Tell Me About Reverse Osmosis

[Tuffers]

I don't know that much about it. I use a DI vessel atm, but might look at buying a system in the future.

Tell me what there is to know, price, types, pros/cons (over DI) etc.

 

[harunh]

u need a lot of space to use ro thats all i know /emoticons/smile.png plus u get a load of waste water aswell mate

 

[Tuffers]

Got a garage and the storm drain is at the bottom of my drive. Two things in my favour H.

 

[gto]

u need a lot of space to use ro thats all i know

no you don't.

i used to have my RO in a storage box, and carry it out to my van very time i filled up.

i fill directly to my van now, so have long hoses going from tap to RO in garage then from RO to Van.

if you get a cheap RO or small GPD then you may need to run it over night or into a starage tank.

 

[Smurf]

First of all tuffers what is your tap water tds reading?

 

[spruce]

First of all tuffers what is your tap water tds reading?

Well done Smurf.

When someone asks the question regarding whether he should go r/o or not from DI, he needs to know facts that can help him make a proper decision and Smurf has asked the first most important question.

 

[Smurf]

Stop it spruce you're making me blush :wub: /emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[Tuffers]

First of all tuffers what is your tap water tds reading?

69 IIRC

 

[Smurf]

69 IIRC? Thanks but that's not a tds meter ppm reading tuffers,...You need to get yourself a TDS meter which would be a good start.

 

[mark m]

69 IIRC

/emoticons/biggrin.png Not a water meter reading /emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[Smurf]

HM Digital TDS-3 Handheld Meter With Carrying Case £12.60 (£15.12 including vat and delivery) from http://www.daqua.co.uk/testmeters.htm

 

[Smurf]

Yeah we know mark,...it's a learing curve for us all you know

 

[Tuffers]

69 IIRC? Thanks but that's not a tds meter ppm reading tuffers,...You need to get yourself a TDS meter which would be a good start.

69 on the TDS If I Remember Correctly (IIRC) keep up old 'un /emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[spruce]

69 on the TDS If I Remember Correctly (IIRC) keep up old 'un /emoticons/biggrin.png

Thats funny - sorry I can't work out how to get the smiley's up.

As Smurf is off line - are you on a water meter? Do you have space in a garage where you could process water into and decant/pump into your van as you need it?

How much water do you use at the moment per day and how do you use your water ie upstairs windows only / trad downstairs, wfp all windows etc.

 

[Tuffers]

Thats funny - sorry I can't work out how to get the smiley's up.

As Smurf is off line - are you on a water meter? Do you have space in a garage where you could process water into and decant/pump into your van as you need it?

How much water do you use at the moment per day and how do you use your water ie upstairs windows only / trad downstairs, wfp all windows etc.

On a meter, got space in the garage if I shufty my bike about, would need a water supply into garage (could get that done easy enough), using a trolley ATM (At The Moment Smurph /emoticons/tongue.png ), try to do most of my work wfp but still have a bit of trad, use about 150/200 litres a day. Looking to get a van next Spring fingers crossed.

One reason I'm looking into it is, it's taking a good hour and a half to purify my water at night (25L cans). Got it down to a fine art thoug h as I set the alarm on my phone to go off just as they get full. Is RO quicker?

 

[doug atkinson]

Something not right. It takes me around 15 mins to fill 350l using tap through DI Vessel.

 

[spruce]

On a meter, got space in the garage if I shufty my bike about, would need a water supply into garage (could get that done easy enough), using a trolley ATM (At The Moment Smurph /emoticons/tongue.png ), try to do most of my work wfp but still have a bit of trad, use about 150/200 litres a day. Looking to get a van next Spring fingers crossed.

One reason I'm looking into it is, it's taking a good hour and a half to purify my water at night (25L cans). Got it down to a fine art thoug h as I set the alarm on my phone to go off just as they get full. Is RO quicker?

Ok.

