4 stage plus ro/di

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

nlutfi

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 17, 2019
Messages
379
Reaction score
194
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I've have the brs 4 stage plus ro/di system running for about a month or so now and notice my color changing di resin is exhausting pretty fast. I've already replace it once and need to do it again. Is that normal rate or is there another step I can add to reduce the frequency of changing it? TIA!
 

Opus

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 29, 2011
Messages
4,407
Reaction score
2,962
Location
North Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Are you on well water?

Are you replacing it when the tds goes above zero or just basing it on the color change?
 
OP
OP
nlutfi

nlutfi

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 17, 2019
Messages
379
Reaction score
194
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm on city water but live in a smaller town. Usually when the di resin color change is all the way through I start seeing the TDS go up
 

Opus

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 29, 2011
Messages
4,407
Reaction score
2,962
Location
North Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
What is your tds at the tap and after the RO membrane. This will help diagnose the issue.
 
OP
OP
nlutfi

nlutfi

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 17, 2019
Messages
379
Reaction score
194
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
With my 4 stage I usually see about 40-60 TDS before and always 0 after if I have good di resin. That's using the gauge on the road system
 

Opus

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 29, 2011
Messages
4,407
Reaction score
2,962
Location
North Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
With my 4 stage I usually see about 40-60 TDS before and always 0 after if I have good di resin. That's using the gauge on the road system

We need the number before the DI to see how well the RO membrane is working. This will determine is the problems is the membrane or the di.
 

Opus

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 29, 2011
Messages
4,407
Reaction score
2,962
Location
North Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
OP
OP
nlutfi

nlutfi

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 17, 2019
Messages
379
Reaction score
194
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
No, unless your city is using chloramines in the water.

You say you are in a smaller town. Do you know if you city is using well water or does it come from a lake? I live in a smaller town but our water is provided by a water district that gets it from a lake.
I'm pretty sure the city uses a well. This is what I found "Our water is pumped from the Trempealeau and Prairie du Chien sandstone aquifer using two wells located within the Village."
 

Bulk Reef Supply

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 15, 2013
Messages
2,183
Reaction score
4,277
Location
Minneapolis, MN
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
If the TDS before the DI resin is 40-60, that is going to be why you're seeing high DI consumption. Typically we like to see that number in the single digits. Can you confirm where you're seeing 40-60 TDS? Is this the source water or the TDS into the DI?
 

Opus

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 29, 2011
Messages
4,407
Reaction score
2,962
Location
North Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
With my 4 stage I usually see about 40-60 TDS before and always 0 after if I have good di resin. That's using the gauge on the road system

40-60 before "what", the RO membrane or the DI canister?

If your RO unit is working properly, then you should be seeing at least 95% rejection rate, but really closer to 98%. So, if your tap water tds is 100, the tds after the RO membrane but before going into the di canister should be at the most 5 but more like 2 if your RO membrane is working correctly. My tap water has a tds of 450 and my tds after my ro membrane runs between 3 and 4 tds. Also the tds reading after the ro membrane should be taken after it has run for a couple of minutes to get an accurate reading.
 
OP
OP
nlutfi

nlutfi

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 17, 2019
Messages
379
Reaction score
194
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
If the TDS before the DI resin is 40-60, that is going to be why you're seeing high DI consumption. Typically we like to see that number in the single digits. Can you confirm where you're seeing 40-60 TDS? Is this the source water or the TDS into the DI?
I'll confirm tonight when I get him I'm going off the meter that came with the unit that reads "in" and "out"
 

Bulk Reef Supply

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 15, 2013
Messages
2,183
Reaction score
4,277
Location
Minneapolis, MN
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'll confirm tonight when I get him I'm going off the meter that came with the unit that reads "in" and "out"

Got it. If you didn't change anything around, the IN will actually read into the DI resin. That 40-60 number would be extremely high. If you confirm that to be the case, here are a few things to check.

1- Double check that you have adequate pressure (at least 50 psi)
2- Make sure you have the flush valve in the closed position when you're making water
3- You may also want to measure your waste to product ratio to make sure that your membrane is functioning as intended. If you have a single membrane, you should see about 3-4 gallons of waste water per 1 gallon of product water. If you have a water saver system, you'll see about 1.5-2 gallons waste to 1 gallon product. The exact amount of waste may vary slightly with higher or lower pressure, but you should be pretty close to that range.

One last note if you don't find any of those issues...Making short bursts of water like a gallon or two at a time will increase the DI consumption dramatically. When you first turn on the system, there will be a little TDS creep. All that means is that there is a little burst of higher TDS water that enters the DI resin upon startup. If you turn the system on and then immediately look at the TDS meter, you'll likely see a higher TDS reading than you would if you let the system run for an hour.
 
OP
OP
nlutfi

nlutfi

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 17, 2019
Messages
379
Reaction score
194
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Got it. If you didn't change anything around, the IN will actually read into the DI resin. That 40-60 number would be extremely high. If you confirm that to be the case, here are a few things to check.

1- Double check that you have adequate pressure (at least 50 psi)
2- Make sure you have the flush valve in the closed position when you're making water
3- You may also want to measure your waste to product ratio to make sure that your membrane is functioning as intended. If you have a single membrane, you should see about 3-4 gallons of waste water per 1 gallon of product water. If you have a water saver system, you'll see about 1.5-2 gallons waste to 1 gallon product. The exact amount of waste may vary slightly with higher or lower pressure, but you should be pretty close to that range.

One last note if you don't find any of those issues...Making short bursts of water like a gallon or two at a time will increase the DI consumption dramatically. When you first turn on the system, there will be a little TDS creep. All that means is that there is a little burst of higher TDS water that enters the DI resin upon startup. If you turn the system on and then immediately look at the TDS meter, you'll likely see a higher TDS reading than you would if you let the system run for an hour.
Do you want me to measure the "in" reading after flushing the system for a few minutes using the flush valve?
 

Bulk Reef Supply

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 15, 2013
Messages
2,183
Reaction score
4,277
Location
Minneapolis, MN
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Do you want me to measure the "in" reading after flushing the system for a few minutes using the flush valve?

For the most accurate reading, flush the system for 2-3 minutes, then let the system run with the flush valve closed for about 5 minutes to alleviate any potential TDS creep issues.
 
OP
OP
nlutfi

nlutfi

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 17, 2019
Messages
379
Reaction score
194
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
For the most accurate reading, flush the system for 2-3 minutes, then let the system run with the flush valve closed for about 5 minutes to alleviate any potential TDS creep issues.
After flushing and running I have 9 "in" and 1 "out" with my di resin pretty much all exhausted. I also have 40 psi for pressure.
 

Opus

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 29, 2011
Messages
4,407
Reaction score
2,962
Location
North Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
If 9 is what is going into the di catridge, then you should be getting 400+ gallons of 0 tds water from it before you start to see a 1 on the "out" reading. I'm assuming you are not making this much water in less than a month so it appears you have a CO2 issue. I will let BRS discuss methods to deal with that issue.

40 psi is on the very low end for pressure. You may want to look at getting a booster pump. If you live in a house, you may be able to adjust the pressure at the main line coming into the house.
 
OP
OP
nlutfi

nlutfi

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 17, 2019
Messages
379
Reaction score
194
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
If 9 is what is going into the di catridge, then you should be getting 400+ gallons of 0 tds water from it before you start to see a 1 on the "out" reading. I'm assuming you are not making this much water in less than a month so it appears you have a CO2 issue. I will let BRS discuss methods to deal with that issue.

40 psi is on the very low end for pressure. You may want to look at getting a booster pump. If you live in a house, you may be able to adjust the pressure at the main line coming into the house.
Thank you, I don't make nearly 400 gallons a month. I look into methods of dealing with C02. I'll look into trying to get my pressure up too. Ty!
 
Back
Top