Ro Systems

[keir]

Starting to do my homework on RO, can anyone tell me whats the difference between window cleaning systems and fish tank systems? Are they charging us more for the same equipment? I have seen 380 litres per day fish systems for something like £150 ish where as for wfp double or treble it.

I'm starting look because my water quality out of the tap has reduced from 034 to 092 so starting to use more resin, i am using twin 8 litre di vessels but its still getting through my resin alot quicker than it used to

I will probably store the RO water in a tank and pump across to my daily tank.

Cheers peeps

 

[DanielT]

380 litres per day isn't really man enough for the job. Window cleaning ones are 300 gallons per day.

 

[keir]

Yeah know what you mean, but i only have a 350 tank. So what my thinking is get a 500 or 1000 tank and fill it continually with a float valve attached. As long as they do exactly the same job that would do me.

Also a mate of mine sells aquatic gear for a living and reckons he could get me a real deal

 

[Eclipse]

One designed for window cleaning is 4X more water per day though, I couldn't cope with 300l/day.

 

[keir]

But it would do the same job?

300 litres X 7 days = 2100 litres

I use 330-350 litres a day......so 350 X 5 = 1750 litres

So if i started the RO up a week before i started using the water i would always be ahead of myself

 

[gto]

no it wouldn't.

a 400GPD RO, (gallons per day) with booster pump. will produce around 60 litres per hour.

so around 5 hours for your van tank.

the cheap one if your lucky will produce 338 litres in 24 hours, around 14 litres an hour.

cheap RO's also have high waste output.

 

[bluemonkey]

what, you mean we are getting ripped of by wfp suppliers, shock horror

 

[Smurf]

Good luck with that as I think you will soon realise how painfully slow a 50 or 100 gpd ro is and have wasted your money no matter how cheap you can get one.

Even using a small 300 gpd ro without a booster pump takes approx 2 days to fill 1000 ltr ibc holding tank.

The industry standard size ro's used for window cleaning for static or van mounts are 4040 ro/di setups and now some are using 4021's

Daqua also sell smaller ro's now too http://www.daqua.co.uk/ro_systems.htm

 

[Eclipse]

I've got a 300gpd (bear in mind they're all US gal so only 3.78l/gal), this takes 36 hours to fill my IBC from empty.

 

[Don Kee]

Try collins water products. I gotva 450gpd r.o from there for under £200 and is great little thing

 

[Smurf]

Under £20 or should that read under £200?

 

[Don Kee]

Under £20 or should that read under £200?

Sorry, £200!!

 

[spruce]

If you use a ballc ock you need to modify it so you switch off the mains supply to the r/o when the ibc tank is full. Then you have to think of a way that will switch your booster pump off at the same time.

We used a float switch available from Machine Mart (the same as is used on a submersible pump except wired to work the other way round) and a normally off 230v solenoid valve. The system has worked sucessfully for the past 6 years.

We fitted a length of conduit of around 300mm to the top of the inside of the tank and used it to secure the cable of the float switch so it would pivot. The float switch always tries to float on the surface of the water, but held in position by the cable. When the ibc is full the float valve needs to be vertical in the water to switch it off. As you drain the ibc to fill your van the float valve will drop with the water level until its below horizontal and the float switch will operate on, activating the solenoid valve and allowing water through the r/o.

We have never bothered with a booster pump. Our water pressure is between 40 and 50 psi and we found that sufficient for the 450GPD r/o we used to supply the needs of 2 window cleaners using about 400 litres per day with one filling in the morning and the other in the evening. It now works the same with our 4040 that we upgraded to last year as there is 3 of us now.

We set ours so the tank is about 2/3rds full before the r/o kicks in.

 

[Tattooed window cleaner]

I bin traditional for 11 years n changed to WFP last week,I used an ro in me van n a di,wow It p me off waiting to fill,I've found that an ro is for static tank,shed,garage m stuff,I just can't get over how much they waste!!!!!crazy,I've got an 8lttr do now only n drop another 8ltre di on wen that reads bout 010 ppm,each to there own in WFP world n whatever suits you,I too impatient n just clean an extra house to cover me filling me tank,350l in half hour

Gary

 

[Tattooed window cleaner]

I bin traditional for 11 years n changed to WFP last week,I used an ro in me van n a di,wow It p me off waiting to fill,I've found that an ro is for static tank,shed,garage m stuff,I just can't get over how much they waste!!!!!crazy,I've got an 8lttr do now only n drop another 8ltre di on wen that reads bout 010 ppm,each to there own in WFP world n whatever suits you,I too impatient n just clean an extra house to cover me filling me tank,350l in half hour

Gary

 

[Don Kee]

I bin traditional for 11 years n changed to WFP last week,I used an ro in me van n a di,wow It p me off waiting to fill,I've found that an ro is for static tank,shed,garage m stuff,I just can't get over how much they waste!!!!!crazy,I've got an 8lttr do now only n drop another 8ltre di on wen that reads bout 010 ppm,each to there own in WFP world n whatever suits you,I too impatient n just clean an extra house to cover me filling me tank,350l in half hour

Gary

Which r.o do you have?

 

[Tattooed window cleaner]

300 gpd off eBay,sending if back

 

[Don Kee]

From personal experiance 300gdp isnt enough. I'd personally say minimum 450gdp (pretty easy to add another membrane if you wanted to)

Failing that, 4040 or 4021 r.o, they cost a bit more initially but you can get them filling 200L an hour

 

[Tattooed window cleaner]

Sounds like a plan there,as I new to WFP I'll look at building shed n 1000 litre tank next in garden as business is growing again, I'll need more than the 350l I carry now,I just can't get over how much waste these produce,I was literally gobsmacked,I've had a week out my resin threw jus my tap n still reading 000,so I a happy bunny,thanks for advice on larger to units

 

[keir]

Well haggled with my man who sorted me out with my wfp system, and sorted a deal out, hopefully picking it up this week.

Got the two pre filter housings and filters, all the fittings and a stainless 20/20 housing and membrane for £320. It'll easily do what i require of it, i'll have a job figuring out how I'm gonna arrange everything and where to put it all, especially now we're going into the freezing weather.

My only real problem i'm gonna have immediately is water storage, i cant afford an ibc tank yet even though i can get a 1000 ltr one for £60 but skinted myself getting the RO and chrimbo on the way!!!!

I had a massive issue with water quality last week which forced my hand, over summer the tap water went from 034 to 096 which meant my resin was disappearing quickly, but last week after going through No1 di into my tank it was 036 but it was coming out at the pole at 048!!!!!????? And No 2's resin was only a couple of weeks old. Anyhoo when i opened up No 2 di it had all separated internally and the resin must have been contaminated cause some of the resin near the top was so dark it was unbelievable.

Now planning trailer upgrades to make life alot easier and organised/professional looking, but mainly to get ALL gear out of my car including getting ladders off roof bars, if it turns out as good as i'm hoping i'll post some pics of progress and end results.

 

[Smurf]

Only thing I would say about using a trailer it can be difficult to manover and park sometimes but is a lot cheaper option instead of running a van aswell as a car.

Keep us posted how you get on :Image9: