FAO RO Users

[Tuffers]

Quick question, do you make your pure on demand or fill your tank with pure after the pure has been made in your garage etc. I might need to go RO in the future and haven't got the foggiest about them. I had a look at this, but is it what I would need? 650 Litre Water Fed Pole Van System - Hard Water - Single Output Pump Would this work on demand?

 

[spruce]

If you want to process water at home into an IBC tank then this is what you might consider. This is to illustrate what you want.

Static RO Professional system 40" + 7Litre DI + TDS - Window Cleaning System

It has 2 only prefilters, 1 only 4040 r/o and one di vessel and an inline tds meter.

However, you will probably already have a di vessel so look at this.

Reverse Osmosis (RO) Systems and Water Filters with Axeon Membranes

Doug will also supply an inline tds meter if you want. I would ask for 20" prefilters as they last longer.

Purefreedom also have a stand alone unit.

2400 GPD High Volume Reverse Osmosis System 40" HF4 With Large Booster Pump - Reverse Osmosis - Water Purification

Theirs includes a booster pump and there is the option of a cut out switch and controller that stops the water and switches off the booster pump once the IBC tank is full. You will also need a submersible pump to pump water from your IBC tank into your van's tank.

Best to understand what water pressure you have as an HF5 membrane could well be sufficient without booster pump. An on/off float switch and solenoid are cheaper additions than the controller. But you wouldn't process water as fast without a booster pump. My 4040 produces 2 liters of pure per minute which is fast enough for me.

The Purefreedom link you provided is a complete on-board R/O system and tank, everything you need to process water directly into your vans tank. So when that's fully plumbed in all you need is a tap water supply and a waste hose to the closest drain to where the van is parked. The rest will happen automatically.

650 Litre Water Fed Pole Van System - Hard Water - Single Output Pump

 

[Tuffers]

Thanks Spruce, this is going to take some getting my head round. So, if I bought the system in my link I would be able to fill the tank with tap water but also I'd have to have a hose running out the van getting rid of the waste as I was working?

 

[spruce]

Thanks Spruce, this is going to take some getting my head round. So, if I bought the system in my link I would be able to fill the tank with tap water but also I'd have to have a hose running out the van getting rid of the waste as I was working?

Not exactly. It's a complete onboard system. You process water directly into your van's tank. These system usually come with a van port with 4 connectors if its a 2 man system. So if you fitted one of these you wouldn't need an IBC tank in your garage.

Water in (from garden hose), waste out (to drain), pump 1 and pump 2 (a hose reel for each operator. (A single operator system will only have one pump.) Here is an example of one;

Window Cleaning Van Ports x 4 -Complete van ports work externally from your van!

The water goes into the van from the garden tap, through the first prefilter (sediment) then through the second prefilter (carbon block). The second prefilter removes chlorine from the water because chlorine and r/o membranes aren't good bedfellows. The water leaves the 2nd prefilter and goes into the r/o which removes the minerals. The pure that results goes through a di vessel to polish off any remaining ppm and then into the van's tank. The waste from the r/o goes to the drain.

Simply an r/o has a membrane inside it which filters the water. It needs to work under pressure. So the water going into the r/o from the carbon filter will flow into the membrane.

The waste water outlet is at the other end of this membrane.

Left to its own devises the water entering the r/o would just leave via the waste outlet. So an adjustable valve is fitted to the waste outlet that restricts the flow. The subsequent pressure buildup forces water through the membrane creating pure water. Google how a membrane works for detailed info.

How Does Reverse Osmosis Work?

There will still be a certain amount of waste required as the filtered minerals need to be flushed away so they don't clog up the membrane. No membrane is 100% efficient so there will be some minerials or ions that get through the membrane 'pores'. The di vessel catches these and polishes it off to zero.

If you had a big job you might be able to obtain water from the site. In that case you could filter water as above, but also clean windows as well. Again, you would need a water supply and a drain.

 

[spruce]

If its was me on my own I would probably still process water at home and take out what I needed. If you did this then you would be able to use your current van setup.

When I first started I tried to process water directly into my trailer tank. It wasn't always successful. One night I forgot to switch on the tap. Another night a neighbour discovered a second tap outside his property and took it on himself to switch it off. (His bungalow was originally 2 tiny plots when the estate was planned and laid out. But his then became a single plot but the services for 2 houses were already laid. He thought it was another water supply to his property.)

Anyway, this tap switched off the remaining 2 houses on the water main, one of them was ours. Hence another no water day.

With 3 of us drawing water at one time, we had to have a separate water storage at home.

 

[Tuffers]

Thanks for your help @spruce :thumbsup:

 

[David K]

Quick question, do you make your pure on demand or fill your tank with pure after the pure has been made in your garage etc. I might need to go RO in the future and haven't got the foggiest about them. I had a look at this, but is it what I would need? 650 Litre Water Fed Pole Van System - Hard Water - Single Output Pump Would this work on demand?

Got 2 1000l tanks . One to produce RO and another to harvest rainwater . :hehehe:

 

[keir]

Tuffers I have an Ibc you can have mate. Needs a wash but it's yours if you want it

I too run tap water through two pre filters, then RO into Ibc.

Then pump it into my tank, it takes about 5 mins to fill 350 ltrs

 

[steve garwood]

The other big advantage with an Ibc tank is you have plenty of water stored if something goes wrong with anything. If you use 300l a day and have a 1000l ibc tank, you have at least 3 days to order parts or fix a problem without running out of water

 

[keir]

Very good point steve

 

[Tuffers]

Tuffers I have an Ibc you can have mate. Needs a wash but it's yours if you want it
I too run tap water through two pre filters, then RO into Ibc.

Then pump it into my tank, it takes about 5 mins to fill 350 ltrs

Cheers Keir :thumbsup:. I'm not at the stage to go RO yet, but it might have to be in the summer. I'm a bit far from you to pick the IBC up but thanks for the offer mate :sad:

 

[spruce]

I had considered rainwater harvesting myself, but even on the North Coast of England we go through long periods of dry weather. I just thought that rain fall was too inconsistent to rely on it providing us with enough water for our daily requirements.

 

[David K]

I had considered rainwater harvesting myself, but even on the North Coast of England we go through long periods of dry weather. I just thought that rain fall was too inconsistent to rely on it providing us with enough water for our daily requirements.

Youre Right spruce ! , i just use what ever rain i get , and i consider it just a free supplement, the rest is RO,ed ! /emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[jtc]

The other big advantage with an Ibc tank is you have plenty of water stored if something goes wrong with anything. If you use 300l a day and have a 1000l ibc tank, you have at least 3 days to order parts or fix a problem without running out of water

thats what i do.1000lt ibc.brought off ebay.submerged pump from screwfix about £40.00.connect hose and pump into van.my tank is only 250lt so there is always spare in ibc.if i think i may be borderline with the 250 i just fill a few cannisters and put them in van.suits me for what i do .im just a one man band.sometimes work with a mate who is still a100% trad cleaner so dont have to provide more water for him.my mate loves working with me .easiest of days for him.just doing downstairs.