RO to waste water or not?

[reefnut]

Now before we all say yes it is great, let me ask ya this, how much has your water bill been effected plus the cost of cartridges.

When you added the RO did you see a drop in algae, I know this may be different for people in different areas so I would say for city water ph of 7.

I have a UV/ carbon block unit under the counter,I will have lab tested and see what the PHOS rates are and post, in the mean time I wanted to get your take on it.

Not sold on the idea but willing to listen:)
Reefnut

Didn't want to seem like I was selling anything so I decided to edit

[ajx22]

I have been running RO/DI from the beginning...so I can't really say how drastic the difference is.

I know that my water bills are only about $35/month now...so even with the RO/DI it's not that bad.

I'll post the new bill info for the 200GPD ReefPure Tsunami 7-Stage when the next bill comes in (upgraded from a Kent 60PGD Hi-S).

[reefnut]

Hi AJ

That is a great idea, I figgure I will try and get the datta on what the city of Londons water is from the ministry, then compare it to the output water from my UV/Carbon block.


$35.00 is not that bad I thought it was higher than that, funny thing is while I have been looking for a RO I had one sales rep say the waste of water is a 1:1 ratio then talked to another rep and he said they offten say that to boost sales and the actual figgure is closer to 4:1 ratio 4 wasted for every gallon made.

Reefnut

[Mitchell]

actual figgure is closer to 4:1 ratio 4 wasted for every gallon made

I would say that this figure is more like it. As for the water bill, I am in a condo so we dont pay for water our condo fee's do.

Used ro from the beginning so I couldn't tell you about a difference in the tank.

[Dman]

I'm almost in the same boat as AJ, as I pay a flat rate for water here in an older section of Toronto. I've been using RO from just about the beginning as well. I would, however, be very interested in your findings on a comparison test.
Please keep us informed
Dman
:spin:

[maplereef]

I have been running an ro/di for almost aprox 2 years... but i also run the water for drinking in the home.
I ran my 125 gallon reef for a year before i put the ro/di unit in. I am on well water ... I have measured phospates in my water.. .20.. When i measured the water in the tank it always showed NO dectecable phosphates cause the algae i had was using it up to grow.once i got the RO/DI in i did notice the algae going away. In my opinion it was a help for me in my situation..
I figure if know you have good top up water and tank water it eliminates that problem of knowing your water is good if you have any problemns in your tank one day.
I have no idea but is it possable for town water to contain any harmfull minerals like copper??.. Country boy...what can i say..:)
The RO/DI is about a 4-1 water waste..(spectra pure is what i have). Hard water is really hard on the RO membrane if not ran through a softener first... .................my 2 cents
Have a good one:thumbsup:

[christyf5]

OK guys, this may be a dumb question but where does this wasted water go?

Christy :)

[maplereef]

The waste water were talking about goes down the drain Christy.. For every gallon of RO water that is made 4 gallons of water goes down the drain.
I'm not sure if this is the case for all RO/DIs

[reefnut]

Actually Christy that is a good que, from what I have read some try and use it up for plants and adding water to pools and such it's just were do you keep that much waste water iduno:(

So most people waste it down the drain as it bypasses the filter. I have read that running warm water through the filtter is less
( water wasted/ RO water made) not sure what the quality of RO water would be with this method though.

Reefnut

[maplereef]

Hey Reefnut..
I remember eading my manual for my RO/DI and to get the max gal per day you needed a certian temp.. 72 deg i think.. the cooler it got the less you got per day. I was going to run warm water through mine but if the water ever got HOT IT COULD WRECK YOUR RO CARTIDGE..i'm not sure if the warm water afftects the waste or not

[ajx22]

Originally posted by reefnut
So most people waste it down the drain as it bypasses the filter. I have read that running warm water through the filtter is less
( water wasted/ RO water made) not sure what the quality of RO water would be with this method though.

Reefnut

The 'waste' water is not bad water...it HAS been through the fibre and carbon filters...just still has some metals in it thus causing it to be rejected by the TFC membrane. Also...don't forget that this 'waste' water helps keep the TFC membrane clean as the flow is constantly 'flushing' the membrane.

You can use the waste water for what ever you like...just don't put it in the tank! Even for drinking water...it is better to drink the waste water (opposed to RO/DI) as it has been cleaned of chemicals and odor...but still has the minerals that WE require.

Also...it is not good from what I have read to run warm water through the filters as it does something to foul the filter media. I can't remember exactly what it does right now...but I do remember that it's not good. I will try to look up this info and add it to this post.

HTH

[savirag]

AJ

The reason you don't want to use warm/hot water in your RO units is because there is more TDS in warm/hot water. By using warm/hot water you greatly reduce the life of your cartridges because they are filtering more out.

I have noticed that when you make RO/DI water on a cold night the TDS reading are sometimes 20ppm lower, at least here in London.

[ajx22]

Originally posted by savirag
AJ

The reason you don't want to use warm/hot water in your RO units is because there is more TDS in warm/hot water. By using warm/hot water you greatly reduce the life of your cartridges because they are filtering more out.

I have noticed that when you make RO/DI water on a cold night the TDS reading are sometimes 20ppm lower, at least here in London.

Thank you savirag!!

I knew that...but the brain just isn't working to full potential lately!

Thanks for adding the info I was 'lacking'!

Best regards...

[pluff]

I don't let all mine go down the drain.I fill up a few big jugs,and use it for my plants and i also use it for my drinking water.As far as i'm concerned it taste just as good as the stuff u by in the stores.:cheers:

[Flatlander]

I would assume if its from a water softner, such as I have, then the waste water would contain high salt levels, thus making it no good for plants.

This is the first time I have used a whole house filtration system, including a 75 GPD ro unit. Before, I used a Kold Sterile unit.

[Sparrow]

Originally posted by christyf5
OK guys, this may be a dumb question but where does this wasted water go?


I just run the waste water to the washing machine.

[maimz]

does anyone know if the TDS meter that is intended for hydroponics could be used with RO...im assuming that the TDS would have to be in the 'pure range' as opposed to the 'low range' that is usually used with hydroponics...thanks

[rayjay]

Over the last 8 yrs, i've gone from years of using tap water, to years of using DI water, another year of tap water followed by about 1 1/2 yrs of DI, and because I don't see any difference in my tanks with one or the other, I switched back to tap water (aged).
I had the City of London mail me out a report of the latest COMPLETE water analysis years ago. On the web site, London doesn't get much into any details.
At the time of the report I recieved, I didn't find anything that would be a problem for my tanks.

[maplereef]

Hey Rayjay
When they sent you samples of the water did the include things that aftect the tank... like.. Mag, Phos, Iron..ect..
I had a test sent in of my well water to the minestry and they only sent test results to a few thing like Fecius and hardness and Ecoli...excuse the typo spelling errors...lol.
I think i got the results of 3 things in my results...
Just food for thought?
thanks for your reply!~!!!

[rayjay]

It was a full sheet (8.5 X 11) of specs on what levels for everything they test for in the city water.
On the website, they just give a few things, probably much like what you had been given. I believe that by law, they only have to do this full inspection once a year.

[Brian L]

The regects from an RO unit are considerably higher in TDS but can still be used even if diluted with untreated tap water. It all depends on the raw water quality.

BTW, even if municipalities offer a phos number, you should check it yourself because their treatment may change seasonally.