How long do you backflush your RO..

[EmilyB]

I think SPC does his for a long time, but I wonder what others do? I usually flush for a few seconds before shutting down the unit.

 

[liquid]

I flush mine for at least 1 minute after making 20 gal of water. If I remember right, there was a DIY project somewhere on the board that the member created an "auto-flush" valve that flushed the RO membrane for 1 minute every hour. It was really neat. I need to pull that thread out sometime and make it.

Shane

 

[Anonymous]

What is back flushing?

How do you accomplish this?

Why?

 

[liquid]

This is a flush unit:

What it does is when you turn the ball valve to the "on" position, it flushes out your RO membrane. By flushing your RO membrane periodically it's supposed to extend the life of your membrane significantly. I went 2 years @ 50 gal/month of RO/DI water before I had to replace my RO membrane using the flush kit. I got mine from Premium Aquatics.

Shane

 

[Chucker]

IIRC, the manufacturer's recommendation is ~30 seconds.

 

[Vixyswillie]

I do mine for about 2 minutes, per my manufacturer.

 

[SPC]

Posted by Em:

I think SPC does his for a long time,

-Yes I do :wink: , but I only flush my RO membrane for 1 minute each time I use it.
Steve

 

[Minh Nguyen]

What you guys and gals are doing is flushing the membrane but not "back flush" the membrane. In back flush you run pure water back ward though the membrane. I did this by gravity feed pure water back though the good water outlet.
Anyway, none of these measure works. Corpus Christi has very hard water. My 100 gpd membrane last 6 months and wasted a huge amount of water at the end (run continuous because the output is so little). The only real way of fixing the problem is put a water softener to remove Carbonate from the water before it reach the RO membrane. I spend several hundred and place water softener in my house and my membrane lasted essentially forever now (2 years and no decrease in output)
Minh Nguyen
PS: the survey should have another choice. Do not flush the membrane.

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
Minh, does anyone else recommand the back flushing method? How many gallon do you back flush, and how often?

There are some people who use an automatic flushing valve that flush the membrane for 18 sec. every hour. That's a gadget that I want to get/DIY for the holiday!

 

[Minh Nguyen]

hi.
Minh, does anyone else recommand the back flushing method? How many gallon do you back flush, and how often?

There are some people who use an automatic flushing valve that flush the membrane for 18 sec. every hour. That's a gadget that I want to get/DIY for the holiday!

I don't do it now. I did it for 1 year 3-2 years ago (monthy) and find that it did not help. Spectrapure recommended this when I talk to them about the problem I have due to the water hardness here in Corpus Christi.
They recommended 1 g flush, and that was what I did. IME, MEMBRANE FLUSHES AND BACK MEMBRANE FLUSHES DID NOT HELP. Maybe this is because the water here is extreemly hard. In other water condition, it may.
Minh Nguyen

 

[esmithiii]

Not to hijack the thread, but I think I am getting close to needing a membrane change and I thought I might upgrade my unit from a 30 gpd unit to something higher. Can I just change out the membrane and the container that houses the membrane or do I need to get a whole new unit? Mine is a 4 stage RO/DI.

Thanks,

Ernie

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
The housing is identical, unless you want to upgrade to a commerical unit.

As mentioned in several other threads, all you need to do is to upgrade the membrane, and change the flow restrictor.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

Not to hijack the thread, but I think I am getting close to needing a membrane change and I thought I might upgrade my unit from a 30 gpd unit to something higher. Can I just change out the membrane and the container that houses the membrane or do I need to get a whole new unit? Mine is a 4 stage RO/DI.

Thanks,

Ernie

Ernie,
You need to change the membrane and the flow restricter if the mambrane is not the same (30 g/d to 100 g/d) Essentially you need a new membrane and the flow restricter for that membrane.
Try Aquatic Reef System. They have great service and best price on membrane. They can talk to you and exlpaine and get exactly what you need.
Minh Nguyen

 

[Anonymous]

Ernie,

I upgraded my 50 to a 75 with no problems (right 7). :wink: Do as Mihn and 7 say.

Steve gave me this link and I have been very pleased and they have been very helpful: http://www.aquaticreefsystems.com/ This is the same place Mihn suggested. The guy even called my house one night after I sent him and email describing a problem. He stayed on the phone with me helping me correct some problems that I had that were not related to the product I had just bought from him. He probably stayed on the phone for 10 - 15 minutes. Good people. Use them.

Louey