Waste water from ro systems

[Sun Valley Window Cleaning]

Hi, new member to this so apologies if this has been asked before. Just installed a new ro system in my garage and waste to pure is roughly about 3 to 1.im thinking about buying a tank to put the waste water in and am looking to use that to go back through the ro system. Is this a good idea? Im on a water meter so looking to save a bit of money on water bills. I will probably have to get a pump for tge tank. Is this easy to do? Advice needed. Thanks in advance 

 

[ched999uk]

Test the waste and I bet you wont want to put it through your RO again!!! The whole point of the waste is to carry the tds out of the RO! 

Depending on the RO and your tap/booster pressure you might be able to adjust your waste down a bit to 60% waste 40% pure to save on the resin. Make sure you flush regularly though.

 

[Part Timer]

Hi, new member to this so apologies if this has been asked before. Just installed a new ro system in my garage and waste to pure is roughly about 3 to 1.im thinking about buying a tank to put the waste water in and am looking to use that to go back through the ro system. Is this a good idea? Im on a water meter so looking to save a bit of money on water bills. I will probably have to get a pump for tge tank. Is this easy to do? Advice needed. Thanks in advance 

What type of R/O have you got as that is a very high level of waste. What is your tap TDS and how much water do you use a week.

 

[Sun Valley Window Cleaning]

What type of R/O have you got as that is a very high level of waste. What is your tap TDS and how much water do you use a week.

Bought it yesterday, tap tds is about 200 to 220. Its bringing it down to between 9 and 10. How do i adjust the waste ratio?? I have a 350 litre tank in my van so im filling it up after a daybat work 

 

[ched999uk]

The waste out has a restrictor in where the flush valve bypasses it. The restrictor is probably set to 3:1. You could swap it with another tap and then use the tap to adjust the % waste. Be aware that if you reduce the % of waste then the 'pure' out of the membrane will increase in tds so more resin will be needed! So you have to balance tds out vs waste water out.

Your membranes appear to be running at about 95% efficiency which isn't too good. Did you buy second hand? Even on small RO membranes I would guess you should be up nearer 98% - TDS of 'pure' output nearer 4TDS. 

 

[Sun Valley Window Cleaning]

The waste out has a restrictor in where the flush valve bypasses it. The restrictor is probably set to 3:1. You could swap it with another tap and then use the tap to adjust the % waste. Be aware that if you reduce the % of waste then the 'pure' out of the membrane will increase in tds so more resin will be needed! So you have to balance tds out vs waste water out.

Your membranes appear to be running at about 95% efficiency which isn't too good. Did you buy second hand? Even on small RO membranes I would guess you should be up nearer 98% - TDS of 'pure' output nearer 4TDS. 

No there all brand new bought it from varitech systems. I read through the instructions again and it stated the tds will improve after  2 to 3 uses. I only used it for the first time yesterday 

 

[ched999uk]

No there all brand new bought it from varitech systems. I read through the instructions again and it stated the tds will improve after  2 to 3 uses. I only used it for the first time yesterday 

It will probably need a few uses and flushes to get the best out of it. I assume you are running it at about 60 to 80 psi as that helps?

 

[Sun Valley Window Cleaning]

It will probably need a few uses and flushes to get the best out of it. I assume you are running it at about 60 to 80 psi as that helps?

Yeah the pressure here helps its really good. Got it at about 70 at the minute. How long do you recommend flushing it for each time? 

 

[ched999uk]

Yeah the pressure here helps its really good. Got it at about 70 at the minute. How long do you recommend flushing it for each time? 

Personally, 3 mins if used each day or 5 mins if less use.

Just so you know I have only been window cleaning for 5 months but did about 12 months research first. So I'm not an expert as such.

 

[Sun Valley Window Cleaning]

Personally, 3 mins if used each day or 5 mins if less use.

Just so you know I have only been window cleaning for 5 months but did about 12 months research first. So I'm not an expert as such.

I have always used di in my van and just used tap water in tank. But resin is getting more expensive and the water here in devon has a high tds level. So ventured into an ro system 

 

[ched999uk]

I have always used di in my van and just used tap water in tank. But resin is getting more expensive and the water here in devon has a high tds level. So ventured into an ro system 

You were using DI on 220TDS!!!! WOW I bet that wasn't cheap.

Some water companies give you a reduced charge based on the water you remove from home, some give you a reduced fee if you use a soakaway. Might be worth checking your water company. @Apw1210 might have an idea as I think he is relatively close by although I could be wrong.

 

[Sun Valley Window Cleaning]

You were using DI on 220TDS!!!! WOW I bet that wasn't cheap.

Some water companies give you a reduced charge based on the water you remove from home, some give you a reduced fee if you use a soakaway. Might be worth checking your water company. @Apw1210 might have an idea as I think he is relatively close by although I could be wrong.

Already done that and got South West water coming out and im looking to get an external meter put on my outside tap so i can get tge sewerage charge knocked off 

 

[AW Services]

You were using DI on 220TDS!!!! WOW I bet that wasn't cheap.

Some water companies give you a reduced charge based on the water you remove from home, some give you a reduced fee if you use a soakaway. Might be worth checking your water company. @Apw1210 might have an idea as I think he is relatively close by although I could be wrong.