I expect by now you have a pretty good idea how much your resin is costing you to process that water you are using.

If you went r/o you will reduce your resin costs, but you will increase your water bill. From what the guys in the know say, your tds cut off point is about 80 although convenience is another topic that may take that tds cutoff point higher. (Our water is 115ppm and even on a meter it is cheaper to put it through r/o than to use resin alone.)

The 4040 r/o that we have produces about 2 litres of pure a minute with about 2 litres going to waste. So each minute we are using 4 lites of water.

For the past 7 years we have used a RoMan type r/o. It was a 450GPD but that is over 24 hours, American gallons (smaller than ours), and at the ideal water pressure and optimal water temperature. In our conditions is was probably between 200 & 250 gallons imperial per 24 hours, in the summer.

We produced this into a secondhand cleaned out IBC tank with holds 1000 litres. RoMan type r/o have a 3 to 1 ratio restrictor which means that for every 1 litre of pure you would have to buy 4 litres of water, so water bills need to be considered. (Some have claimed a rebate for the actual r/o processing with regard to sewerage, but I can't see how that works as we put the waste water down the drain.) Some put the r/o supply on a meter so they know just exactly how much water they use each month and how much they can claim as a business expense.

Initially, this r/o of ours came attached to a trailer system. The idea was that you plugged in the r/o in the evening and the trailer was full in the morning. The original membranes were 75GPD units x 3. Unfortunately, sometimes the trailer was full in the morning and at other times it was only 3/4 full.

If you are going to have an r/o fitted into the van so you can process water overnight for the next day, then you need to have it connected up via a 12v solenoid valve and float level switch so the r/o is automatically switched off when the tank is full.

We now process water into an IBC tank in the garage which has its own float valve to switch the r/o off when the tank gets full. We have a pump which we use to fill the vans when required, but we need this as there are 3 of us filling up.

We each use about 400 litres of water per day, wfp everything.

R/o's aren't cheap to run (especially if you are on a meter), as they also need maintenance. Every 3 months I replaced the sediment filter and carbon block/GAC filter - membranes are about £40.00 each and we had 3 of them, but the last ones lasted for 6 years. They must be kept from freezing as frost will 'kill' them.

Personally I think when you do the maths and include costs of the r/o, maintenance, water bills etc. you will probably find that it is more cost effective to continue to process water through your di. What I might consider is to buy a 1000 IBC tank (they used to be about £50.00 used in good clean condition) and process your water slowly into this. A submersible pump with a length of 1" - 11/4" hose will fill your containers very quickly. There are also 600 litre IBC tanks ou there but they are rarer and generally more expensive.

 

[spruce]

Something not right. It takes me around 15 mins to fill 350l using tap through DI Vessel.

Hi Doug,

maybe he has the water flow very low as this allows the water to be in the di vessel longer and is more a more efficient use of resin? However at that rate of 350 litres in 15 minutes, I wouldn't bother with a ibc tank.

 

[iluvwindows]

I dont th

Ok.

I expect by now you have a pretty good idea how much your resin is costing you to process that water you are using.

If you went r/o you will reduce your resin costs, but you will increase your water bill. From what the guys in the know say, your tds cut off point is about 80 although convenience is another topic that may take that tds cutoff point higher. (Our water is 115ppm and even on a meter it is cheaper to put it through r/o than to use resin alone.)

The 4040 r/o that we have produces about 2 litres of pure a minute with about 2 litres going to waste. So each minute we are using 4 lites of water.

For the past 7 years we have used a RoMan type r/o. It was a 450GPD but that is over 24 hours, American gallons (smaller than ours), and at the ideal water pressure and optimal water temperature. In our conditions is was probably between 200 & 250 gallons imperial per 24 hours, in the summer.

