RO package system

[P4dstar]

Thanks spruce. I’ve been reading a few things and I’m going to get a thing to test water pressure. Do you run a booster pump with your ro 

Thats what I’m thinking. Just like the wasted money on TDS fluid ?. We learn the hard way ?

What on Earth is TDS fluid? Just googled it incase its a stupid question but I got nothing ??‍?

 

[Tuffers]

What on Earth is TDS fluid? Just googled it incase its a stupid question but I got nothing ??‍?

A fluid to put your TDS meter in to recalibrate it.

 

[spruce]

A fluid to put your TDS meter in to recalibrate it.

Its a fluid with a known tds so you can recalibrate your tds meter. Its also good to have good batteries in your tds meter. Weak batteries will mess with the results.

 

[Tuffers]

What on Earth is TDS fluid? Just googled it incase its a stupid question but I got nothing ??‍?

https://www.osmotics.co.uk/products/HM-Digital-TDS-and-EC-Calibration-Solution-342ppm.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAzePjBRCRARIsAGkrSm4Mbi4o_0G3jdecg7f1nS5HeIgvvXgqBT0CAcU_CB3rnIx7g-y64f8aAoHREALw_wcB

 

[P4dstar]

Sounds like the additives they flog you to put in the tank. By the time you've p!ssed around with this may as well have bought a new TDS meter I reckon.... Before you say it @spruce I do remember the make do and mend conversation haha.

 

[spruce]

Hi there. Does a system such as a 450 gpd work the same as 4040 in the way I mean waste to pure ratio? Just producing at a slower rate? Also potentially needing to replace sooner than a 4040? Just such a massive expense

Yes, all r/o's work the same way. They just look different and maybe configured differently. My 450gpd works the same as my 4040. Its just my 4040 produces water much quicker.

In the early days my 450gpd came with an inline waste restrictor (not a tap but a nozzle with a hole in it) that had a waste to pure ratio of 3 waste to 1 pure. This is what was recommended for a medium water hardness area. If your water was hard then you bought a 5 to 1 restrictor. Not many had water meters in those days so high water waste wasn't a concern.

4040 were fitted with waste throttling taps and so we much more water efficient. Nowadays the smaller r/o also have taps where you can tweek the waste water to pure water ratio. If I was still running my 450gpd I would have replaced that restrictor with a gate valve and reduced my water to waste.

If you have space to store an IBC tank in a garage or shed and you are a single operator, then a 450gpd will give you more than enough water for your daily requirements. You just have to be patient whilst the IBC tank fills as its painful slow. But if there are 2 operators drawing from the IBC tank then a 450 isn't enough. We managed for 4 years but I had to fill one van on Saturday and the other on Sunday to get us through the week. By Friday I was 'rationing' water. Having a day off in the week due to bad weather was a blessing as it allowed the r/o time to catch up.

During a spell of favourable weather that little r/o was virtually on 24/7.

A lesson I learnt the hard way was that if you don't have enough water you hinder your earning potential. 

My 4040 cost me £1000 six and a half years ago. My son said I was an idiot wasting all that money, but I now disagree. Excluding maintenance filters and resin that asset has cost me £13 per month. That's nothing and I don't have to worry about having enough water to go round.

Would I go back to a 450gpd? Not if I could help it as I've got very comfortable with an r/o that produces water quickly.

 

[spruce]

Sounds like the additives they flog you to put in the tank. By the time you've p!ssed around with this may as well have bought a new TDS meter I reckon.... Before you say it @spruce I do remember the make do and mend conversation haha.

Yep. I'm an old school South African. If I can fix it I will have a go. Replacement batteries for a tds meter are cheap, and every tds meter needs to be regularily checked for accuracy.