Permeate Pump Puzzle

[Marko067]

Does anyone on here use a permeate pump with their RO?

Permeate Pumps

I've had one for almost two years and it works quite well at increasing the output from my RO. It only works with the smaller RO models ie; 100-400gpd models as they are not designed to work with the bigger ones.

What I don't understand about it is this; if it works by using the pressure of the waste water from the RO, why when I raise the waste pipe coming out of the Permeate pump above the height of the pump body it stops working even though waste water is still coming out of it?

It's no big deal as long as I know that it works when I lower it, and that's how I have it set up anyway. It just mildly irritating not knowing why. There is nothing about it in the instructions. They indicate that as long as it's plumbed in correctly it should work irrespective of where it's located.

It's quite a good piece of kit because in simple terms it creates a negative pressure environment on the output side of the RO making its easier for the water to be pushed through from the other side. I don't know why but it has dramatically improved the effectiveness of the RO so that the water coming out of it is only .003 tds instead of .015 tds. It comes out of my tap at .400+ most of the time. This means my 10inch resin canister last ages.

Waffle over :zipit:/emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[spruce]

I've heard of them but can't see how they are supposed to work tbh. They just seem to boost the pure output, so in effect suck pure through the membrane.

 

[Marko067]

I don't fully understand how they work but I can't argue with the results. I think the claims are a exaggerated, especially in relation to the improvement to pure over waste ratio. It does improve it but nothing like the 80% they claim. But the improvement to the quality of water coming out of the RO is amazing. It's cut my resin costs dramatically. In fact I almost decided to use the water straight from the RO.

 

[spruce]

I don't fully understand how they work but I can't argue with the results. I think the claims are a exaggerated, especially in relation to the improvement to pure over waste ratio. It does improve it but nothing like the 80% they claim. But the improvement to the quality of water coming out of the RO is amazing. It's cut my resin costs dramatically. In fact I almost decided to use the water straight from the RO.

There is a video on YouTube with someone saying that the claims are over exaggerated.

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watch from 1.00

There is no pressure in the waste line on the drain side of the restrictor so how can there be energy to drive a 'hydraulic' pump?

 

[Marko067]

Yeah I was hoping to use it without a booster pump. It did work but didn't perform as I had hoped on it's own as my mains pressure is only about 40psi. I ended up adding a booster pump anyway and together they work well. There is a noticeable drop off in production if I remove the Permeate pump so it obviously works quite well with good water pressure. The big plus as I mentioned earlier is the dramatic improvement in water quality out of the RO with the PPump fitted.