We produced this into a secondhand cleaned out IBC tank with holds 1000 litres. RoMan type r/o have a 3 to 1 ratio restrictor which means that for every 1 litre of pure you would have to buy 4 litres of water, so water bills need to be considered. (Some have claimed a rebate for the actual r/o processing with regard to sewerage, but I can't see how that works as we put the waste water down the drain.) Some put the r/o supply on a meter so they know just exactly how much water they use each month and how much they can claim as a business expense.

Initially, this r/o of ours came attached to a trailer system. The idea was that you plugged in the r/o in the evening and the trailer was full in the morning. The original membranes were 75GPD units x 3. Unfortunately, sometimes the trailer was full in the morning and at other times it was only 3/4 full.

If you are going to have an r/o fitted into the van so you can process water overnight for the next day, then you need to have it connected up via a 12v solenoid valve and float level switch so the r/o is automatically switched off when the tank is full.

We now process water into an IBC tank in the garage which has its own float valve to switch the r/o off when the tank gets full. We have a pump which we use to fill the vans when required, but we need this as there are 3 of us filling up.

We each use about 400 litres of water per day, wfp everything.

R/o's aren't cheap to run (especially if you are on a meter), as they also need maintenance. Every 3 months I replaced the sediment filter and carbon block/GAC filter - membranes are about £40.00 each and we had 3 of them, but the last ones lasted for 6 years. They must be kept from freezing as frost will 'kill' them.

Personally I think when you do the maths and include costs of the r/o, maintenance, water bills etc. you will probably find that it is more cost effective to continue to process water through your di. What I might consider is to buy a 1000 IBC tank (they used to be about £50.00 used in good clean condition) and process your water slowly into this. A submersible pump with a length of 1" - 11/4" hose will fill your containers very quickly. There are also 600 litre IBC tanks ou there but they are rarer and generally more expensive.

i dont think it makes much differnce to your water bill imo

 

[Shine Window Cleaning]

Quote-'Personally I think when you do the maths and include costs of the r/o, maintenance, water bills etc. you will probably find that it is more cost effective to continue to process water through your di. What I might consider is to buy a 1000 IBC tank (they used to be about £50.00 used in good clean condition) and process your water slowly into this. A submersible pump with a length of 1" - 11/4" hose will fill your containers very quickly. There are also 600 litre IBC tanks ou there but they are rarer and generally more expensive'.

Hmmm.....that's got me thinking! My plan for 2013 was to be fully self-contained within my LWB Vivaro with RO/650 litre tank/DI etc. I am in a rented house that is water metred, with awkward tap access at front (van parked at rear) hence major hassle to come up with semi-permanent solution at base- not to mention no secure shed (hence why i was thinking self-contained in van). I assumed that RO would work out cheaper than straight thru DI (as my TDS reading is quite high), but maybe I should consider tank in van and just putting thru DI? Hmmmm....that's got me thinking...!

 

[spruce]

Quote-'Personally I think when you do the maths and include costs of the r/o, maintenance, water bills etc. you will probably find that it is more cost effective to continue to process water through your di. What I might consider is to buy a 1000 IBC tank (they used to be about £50.00 used in good clean condition) and process your water slowly into this. A submersible pump with a length of 1" - 11/4" hose will fill your containers very quickly. There are also 600 litre IBC tanks ou there but they are rarer and generally more expensive'.

Hmmm.....that's got me thinking! My plan for 2013 was to be fully self-contained within my LWB Vivaro with RO/650 litre tank/DI etc. I am in a rented house that is water metred, with awkward tap access at front (van parked at rear) hence major hassle to come up with semi-permanent solution at base- not to mention no secure shed (hence why i was thinking self-contained in van). I assumed that RO would work out cheaper than straight thru DI (as my TDS reading is quite high), but maybe I should consider tank in van and just putting thru DI? Hmmmm....that's got me thinking...!��

If your tds is high, then resin purification is going to be expensive. But then it may be cheaper than renting a secure lockup, buying all the equipment and also water.

Gardiner Pole Systems used to have a resin calculator on their website, but it doesn't appear to be there any longer