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? Pure water - Possibly an issue for me?

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rigmarole

Well-known member
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47
Location
Manchester
Hi guys,

I need some advice. 

Im the guy who is currently saving for a WFP trolley system and moving to North Devon soon.

I had a worrying thought the other day. Our new rented house is on the main water supply but waste water goes to a septic tank. I am concerned that if the TDS is high then I won't be able to use an RO system, as I will have nowhere to get rid of the hundreds of litres of waste water. (Ive looked into septic tanks and apparently it's bad to flush so much clean water through).

Ive looked at Southwest waters maps, and the house is firmly in the "soft" water area according to them.

I was going to buy all my kit soon and practice before the move, but now it's got me worried if the TDS is too high, it'll end in disaster as I don't think an RO system would work at that house.

My question is, is it economical long term (or even for the initial few years) to just use a double DI system to produce pure water if my TDS is below 100? 50? Etc. Or will I need a RO system at some point to keep costs down once I'm busy?

If just using DI vessels and resin exclusively, what TDS should I be looking to be under to make it possible costs wise?

I don't have a spotless near the new house unfortunately.

Thanks.

 
Hi guys,

I need some advice. 

Im the guy who is currently saving for a WFP trolley system and moving to North Devon soon.

I had a worrying thought the other day. Our new rented house is on the main water supply but waste water goes to a septic tank. I am concerned that if the TDS is high then I won't be able to use an RO system, as I will have nowhere to get rid of the hundreds of litres of waste water. (Ive looked into septic tanks and apparently it's bad to flush so much clean water through).

Ive looked at Southwest waters maps, and the house is firmly in the "soft" water area according to them.

I was going to buy all my kit soon and practice before the move, but now it's got me worried if the TDS is too high, it'll end in disaster as I don't think an RO system would work at that house.

My question is, is it economical long term (or even for the initial few years) to just use a double DI system to produce pure water if my TDS is below 100? 50? Etc. Or will I need a RO system at some point to keep costs down once I'm busy?

If just using DI vessels and resin exclusively, what TDS should I be looking to be under to make it possible costs wise?

I don't have a spotless near the new house unfortunately.

Thanks.
You need to find out what the actual tds of the water is where you are moving to before you make any decisions.

Where does all the water from the house's roofs go? What happens to all the water draining off the road?

 
You need to find out what the actual tds of the water is where you are moving to before you make any decisions.

Where does all the water from the house's roofs go? What happens to all the water draining off the road?
Yeah that's what I was thinking. I'll hold off buying everything until I know what the actual TDS of the water in the new house is.

I had been thinking about the drain pipes etc. Not thought about the road one. The front / back of the house is on a bit of a lane, so I'll have to see if there is drainage there.

I'm hoping the TDS will be low enough, or if not I can find a workaround

 
You definitely won't want to put waste into a sceptic tank, it would fill it far too quickly. Ideally you need to know what their definition of soft is but double DI might well save your bacon. Others on here can give you numbers for that but you need to know that TDS.

 
Do you have a garden? I have my waste going to an irrigation system to keep plants in various parts of the garden watered and a bird bath with clean running water. You would think it would add a fair bit of resistance but the pure/waste ratio barely changed. 

As said above though, easier to put it into a drain from runoff water from roof or ground. 

 
Using double di does definitely work. It depends a lot on your pricing and how much water you use whether it's a long term viable option. My water fluctuates between 90 and 180 and I only use double DI, but that's because of not having storage space. The higher the tap tds is the more inconvenient it is. Resin calculators such as the grippatank one, I have found to be fairly accurate for estimating cost

 
Hi guys,

I need some advice. 

Im the guy who is currently saving for a WFP trolley system and moving to North Devon soon.

I had a worrying thought the other day. Our new rented house is on the main water supply but waste water goes to a septic tank. I am concerned that if the TDS is high then I won't be able to use an RO system, as I will have nowhere to get rid of the hundreds of litres of waste water. (Ive looked into septic tanks and apparently it's bad to flush so much clean water through).

Ive looked at Southwest waters maps, and the house is firmly in the "soft" water area according to them.

I was going to buy all my kit soon and practice before the move, but now it's got me worried if the TDS is too high, it'll end in disaster as I don't think an RO system would work at that house.

