Well Water Chewing through DI Resin

chipmunkofdoom2 · Apr 23, 2018

You mention the resin has been regenerated a few times? Is it a single bed or mixed bed?

JordanM · Apr 23, 2018

The first container had been regenerated and it was a mixed bed. I have went to just buying all new which the second container is mixed as well but new stuff.

chipmunkofdoom2 · Apr 23, 2018

How did you regenerate the resin? Did you separate it and use sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid? If the regeneration process was not complete, it could be the second DI canister has to make up for the weak resin in the first canister. It could also be that the resin is not packed tightly enough and some channeling is occurring.

The other advice in this thread is good as well. You should verify the CO2 content of the incoming water. I suspect this has a lot to do with the quick depletion you're seeing, regardless of the regeneration process used on the first canister. Your membrane(s) could also likely use replacing, although it's going to be difficult to tell which is the problem because of the dual membrane configuration.

theMeat · Apr 23, 2018

This sounds like a good plan and saved me some typing.

That new type flush valve linked from BRS...
Yes, it is both in one unit and saves you from the traditional loop that was needed before these were around.

JordanM said:
Thanks for the input. I do have the flush before the DI and it starts at about 150TDS and gets down to about 30 before i switch it to the DI and after about 20 gallons it only gets down to about 25 TDS before the DI. Good point on the carbon block. Maybe i will convert one to a 1um and continue to use the first sediment filter as a 5um. Then i may change the second carbon block to the silicabuster before going into the dual DI.
The flush valve on the waste line is still confusing me though. Does this just replace the flow restrictor and serve both purposes?

JordanM · Apr 23, 2018

Im going to go ahead and order two of the 75gpd membranes and a new flush/restrictor. Im also thinking about changing one of the carbon blocks to another sediment filter and the other carbon block to a silicabuster before going into the dual di canister. This does have a booster pump on it as well so im getting 90psi between the membrane and the resin.

So my layout will be booster pump to 5um sediment filter to 1um sediment filter to dual 75gpd membranes to silicabuster to dual di resin chambers. The waste i will change to a flush valve/ restrictor since it is the same price for just a restrictor anyways.

Are there any other suggestions? When i get home i will test ph and bubble it for awhile and see if the ph changes. How long should i bubble it for before testing again?

JordanM · Apr 23, 2018

chipmunkofdoom2 said:
How did you regenerate the resin? Did you separate it and use sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid? If the regeneration process was not complete, it could be the second DI canister has to make up for the weak resin in the first canister. It could also be that the resin is not packed tightly enough and some channeling is occurring.

The other advice in this thread is good as well. You should verify the CO2 content of the incoming water. I suspect this has a lot to do with the quick depletion you're seeing, regardless of the regeneration process used on the first canister. Your membrane(s) could also likely use replacing, although it's going to be difficult to tell which is the problem because of the dual membrane configuration.

It was not regenerated by me but i believe this is how it was done. The packing was not tight and i actually opened it back up and added some more new resin to the top which is where you can see that it changed color on the first canister so im guessing the rest of that canister is now bad and just needs to be replaced.

JordanM · Apr 23, 2018

Ok my ph is around 7.9 and the alkalinity is 300ppm from the Hanna HI755. I was gone for 9 hours to work today and you can see the di resin has been consumed twice as much as it was this morning and looks like it only made less than 1/3 of the barrel so about ~18 gallons of water. Please let me know if it is CO2 i am dealing with or just bad membranes as I want to get some water ASAP as i want to start the cycle on my tank. Still have OTDS coming out but the in is now reading 15 as i look at it but it was reading 30 when i got home.

JordanM · Apr 23, 2018

Forgot the Pics.

Halal Hotdog · Apr 23, 2018

Agree with everyone here, you definitely need more efficiency at the RO stage before it makes it to DI. This may mean adding a silicate chamber, or more carbon blocks. I would imagine you will need multiple stages/chambers before water reaches DI to make it efficient.

JordanM · Apr 23, 2018

Not city water, it is well water so carbon blocks are useless.
Also just checked and this booster pump is tied into the afr605, which i am asuming is an automatic way to control the flow which states that it is rated for 500ml/min.
https://www.amazon.com/Aquatec-AFR605-Flush-Timer-Valve/dp/B00FR7GR30
Im guessing this may be part of the issue as well since this is for a 50gpd membrane.
Booster pump is cdp8800.
https://www.amazon.com/Aquatec-Pressure-boost-8852-2J03-B423-100GPD/dp/B00A7ZV2GO

mfinn · Apr 23, 2018

JordanM said:
Ok my ph is around 7.9 and the alkalinity is 300ppm from the Hanna HI755. I was gone for 9 hours to work today and you can see the di resin has been consumed twice as much as it was this morning and looks like it only made less than 1/3 of the barrel so about ~18 gallons of water. Please let me know if it is CO2 i am dealing with or just bad membranes as I want to get some water ASAP as i want to start the cycle on my tank. Still have OTDS coming out but the in is now reading 15 as i look at it but it was reading 30 when i got home.

If you are getting 25 to 30 TDS after the ro membrane, and you know it is 5 years old, then IMO the first thing you need to do is get new membranes.
Depending on how old the prefilters are, I'd replace those too.

JordanM · Apr 23, 2018

Ya im going to order the 99% 90gpd membrane. Silicabuster and Maxcap combo with a new restrictor and install a new 5um and 1um sediment filter and new flow restrictor. Does Marine Depot price match because it is cheaper on spectrapures website but marinedepot has faster shipping?

mfinn · Apr 23, 2018

JordanM said:
Ya im going to order the 99% 90gpd membrane. Silicabuster and Maxcap combo with a new restrictor and install a new 5um and 1um sediment filter and new flow restrictor. Does Marine Depot price match because it is cheaper on spectrapures website but marinedepot has faster shipping?

You would have to call them.
I would call spectrapure and ask if they have expedited shipping.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 23, 2018

JordanM said:
I can do this tonight. Also ive read that people measure the ph then bubble it for awhile and measure the ph to see how much it changed to determine how much CO2 is in the water. Is this what I should do as well? How long to bubble it for?

If you take the measurements in the calculator, it will tell you the amount of the DI that is depleted by CO2, and that gives you an estimate of how much you might accomplish by aeration. Measuring pH after aeration is a less direct way.