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Membranes

brianbadonde

Well-known member
Messages
423
Location
Andover
Hi all! I bought an RO system in december gone. The tds from it has gone from 8-13 when it was first being used to 36-63 now. This is surely too high? Im using resin a lot quicker now. I flush it regularly. Are the membranes shot already? Could i be doing something wrong? Any thought appreciated. This WFP business seems to be one expense after another! Seriously considering going traditional!

 
Not sure if its relevant but tap water tds is 280-300 so quite high. And i change prefilters every 3 months. My current pre filters have 2 months left.

 
Ouch!! Yeah somethings not right there, have you rung purefreedom to see what they say?

Your tap tds is scary high innit?

 
Think @doug atkinson mentioned in another thread that in some hard water areas membranes can get clogged very quickly without using a water softner.

Sound to me your membranes might be knackered:(

 
I am producing about 200 litres per day, 5 days per week.

How do I go about softening the water first?

Yes, its pretty high. From what Ive read its almost as high as it gets.

 
And no, I haven't phoned pure freedom. Their service isn't quite what Id hoped for when I bought my kit. Id rather speak to gardiners or x-line.

 
First of all I would change your membranes as that is the more cost effective route. How often have you changed your filters which should have been changed after every 10,000 litres.

If you live in a hard water area then you need a softener if you find it is cost effective against replacing your membranes every 6 months or so. Calcium will clog up your membrane pores and there are no pre filters that take this out. Chlorine and Chloramine will kill your membranes.

Most pre filters will not take out Chloramine which some water companies as now adding instead of Chlorine.

If you don't regularly change your pre filters then you have the risk of them being damaged if your water board adds any of the above.

Don't buy cheap filters off Ebay, they DO NOT WORK. Too many membrane failures because people feel they are a bargain.

 
Cheers doug. I have changed the pre filters every 3 months. I do live in a hard water area, its between 280-300 ppm. I know with the softeners you need salt; how much salt do you need amd how often does it need to be changed? I just need to work out wether its worth it or not. As i said before, WFP seems to be a constant expense, im considering going traditional and just using WFP for awkward to reach windows. It would be a shame really as i like WFP and feel it does an excellent job but i have to think of maximising profits.

 
Oh, and im pretty sure the GAC pre filter said on the packaging it removes chloramine? I may be wrong though, ill find out for sure when i get a spare minute.

 
Nightmare mate!!! What about getting another Ro and then putting them inline together?

So the first one takes it down to 60-80 then next one should bring down to 2-5. Then you could treat your membranes like double di, use the oldest membrane in the first ro and the fresh one to bring right down to as low as poss.

 
Thanks keir. That initially seemed like a good idea, but the first RO wastes something like 40% water, so the second one would waste 40% of that 60%>. Plus the pressure drop from the first to the second one would stop the second one working as well i would imagine. Having said that, if that took it down to 2-5 ppm i wouldnt need to deionoze it.

 
Thanks keir. That initially seemed like a good idea, but the first RO wastes something like 40% water, so the second one would waste 40% of that 60%>. Plus the pressure drop from the first to the second one would stop the second one working as well i would imagine. Having said that, if that took it down to 2-5 ppm i wouldnt need to deionoze it.
Yeah know what you mean, but when i flush my ro i use pure, and i hook my tank up and use the varistream and shurflo to pump it through.......and one of my rituals during the flush is i turn the ro valve to fully closed and turn the varistream down to about 3-4 so pure is going only through the membrane. So no waste but also not enough pressure to break the membrane, maybe this could be an option or worth trying to see what happens?

I close the valve for about 30 secs then open it pretty quick but progressively, you should see the white chalkiness in the water sometimes!!!!! Its like it rips the cr@p off the membrane

 
oh god my head hurts....its all too much ...i going to university...
Hahaha i remember not so long ago thinking exactly the same cheap, it seems all a bit to much and like you will never get it. But slowly but surely it sinks in, and the experienced lads on here help make sense of it all

 
Hahaha i remember not so long ago thinking exactly the same cheap, it seems all a bit to much and like you will never get it. But slowly but surely it sinks in, and the experienced lads on here help make sense of it all
you especially are guiding me on my way...now off to watch your vid...if i can find it...

 
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