My question is, is it economical long term (or even for the initial few years) to just use a double DI system to produce pure water if my TDS is below 100? 50? Etc. Or will I need a RO system at some point to keep costs down once I'm busy?

If just using DI vessels and resin exclusively, what TDS should I be looking to be under to make it possible costs wise?

I don't have a spotless near the new house unfortunately.

Thanks.
Just have a hose from the waist onto the garden , you won’t have a problem like that we produce 1500-2500 ltr of pure a day and that’s what I do . 

 
Just have a hose from the waist onto the garden , you won’t have a problem like that we produce 1500-2500 ltr of pure a day and that’s what I do . 
We live on a bit of a slope. When I did that the waste water sunk into the ground on our property and came up in the next door neighbours garden at the back. His garden was flooded. ?

Now the waste just goes down the drain that carries the roof water away. I've plumbed it in now.

 
Just have a hose from the waist onto the garden , you won’t have a problem like that we produce 1500-2500 ltr of pure a day and that’s what I do . 
Really? That makes me feel more positive. It's only got a small garden, but it does back onto farmers fields / hedge system ? ...

I think I'd be needing about 250ltrs of pure water to begin with (with a trolley system) and then maybe 350-400ltrs when I've got a van.

 
Really? That makes me feel more positive. It's only got a small garden, but it does back onto farmers fields / hedge system ? ...

I think I'd be needing about 250ltrs of pure water to begin with (with a trolley system) and then maybe 350-400ltrs when I've got a van.
I doubt you will have a problem loosing waist water , obviously until you move in you won’t be 100% sure but I cannot see a problem 

 
Really? That makes me feel more positive. It's only got a small garden, but it does back onto farmers fields / hedge system ? ...

I think I'd be needing about 250ltrs of pure water to begin with (with a trolley system) and then maybe 350-400ltrs when I've got a van.
Just make sure the waste hose is put away when you have finished producing water. The farmer might get his tractor stuck in the mud cause by a spring that has suddenly appeared from nowhere they he had never seen before.

 
Do you have a garden? I have my waste going to an irrigation system to keep plants in various parts of the garden watered and a bird bath with clean running water. You would think it would add a fair bit of resistance but the pure/waste ratio barely changed. 

As said above though, easier to put it into a drain from runoff water from roof or ground. 
This is something I need to set up, are you using a soaker hose or similar size hose to JG tubing. 

Something I didn't realise at our new home is the rainwater drain at the back of our hose the drain line was cracked and no doubt had been for quite sometime no wonder we had continuing cracks in our house, only hairline cracks, but we knew it had some structural issues already and have had those sorted not long after we moved in, 

Over 3000ltrs of waste down that rainwater gulley every week wasn't helping, took 2 weeks in all to get sorted now I can get a decent nights sleep for the first time in 2 weeks. 

 
Just make sure the waste hose is put away when you have finished producing water. The farmer might get his tractor stuck in the mud cause by a spring that has suddenly appeared from nowhere they he had never seen before.
He might think he's onto something good and start bottling and selling it. À la, Fools and Horses.?

Make sure you he cuts you in @rigmarole
 

 
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Yeah that's what I was thinking. I'll hold off buying everything until I know what the actual TDS of the water in the new house is.

I had been thinking about the drain pipes etc. Not thought about the road one. The front / back of the house is on a bit of a lane, so I'll have to see if there is drainage there.

I'm hoping the TDS will be low enough, or if not I can find a workaround
Septic tanks are for internal waste water only.  Toilet water sink and bath. Any down pipes or external drains for rain water or external drain will go in to a soak away NOT the septic tank. So do like above find a down pipe and put your waste into that. No problem. Problem solved. 

 
This might be a silly suggestion but you could capture the waste and use it to fill your toilet cistern! You would need a pump and pressure switch and disconnect the loo from mains water. 

You might have to use a bit of anti scale liquid in the loo from time to time but it would 'use' the waste water?

 
Septic tanks are for internal waste water only.  Toilet water sink and bath. Any down pipes or external drains for rain water or external drain will go in to a soak away NOT the septic tank. So do like above find a down pipe and put your waste into that. No problem. Problem solved. 
Thanks, good point. I'll check them when we get there. Hopefully I won't have an issue then. ?

 
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