Bloody hell, using a DI water a tds of 200+ really not cost effective and highlights the need to check your ppm and find the best system.

I'm in North Devon and my tap water is between 54-68 ppm and I run a DI only system in my garage with 2x 11ltr DI's which doesn’t break the bank.

 

[Sun Valley Window Cleaning]

Bloody hell, using a DI water a tds of 200+ really not cost effective and highlights the need to check your ppm and find the best system.

I'm in North Devon and my tap water is between 54-68 ppm and I run a DI only system in my garage with 2x 11ltr DI's which doesn’t break the bank.

Thats a really good ppm. Not sure why in east devon its so bloody high. 

 

[Iron Giant]

Hi, new member to this so apologies if this has been asked before. Just installed a new ro system in my garage and waste to pure is roughly about 3 to 1.im thinking about buying a tank to put the waste water in and am looking to use that to go back through the ro system. Is this a good idea? Im on a water meter so looking to save a bit of money on water bills. I will probably have to get a pump for tge tank. Is this easy to do? Advice needed. Thanks in advance 

The tds out the waste will be higher than your tap tds so the waste tds could 300+ppm so it's pointless 

Bought it yesterday, tap tds is about 200 to 220. Its bringing it down to between 9 and 10. How do i adjust the waste ratio?? I have a 350 litre tank in my van so im filling it up after a daybat work 

You would have been better off with a 40/40 R/O if filling direct into van tank, best thing you can do with your current set up is stick a static tank in your garage and let it fill overnight this what I do,

so for example for the next week ahead I will fill my static tank on Saturday then transfer with a sub pump into my van on Sunday then on Sunday night into Monday morning my static tank fills up and is ready for me to fill my van after work on Monday and so on through the week, filling overnight as we go into the winter also means no risk of R/O been damaged by low temps 

Doing the above as I do also takes away the need to watch your van tank filling and avoid the risk of flooding your van

 

[Sun Valley Window Cleaning]

The tds out the waste will be higher than your tap tds so the waste tds could 300+ppm so it's pointless 

You would have been better off with a 40/40 R/O if filling direct into van tank, best thing you can do with your current set up is stick a static tank in your garage and let it fill overnight this what I do,

so for example for the next week ahead I will fill my static tank on Saturday then transfer with a sub pump into my van on Sunday then on Sunday night into Monday morning my static tank fills up and is ready for me to fill my van after work on Monday and so on through the week, filling overnight as we go into the winter also means no risk of R/O been damaged by low temps 

Doing the above as I do also takes away the need to watch your van tank filling and avoid the risk of flooding your van

Was thinking about getting a static tank in the garage, is the pump easy to fit to it? And where is the best place to get a static tank? 

 

[Iron Giant]

Was thinking about getting a static tank in the garage, is the pump easy to fit to it? And where is the best place to get a static tank? 

You can get 2nd hand ibc's of Ebay for less than £100 and a sub pump from Screwfix either hose garden hose as a transfer hose or Flexible pond hose  this stuff from the seller linked is virtually indestructible all the other stuff is rigid and ?

 

[spruce]

Here is a different version of the flush valve supplied with your r/o @Sun Valley Window Cleaning

This style simply inserts into the drain line. It is shown in service position. Opening the valve (blue handle) turns on the flush function by allowing water to go around the flow restrictor (shown with the word "Flow" in the picture).

The flow restrictor is preset so you are unable to adjust the amount of water going to waste. (3 waste to 1 pure sounds right for this type of restrictor)

If I were you I would remove the restrictor and replace it with a gate valve.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144020542699?hash=item21884b14eb:gQYAAOSwAPpghm4L

You will also need some John Guest fittings.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200606683720?epid=1323838936&hash=item2eb5171248:g:u0QAAOSwcrhg3CnI

and possibly some more 1/4" piping.

Adjusting the gate valve will allow you to restrict the flow to waste so your r/o is working at its optimum efficiency with the least amount of waste water. Our tap water tds is around 120 to 130ppm atm and my r/o works best at about a 55% waste to 45% pure ratio.

 

[AW Services]

Was thinking about getting a static tank in the garage, is the pump easy to fit to it? And where is the best place to get a static tank? 

When you said East Devon I had a quick think and was wondering if you are actually using a high quality HM digital TDS-3 tds tester.

Last year I covered most of East Devon with a Tesco contract and refilled at their sites.

East Devon is a soft water area and if you are using an eBay El-cheapo tds tester the wrong or poorly calibration can give you high ppm counts

I covered 

Budleigh Salterton 

Exmouth 

Sidmouth & into Dorset with Lyme Regis all with low ppm counts 

 

[Martyn]

Ionic used to do a system where the waste was fed back through an RO, I don't think it was their most successful product.

 

[Sun Valley Window Cleaning]

When you said East Devon I had a quick think and was wondering if you are actually using a high quality HM digital TDS-3 tds tester.

Last year I covered most of East Devon with a Tesco contract and refilled at their sites.

East Devon is a soft water area and if you are using an eBay El-cheapo tds tester the wrong or poorly calibration can give you high ppm counts

I covered 

Budleigh Salterton 

Exmouth 

Sidmouth & into Dorset with Lyme Regis all with low ppm counts 

View attachment 26009

Tds meter im using is one that i got with my di version so probably not the best.