Diy filtration

[francie]

Good morning lads, ive deceided for a couple of reasons to go double di filtration, instead of ro .

My tap tds is between 120, to 150.

I will only be using 600 litres or less a week.

I have bought two ten inch prefilters, carbon an sediment, forty quid for both with spare cartridge.

Two 11litre di vessels, im going to hook it all together an see how i get on.

Whats your opinions on this method?

Tips or hints?

This forum is great help me workout what wf system was all about.

Heading to do a bit now, but look forward to the replys when i get back. Thanks.

 

[Dave B]

I've never used di only but you just connect direct to the tap

No need for the pre filters

Not sure what difference it would make 

 

[francie]

Thanks davey, quick question mate, if i bought three 10inch housings, an then the carbon, sediment an ro filter seperate, could i join them together to make a cheaper ro unit, sorry for my greeness just curious mate?

 

[francie]

If i bought the above an took out one af the filters an put in a ro filter, would this work, any help appreciated, thanks.

 

[spruce]

If i bought the above an took out one af the filters an put in a ro filter, would this work, any help appreciated, thanks.

No. These are prefilters. Window cleaners don't need 3; maximum would be 2. The first filter is a sediment filter to remove sediment in the water. The second is a carbon filter than removes chlorine from the water. Chlorine and r/o membranes aren't good bedfellows. (If your water is sediment free then we only need a carbon block to remove chlorine. Fiberdyne prefilters are a 'combination' filter, so they do a double job of sediment and chlorine removal. Unfortunately our water is laden with sediment so there are times when I have to replace the sediment filter monthly where I replace the carbon filter every 3 months.) 

The housing the r/o membrane fits into is total different to the prefilter housings. Look at some r/o examples.

http://www.daqua.co.uk/ro_systems.htm

If you want to go di only then you need resin, and at your tap water tds 2 di vessels to run in tandem.

I would suggest the 11 liter as they are more manageable.

http://www.daqua.co.uk/divessels.htm

 

[francie]

Thanks mate for the quick reply, bear with me, so see the housing for the ro membrane, can i not buy that seperate, on its own?

There very pricey mate.

Thanks for the help.

http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemDescV4&item=162095464423&category=77658&pm=1&ds=0&t=1494668447733

Would i be able to attach this too my prefilters.

 

[francie]

http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemDescV4&item=162095464423&category=77658&pm=1&ds=0&t=1494668447733

Would i be able to attach this too my prefilters.

Could someone please explain to me, why a ro membrane will not fit in a pre filter housing, im lost, thanks.

 

[francie]

Well lads iv found a few companys in the uk who sell ro membrane housings seperatley, so im trying to work out now if i can connect it to my two prefilters, what you think, it works out alot cheaper than the whole ro system.

 

[Starboy]

seen this on the bay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Merlin-RO-Including-2-RO-Membranes-and-2-New-Carbon-Filters-/222495641371?hash=item33cdc60f1b:g:YKgAAOSwrhBZB6pI 

 

[spruce]

If you are going di only then all you need is 2 di vessels.

If you are going the reverse osmosis route then you may as well buy a complete r/o system. This will have everything you need. You will have the right fittings as well.

But these r/os process water slowly so you will need to consider a water butt or IBC tank to store water and then fill your containers/van tank as you require it. You will probably need a transfer pump such as a submersible.

http://www.daqua.co.uk/ro_systems.htm

Go for either the 300 or 450GPD units (right at the bottom of the page.) This sizes will produce enough for you daily requirements as a single operator when you get more work in and need more water.

 

[spruce]

seen this on the bay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Merlin-RO-Including-2-RO-Membranes-and-2-New-Carbon-Filters-/222495641371?hash=item33cdc60f1b:g:YKgAAOSwrhBZB6pI 

I'm not a fan of Merlin r/o's. They were fine for what they were designed for but not efficient enough for window cleaning. I know a local lad who runs one and out the box it only removed 90% of the dissolved solids in the water. He uses more resin removing the remaining 10% of dissolved solids. If he had a better r/o then that would remove 97 to 99% of these dissolved solids. His resin costs would be a lot lower.

