it is 30tds you could run a lower waste ratio without reducing the life of the membrane

 

[Water Dog]

Good eye... missed the part about the 30 TDS source water.

 

[PaulB18C5]

What would be the reason for the RO Buddie producing water much faster? I didn't have a pressure gauge on it and with the smaller canisters could the pressure of been higher?

Also I dead measure after I did the the restrictor swap and I think the waste to product water ratio went from 4:1 to about 2.75:1.

 

[Reef.]

You should be using the correct size restritor, the membrane is designed to work at a given pressure.

The more pressure (to a limit) the better the membrane works, which would also mean less waste (still a lot)

You should be getting over 4 gallons an hour, if you have the correct restritor in place and your pressure is 80psi. Your tap temp is good so is your TDS, which would help your filters last longer.

 

[outhouse]

I run similar water, I use 3 membranes and they last a decade whether they need changing or not. I use a booster pump due to our low pressure, simply 3 stage before membranes, and 3 Di chambers. All connected to my auto top off bucket, which runs only for 1 hour a night. probably makes over 100g in a day. Nothing fancy all ebay stuff