So I moved to a new house about 2 years ago now. The water at my new house goes through filters/DI resin very fast. If I use alot of water I can use up a filter/DI in about a week and half. Is there anything I can do? I have a 4 stage BRS unit.
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First thing is do you know what's in your source water? What's the TDS(mentioned above)? Where are you getting your water from(well or city)?
What's your TDS coming out of your membrane?
This is the key for preserving your DI resin and also ensuring its effectiveness. I would ensure that your membrane is operating at optimal pressure, using a pump if necessary.
Your TDS should be as close to zero as possible before hitting DI and no more than 10 (I was until single figures before running through the DI. Also ensure that you divert to waste, all water from the membrane until the TDS drops below 10.
Resin quality is critical. Have had good luck with the Spectrapure Enduro and Megamax cartridges and I have some of the most horrifying out of the tap TDS in the country here in coastal CA aside from places like Arizona. Also, assuming your ATO isn’t plumbed directly to your RODI which can rapidly burn through your DI. What’s your rejection rate for the unit and pressure to the unit itself?
How old is the RO membrane?
Like someone mentioned earlier. Check to see if you have a bunch of CO2 in the water. There isn't a way to remove it with filters. You have to take the source water, aerate it in a container, then use a low pressure pump to feed a booster pump. This is a pain and won't be cheap (probably more than the whole RODI unit) but it's the only real way to fix the problem. Next, you mentioned you have high chlorine levels. Find out if it is chlorine or Chloramine. The easiest way is to test for free chlorine, and also total chlorine. If the numbers are different, they are using chloramine. The carbon filters for chloramine are different. Finally, check the pre and post membrane TDS levels. If your rejection rate is falling off, then it will chew through DI like crazy. After you figure out about your CO2 levels, my suggestion would be to get with spectrapure. Get one of their 0.2 micron sediments, the carbon blocks required for your type of chlorine, check the membrane, and check your rejection rate to make sure that it is in the prescribed rate for your specific water hardness. This is allot of stuff, but honestly, RODI systems aren't one size fits all plug and play. Don't just throw two of their high dollar DI membranes on there till you know all the stages in front of them are working at peak performance. Also, stay away from the gradually decreasing sized filters. The smallest micron needs to be the sediment. Carbon blocks are not designed to efficiently remove solids, and will quickly become clogged. Each filter in-line has a specific purpose, and if the filter before it isn't up to the task, they will quickly become damaged or depleted. So don't get a $3 sediment filter. Get a quality .5 micron or smaller. Their .2 absolute is awesome and I have had the same one for years. My carbon blocks still don't have any tint to them yet. I can't tell you enough how much running a quality sediment that has an absolute rating LOWER than the carbon blocks will make the system work better.
You could have high CO2. That will kill your resin in a hurry. You can do a bubble test to check. You need a pH test to do this.
Measure the pH of water straight out of the RO membrane. Fill a glass and take the water outside. Run a bubbler in it for 30 minutes and test again. If the pH goes up you have excess CO2 in the water and you need to degas it before running it into your DI.
+3 on the CO2. I have the same issues with one of my RODI units and I burn through resin very quickly. If you want to do anything about it you will need to degass the water before it reaches the DI which will require a more elaborate setup. Personally, I choose to live with the higher cost of replacing DI resin.Like someone mentioned earlier. Check to see if you have a bunch of CO2 in the water. There isn't a way to remove it with filters. You have to take the source water, aerate it in a container, then use a low pressure pump to feed a booster pump. This is a pain and won't be cheap (probably more than the whole RODI unit) but it's the only real way to fix the problem. Next, you mentioned you have high chlorine levels. Find out if it is chlorine or Chloramine. The easiest way is to test for free chlorine, and also total chlorine. If the numbers are different, they are using chloramine. The carbon filters for chloramine are different. Finally, check the pre and post membrane TDS levels. If your rejection rate is falling off, then it will chew through DI like crazy. After you figure out about your CO2 levels, my suggestion would be to get with spectrapure. Get one of their 0.2 micron sediments, the carbon blocks required for your type of chlorine, check the membrane, and check your rejection rate to make sure that it is in the prescribed rate for your specific water hardness. This is allot of stuff, but honestly, RODI systems aren't one size fits all plug and play. Don't just throw two of their high dollar DI membranes on there till you know all the stages in front of them are working at peak performance. Also, stay away from the gradually decreasing sized filters. The smallest micron needs to be the sediment. Carbon blocks are not designed to efficiently remove solids, and will quickly become clogged. Each filter in-line has a specific purpose, and if the filter before it isn't up to the task, they will quickly become damaged or depleted. So don't get a $3 sediment filter. Get a quality .5 micron or smaller. Their .2 absolute is awesome and I have had the same one for years. My carbon blocks still don't have any tint to them yet. I can't tell you enough how much running a quality sediment that has an absolute rating LOWER than the carbon blocks will make the system work better.
I test out of the RO into the bucket and then out of the bucket into the DI and finally out of the DI. There is zero change in TDS after degassing. There are no pumps needed for this process. Gravity does all the work.Ideally, you want to operate the degassing before the RO. The problem with doing it afterwards is that the air being pushed through the 1-2 TDS post ro water will introduce dirt back into the water rising the TDS, making the DI burn through faster. Think Rainbow vacuum cleaners. They work just the same. The problem with doing it before is that you need two pumps. A low pressure feed pump, and a higher pressure booster pump. It is the optimal setup but not cheap. I'd be curious to see the actual rise in TDS of using un-filtered air. Maybe an in-line air filter on the air pump would fix it. @TheEngineer have you ever tested the water before and after the air pump but before the DI?
My TDS meter on the unit says "8" for in.
Source water is city. We cannot drink the water though it smells like chlorine/chemicals.