Basement flooded with waste water

[Ryan22]

So, because it's been so cold out lately, I pulled my waste water line to my RO/DI back in the house and stuck it in a 55 gal drum I have in my basement. Previosly to that I just had it running out a basment window and into a flower bed. I did this on Thursday evening, and yesterday I went down to the basement and the barrel is overflowing and there is water all over the floor. I know for a fact that I didn't use enough water to fill that barrel in three days, so anyone have any ideas what would be causing it to produce so much waste water? I have a drinking water kit hooked up to it, and I've made about 5 gallons of top off water, but that would still mean the the three of us that live in the house would have had to of drank about 10 gallons of water in 3 days. There is no way that happen. Well now that I thnk about it, That' only about a gallon each a day. I guess it's not as outragous now that I break it down like this, but it still seems like a lot. Does this sound normal to you guys?

TIA,

 

[ReefLion]

Doesn't surprise me. If you only made 11 gallons of good water total, then that's only a 5:1 ratio of product to waste to make 55 gallons. The only other option is a leaky drum.

Tim

 

[Anonymous]

Also, check to see that it is not producing waste water all the time - even when your top off and drinking water kit are off.
If it is producing all the time your system could be plummed incorrectly.

 

[ENS]

Sorry to hear about your flood. Aside from the flood and problem in the basement, you should be concerned even after the weather warms and you place the hose back into your flowerbed -- I'm no expert, but based on something that happened to a co-corker, that much water adding up week after week into your yard (adjactent to your house) wihtout opportunity for drying, etc, might eventually cause issues with your house's foundation. I had a co-worker whose foundation cracked as a result of soft and unstable foundation from over-saturation. This was the result of improper run-off plumbing/grading, but seems like a potentially similar result. Just something to think about.

 

[RGibson]

Make sure that you have a shut off kit on your RO system , this allows ROunit to shutoff or stop producing waste water after the float valve closes you can find them at Marine Depot. RGibson

 

[Minh Nguyen]

As the membrane gets older, it wastes more water, especially if you have hard water where CaCO3 deposit obstructed the membrane. An older membrane may have wastewater ratio 20:1 waste ratio or more. You notice this when the RO continue to run and produce very little filtered water.
Check your wastewater ratio and change the membrane (and get a water softener if you can) With water softener, the membrane essentially lasted for a long time (2+ year in my with no decrease in output). Before I put in the house water softener, my membrane lasted 4-6 months.
Minh Nguyen