RO - this much waste water possible

[chasesng]

Just bought second hand a Kent Marine RO filter. Was told it had less than 30 minutes usage.

So I get home, hook it up, and very quickly I've got 19 gallons waste water and less than 1/4 cup good water!

Is this possible? Any comments?

 

[Manny]

maybe not enough pressure going through the system.
how long to get 19 gallons?

 

[Tonyscoots84]

yea def. not enough water pressure.. your supposed to be doing about for every 1gallon good water ur supposed to have either 4 or 5 gallons waste....

 

[yessongs]

Is there a flush valve on the unit? it might be opened.

 

[chasesng]

i turned the system off several times in frustration and even left to try and get some new hosing. but the waste water flows very fast. the 19g waste bucket could have filled in an hour or so if i'd run it continuously.

so i think i'm getting enuf pressure from the sink faucet.

the unit is rated for 50 gpd and is ONLY an RO unit...no DI. i dont know what a flush valve is or what it looks like, but i can find nothing that could qualify as one.

PO had but in a TDS to measure quality of both intake and output. there's also a shut-off valve on the out line which i tried shutting down while the source water was on. that got some flow going but not much.

i'm going to nj tomorrow to pick up a 40g tank and about 80 lbs of rock. had hoped to do set-up with new water. figure now i'll have to lug home the original water and/or buy some from lfs...but they charge $3 to $3.25 per gal.

manny, where do you get your water around stamford?

 

[DevIouS]

Is there an adjustable flow valve on the unit?
There should be one so you can adjust the product - waste water ratio......to your water pressure.
It should be around 4:1.

 

[DevIouS]

BTW:
Welcome to MR~

 

[masterswimmer]

Ditto on the welcome to MR.

Couple of questions need answering first. Are you on well or municipal water? When you say you could fill the 19 gal container quickly but only get a trickle out of the RO unit, that is a sure sign of low pressure or clogged filter membranes. The RO unit requires ~ 80 - 90 psi of water pressure to force the water through the filter canisters.

If you are getting a large waste water production and a trickle of RO then the pressure coming out of your faucet is adequate to flow around the filters but not enough to push through them.

You say the Kent unit had 30 minutes of useage. Do you know how long ago? If it was run a year ago for 30 minutes, it's possible the filters got wet, dried out and need replacing too.

Most likely your problem is low psi though. This can be corrected with a booster pump. You can get that from airwaterice.com online. Walter is a great trouble shooter and a super customer service oriented businessman.

Good luck,
Russ

 

[Manny]

when I got my RO unit I had it hooked up on my kitchen faucet. I had the same prob so I hooked it up under my sink and it works great now.

If you want to buy seasoned water to get your tank going let me know. I paid $20. for 25 gallons.

Oh yeah to answer your question... before I got my RO unit I used distilled water

 

[Vic8361]

make sure it has a flow restricter on the waste line comming from the membrane.


Vic

 

[DevIouS]

make sure it has a flow restricter on the waste line comming from the membrane.


Vic

It should be adjustable....right Vic?

Btw: how's everything?

 

[chasesng]

thanx for the welcome...i started at aquariacentral and still read there. but found out about u guys @ 2 weeks ago when i bought a 12g nano from one of your members in syosset. both great sites...this one seems younger and definitely more nyc. i fit the geography but at 46 think i'm a bit older than most of u manreefers.

anyway, back to the ro issue.

i'm on city water and my pressure is pretty good. water may be too cold cuz i read somewhere that water below 60F can cause membrane to restrict

i just checked kent marine website and its second FAQ was
why no clean water after 2 days". response was typically blocked line.

i opened the membrane and it was only pushed in about 1/4 inch instead of 3/4. that doesnt seem to have made a difference.

i really think issue has to be the TDS sensor installed on the clean out line. there must be a blockage there.

manny i'll pm you about where the sw can be found cuz i'd really like to know

 

[yessongs]

$3.00-$3.50 for a gallon of water at a LFS, that more then gas!
Go to Key Food and buy there brand of distilled water (red cap) its 89? a gallon 0 TDS it will be lower then your RO unit.
If you dont mind me asking how much did you pay for the Kent unit?

 

[chasesng]

paid $85 for the unit..actually bought it from a manreefer who has been trying to help by phone so no gripe towards him

i'm very new to this marine "thang" and this is my first time i've ever trying actually using an ro filter....just been reading about it forever.

as for the SW price, must be proximity to greenwich and LFS thinks everybody has big bucks.

we dont have red bag or food or whatever the chain. and costco sells water only by the case of mini bottles. one of the nearby chains has gotta have something similar.

thanks all again for the efforts

 

[yessongs]

BTW, here is a flush kit for Kent RO units 2nd on top, its a valve and if its open it wont make much RO water, but waste a lot http://www.petsolutions.com/Kent+Marine+R+O+Parts+Accessories-C-10333-C-.aspx

 

[yessongs]

A lot of us here and Reef Central use this, its a good RO/DI unit http://cgi.ebay.com/AQUA-AQUARIUM-1...itemZ4434914005QQcategoryZ20684QQcmdZViewItem

 

[masterswimmer]

BTW chasesng, 1959 was a great year for me!! You're not alone.

If your Greenwich stores carry distilled water, buy a gallon (should be under $1, even in Greenwich). Take it home, test it with your TDS meter. If it's zero (ideal) or even one or two ppm, buy it and use that.....until you resolve your RO production problem.

Russ

 

[chasesng]

oh sure....now you tell me.

where were you 3 months ago when i first started reading all those books? and even a silly magazine one nite while waiting for the train home. and then searching all those internet sites. where were you then with all your good advice? hmmmmmm?

so now i drive 45 minutes today to new jersey, haul this silly thing back and hook its hoses around my house so kids wife and cat cant walk past the hallway bathroom and the leaking starts and the bucket gets too full to lifffffttttttt.....

and you want me to buy a another 'NEW' RO/DI with even more hoses and thingamabobs attached?

how dum do i look? dum enuf to try and run a reef tank would be the appropriate response.

 

[Dave ESPI]

This is EXACTLY why you "get what you pay for" rings a resounding bell.


I got a 5 stage 300.00+ 100 GPD RODI unit from www.wateranywhere.com and it has been flawless in 3:1 production for 4 years with 2 changes of QUALITY filters and made over 6,000 gallons of water.

Posts: 6 I didn't see you ASK before buying ...............

 

[Manny]

I still think it's the pressure.
Here is my old way................didn't work