Another window cleaner I know 25 miles from us sold his on Ebay as it was costing him too much on resin. The other issue with the earlier models is that they waste a huge amount of water and on a meter that's big bucks. So he had water expense and resin costs to contend with.

£199.00 is too expensive as well imho. When buying a used r/o you need to consider the cost replacement membranes, no matter what the seller says as to their condition. Cambridge is a hard water area and so those membranes will have worked hard.

There are 2 membranes in a Merlin. They cost £67.00 each + VAT from Gardiners. So now you have paid £200 for the r/o and then had to fork out another £161.00 on membranes = £361.00.

If you are bent on one of these then the PRF Gardiners sell is exactly the same unit at £336.00 + VAT. and its brand new.

 

[francie]

Well lads iv found a few companys in the uk who sell ro membrane housings seperatley, so im trying to work out now if i can connect it to my two prefilters, what you think, it works out alot cheaper than the whole ro system.

Thanks for the help lads

 

[Dave B]

Buy a collinswaterproducts 450gpd from ebay for £170

Comes with 3 prefilters and 3x150gpd membranes

Works perfectly if not a bit slow but all the small ro's are slow

I have mine filling 2x220l water butts joined together so always have enough to work as i only carry 400 in the van

I could do with an ibc soon though

 

[Iron Giant]

Way to much messing around I would also highly recommend a RO from http://daqua.co.uk 

 

[TWC]

Agree with @Dave B

ive got a 450gpd from collins water products and does me fine. Water is at 350tds in and about 10-15 coming out then through a di to bring to 0. I get 50% pure and 50% waste so good as I'm metered. 

Theres a guy in brackley on eBay sells recon di vessels for £30 or so. 

With the ro that's £200 and a bag of resin (£70) will last you for ages. 

 

[spruce]

Way to much messing around I would also highly recommend a RO from http://daqua.co.uk 

I agree. They use quality membranes in their r/o's.

Collins Water sell r/o's for all sorts of applications. Until recently Window Cleaners or window cleaning wasn't even mentioned on their site. (I have no issue with Collin's Water or anyone associated with that business.)

They are cheaper but you get what you pay for. One of the ways they can reduce the cost of the r/o is to put in cheaper Asian manufactured and supplied membranes. If these are just 1% less efficient when producing pure water than their American counterparts you will end up spending much more on your water purification over time.

So a saving of the initial cost price of the r/o will soon be nullified by higher resin costs. Those who buy on price generally loose out in the long run. As the saying goes; the bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the joy of a low price.

Another major r/o supplier (not Daqua) warned me about using cheap Chinese membranes many years ago.

 

[Clisty1989]

Buy a collinswaterproducts 450gpd from ebay for £170

Comes with 3 prefilters and 3x150gpd membranes

Works perfectly if not a bit slow but all the small ro's are slow

I have mine filling 2x220l water butts joined together so always have enough to work as i only carry 400 in the van

I could do with an ibc soon though

i have been looking at these, how efficient are they? And how much are the membranes? My tds from taps only 74 so guessing it'll last ages, just thinking it'll save a few quid over buying a bag of resin every 4 months

 

[CHWS]

i have been looking at these, how efficient are they? And how much are the membranes? My tds from taps only 74 so guessing it'll last ages, just thinking it'll save a few quid over buying a bag of resin every 4 months

My tds is similar to yours I bought one as resin wasn't lasting me at all. It now feels like I'm making water for free ?

 

[Den]

I have a Collins 450 had it just over a year and my tds is still the same 300ish going in 8 coming out I'm using between 350 to 400 litres a day.

i have changed the pre filters 3 times but never the membranes.

 

[Philip]

Highly recommended collins water products for an ro I got one a few months back and feel the same as @CHWS it feels like free water??.

Roughly I'm getting 8x 350 litres of pure out of a litre of resin so it works out per bag I can make 70000 litres of pure.

 

[francie]

Thanks lads for all the advice, much appreciated.