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RO/DI Waste Water

JHOV2324

JHOV2324

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ReeferJoe brought up a great idea last night while we moved NYCMAT's tank and talked reef stuff.....I'm not sure if he wanted to post it so i'll do him the favor..since i thought it was a pretty good idea....

We were discussing the RO/DI unit set up Mat has that Kasei so professionally put together and ReeferJoe brought up the idea on plumbing the waste water back into the RO/DI..via pressure pump or the likes...

Any of you guys ever try this....if so how did ya make it happen?

Chime in Fellas...lets here some ideas on how to make this work...there is alot of waste water coming out of all our RO units and this would be good for those reefers who own homes and have to pay that water bill...ya know....
 
thirty5

thirty5

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Manhattan Reefs
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Your question raised my curiosity. Sorta like using the water from my dehumidifier to top off, which we found really wont work.

So i started to research and this is what i found so far!

Zero waste RO units are available, however problematic, as they can re-inject the concentrate wastewater back into the water feeding the RO thus forcing the RO to work harder and shortening its service life. Other types of Zero Water RO units will inject the wastewater into the hot water line where it is dispensed out of the kitchen faucet on your hands or dishes. A better option for reducing reverse osmosis system water waste is to fit it with a permeate pump , which will reduce water waste by up to 80%
 
thirty5

thirty5

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Have to do the math.... Increased Water Bill. Will that pay for the pressure tank and the permeate pump addon? Noone says that you cant have a pressure tank for your top off. I will prob have like a 30 gal or so garbage can to be my reservoir. So can just have an autotop off in your reservior and then another in your sump. Yes a little more work. But is all the cost of these items enough to cover teh cost of the waste water?
 
seamonkey

seamonkey

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i've been researching this also. we're on a well here in the highlands, and we don't want to be throwing 85% of our water down the drain. we own two different ro/di units. the one we use for our 75g (a my parents' house currently) is a typical 3 canister unit. the other is an undersink application designed for drinking water, that comes with a pressure tank. i think we are going to go with the permeate pump and attach it to that unit when we set up our ro/di process here for our 210g. i've found them online for about $65 freshwater systems. IMO the cost will definitely be worth it. we don't have to worry about having our well redrilled in a few years, and the conservation benefits for the environment are worth it.

there is also this unit Kold Ster-il. they're mag ads in TFH claim to reduce ro/di waste water by 85%...their site is a bit confusing to navigate though. i tried calling them to get more info about the system, but i haven't heard back from them yet. may be worth investigating further though.
 
ShaunW

ShaunW

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vanceny said:
fyi - The permeate pump will only work if your using a pressure tank to collect your water.
Click to expand...
I have a permeate pump on my RO/DI unit. I also have a booster pump. Together they work fantastic, with more permeate water coming out than brine. I would have to agree that it decreases the waste water by 80%.

I don't have a pressure tank.
 
ShaunW

ShaunW

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thirty5 said:
If you dont have a pressure tank then how does it work, can you explain.
Click to expand...
I am no expert in this regard :eek: . I just don't have it going to a pressure pump and it is functioning (clicking/cycling as per the instruction manual).

Probably with a pressure pump it would function even more efficiently (I think I am going to buy one).
 
vanceny

vanceny

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solbby said:
I am no expert in this regard :eek: . I just don't have it going to a pressure pump and it is functioning (clicking/cycling as per the instruction manual).

Probably with a pressure pump it would function even more efficiently (I think I am going to buy one).
Click to expand...

When you say pressure pump did you mean tank? Perhaps your booster pump is helping more than you think.

Here is a link of how it works:

http://www.permeate-pump.com/ERP1000ben.htm

Also from spectrepure:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1156201

I don't have one so this is only from my reading about it. Perhaps it still works without the tank.
 
thirty5

thirty5

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Manhattan Reefs
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tripstank said:
minimal algae and no cyano growth... I have NOT tested it with a TDS meter, but I am sure it is low...
Click to expand...


If you do ever test the water let us know. Test the inital waste water, then the waster after it went through the DI.

Would be some great info. If that is the case just get 2 units and then no waste water, and then lowers your water bill and will pay for itself.
 
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