RO waste water

[Len]

Is there any way to reduce the waste water of RO? It just bugs me I'm wasting > 2:1 purified water

 

[Anonymous]

You're making with a 2:1 ratio? How christ I think I'm closer in the ballpark of 4:1

 

[Len]

Nah, I'm not even close to 2:1. I don't even think I'm close to 4:1 to be honest. Just trying to make myself feel a little better by saying "greater than"

 

[Posh]

Save it in a glass and use it to wash down all that tasty sand you ate.

 

[rbursek]

I hope this helps!!
http://buckeyefieldsupply.com/calc.php

 

[Anonymous]

In my new line of "work", the people who use RO use the waste water to wash clothes, flush toilets, and on landscaping plants. I'm sticking to my Mr. Clean Autodry carwash cartridge.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah I have a 300g rubbermade water holder outside, that's pretty filled and plumbed with a hose, I use gravity to move the water to plants, or scoop it out for higher plants (typically don't use that much water anyways). Tossed in a bunch of feeder goldfish to deal with any potential mosquitoes, and done with it.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah I have a 300g rubbermade water holder outside, that's pretty filled and plumbed with a hose, I use gravity to move the water to plants, or scoop it out for higher plants (typically don't use that much water anyways). Tossed in a bunch of feeder goldfish to deal with any potential mosquitoes, and done with it.

Same here. I have a 12V DC pump that move the water out at 60 psi, so I just turn on the battery, and it come out of the hose/nozzle like it is from the tap.

 

[Anonymous]

How much does one of those pumps run? I was thinking on tossing a pump in there, but figured why bother since most of my watering needs is "downhill" of the water, and when that thing is filled up the pressure pushes a water out pretty well.

 

[Anonymous]

Can't be more than a sump pump, and I've seen those at Sears in the $120 range.

 

[Ben1]

my goes down the drain lol. My unit runs 1:1 though so I dont feel so bad. I use this unit http://www.saltysupply.com/Vertex-Purat ... vt2212.htm

 

[Anonymous]

Hmmm I should check my effluent again, I've recently added a booster pump myself (since I was really skirting on the edge of 40PSI), if I fill up a 30g rubbermade I should be making on order of 120g of waste water (egads!), but I'm not quite sure I make that much.

Need to measure the TDS of the output, might want to use that water of a softie tank

 

[Anonymous]

Hmmm I should check my effluent again, I've recently added a booster pump myself (since I was really skirting on the edge of 40PSI), if I fill up a 30g rubbermade I should be making on order of 120g of waste water (egads!), but I'm not quite sure I make that much.

Need to measure the TDS of the output, might want to use that water of a softie tank

I've always wondered if I could use the waste water for another type of tank, say a freshwater planted or something. I'm embarrassed to say I don't know what R/O waste water has in it

 

[Len]

Man, I'm an idiot. It turns out I forgot to put back in the flow restrictor. That's why it was producing so much waste water. With the restrictor, the unit is running more like I remember it: much less waste water, much more good water, and 10 psi more pressure (60-65psi)

 

[Anonymous]

Hmmm I should check my effluent again, I've recently added a booster pump myself (since I was really skirting on the edge of 40PSI), if I fill up a 30g rubbermade I should be making on order of 120g of waste water (egads!), but I'm not quite sure I make that much.

Need to measure the TDS of the output, might want to use that water of a softie tank

I've always wondered if I could use the waste water for another type of tank, say a freshwater planted or something. I'm embarrassed to say I don't know what R/O waste water has in it

Well if you have a 95% rejection rate (which IIRC is fairly standard for 75gpd membranes), you'll basically have 20 times more "TDS" in the waste water than the RO water. Now this luckily is barely more than what comes out the tap. However this water typically has gone through sediment and carbon filtration first, so I'd hazard a guess that the overall quality of water is better than tap water (no chlorine or any other "cleaning" stuff localities put into water). So it's a matter of how bad is your TDS to start with? And is that acceptable to you.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

I have water softener. Na+ and Cl- are much easier to the RO membrane to reject. I was a advised to set the RO/wasted ratio at 10-15/90-85 when I talk to the the representative for Spectrapure several years ago. My TDS reading of the RO water always run at 6-8 PPM. I think 85% water waste for RO water is reasonable.

 

[Anonymous]

How much does one of those pumps run? I was thinking on tossing a pump in there, but figured why bother since most of my watering needs is "downhill" of the water, and when that thing is filled up the pressure pushes a water out pretty well.

I got them from Harbor Freight, and they are like $30 when there is a sale.

The one I have is a slightly different model, but you got the idea.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... umber=9576

If you know someone selling something with better quality, let me know. The HF cheapy can rust if you don't install it properly.