Can I remove my DI stages?

[TheDuude]

Happy Friday,

I get my water from a fairly shallow ( 75ft ) well. I have been running my tank on RO/DI without major problems however, I am chewing through a TON of DI resin.

I seem to only get around 100 gallons per 10 inch cartridge. My current setup is Well > Spindown filter > Whole house filter > Booster pump> Sediment > Carbon block 1 > Carbon block 2 > Dual Membranes > dual DI > out to tank

I have tried all different brand of Di including the Pro Anion / Cation setup. No major differences or $$ savings here.

My water comes out of the tap at 800 TDS, Out of my ro at 6 TDS and 0 out of the Di. What tests should I do on my water to determine if it is OK to use the 6 to 8 TDS water that comes out of the RO and stop having to use some much di? Would an icp test cover me? I am worried about something building up over time.

Thanks!

 

[KStatefan]

You would need to know what that 6 is.

Since you are using well water I would bet that high CO2 is what is using up your resin. I had to add a degassing chamber to my system to reduce resin use.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Are you treating your well water with anything like a prechlorinator? Would you happen to know the pH of your well water?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

You would need to know what that 6 is.

Since you are using well water I would bet that high CO2 is what is using up your resin. I had to add a degassing chamber to my system to reduce resin use.

Beat me to it, that's exactly where I was leading.

 

[TheDuude]

You would need to know what that 6 is.

Since you are using well water I would bet that high CO2 is what is using up your resin. I had to add a degassing chamber to my system to reduce resin use.

This is my leading theory as well. I have very little room to add degassing, Is there a way to do this "in line"?

The way I have read about is to pump my RO into a big bin a bubble air through it over night then pump it again through Di. I would like to avoid adding complexity if at all possible.

 

[rhitee93]

Are you using up both the anion and cation cartridges up at the same rate?

I burn through my anion bed in a couple hundred gallons, but the cation and dual cartridges last a long time. I'm pretty sure this is because of high CO2 in my water.

 

[TheDuude]

Are you treating your well water with anything like a prechlorinator? Would you happen to know the pH of your well water?

No pre chlorinator or anything other than the water softener.

 

[TheDuude]

Are you using up both the anion and cation cartridges up at the same rate?

I burn through my anion bed in a couple hundred gallons, but the cation and dual cartridges last a long time. I'm pretty sure this is because of high CO2 in my water.

yes seems I am burning up the second (which i think is Anion) and the second has not changed color at all.

 

[KStatefan]

This is my leading theory as well. I have very little room to add degassing, Is there a way to do this "in line"?

The way I have read about is to pump my RO into a big bin a bubble air through it over night then pump it again through Di. I would like to avoid adding complexity if at all possible.

I run my RO into a pvc tube then that overflow into a 5 gallon container that has a pump and is pumped thru my DI.

 

[TheDuude]

Beat me to it, that's exactly where I was leading.

PH of the water out of the RO is 6.75

 

[TheDuude]

I run my RO into a pvc tube then that overflow into a 5 gallon container that has a pump and is pumped thru my DI.

So there is not dwell time? its just offgassing via the turbulence created? Any chance you have a pic of your setup.

Sounds like a potential solution!

 

[KStatefan]

So there is not dwell time? its just offgassing via the turbulence created? Any chance you have a pic of your setup.

Sounds like a potential solution!

There are some pics in my build thread. There also is a DIY degassing chamber thread here.

The water from the RO enters at the bottom of the chamber and there is an air stone there. My chamber is 6 foot tall since I had room.

Build Thread - This will be a slow build

I have never printed with white before but I think I will more in the future Very nice! Do you plan to sell these anytime soon, either finished 3-D prints or the STL print file?

www.reef2reef.com

 

[IntrinsicReef]

After 20+ years of running RO/DI systems, I remove DI stages on most of them now. Their cost vs what they remove is high. Usually they are picking up silicates that come through the RO for me. Get an ATI ICP test off of Amazon, and it will have a vial for RO/DI water. Run some water through your system without deionization stages, and send the test off. Make sure no toxic pollutants are showing up in the test. That is the way I have handled it

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’d have the well water tested for copper before I stopped using a di on it.

 

[TheDuude]

Icp test on the way... I'll be back here with results when I have them.

 

[jepuskar]

I see im in the same boat...going through Anion resin like crazy. New build, new home. City well water. Cation/Mixed bed show no color change, but I'm on my 3rd Anion change...and that is just to get the tank filled initially. I'm getting a pH meter, but likely our issues are going to be the same.

I need to take another water test as I added a water softener after these results were obtained.

 

[TheDuude]

City well water?

 

[jepuskar]

City well water?

Yes, my town pumps from 3 different wells...adds chlorine to it and then supplies it to the homes. Does not do anything else to it...so it's like one big common well for us to reap the health benefits of 700ppm tds and excessive sulfate etc etc.

I'm going to pick up some distilled water later today so I can calibrate/test my incoming pH. I'm not happy about the situation..most like getting another storage container because of the room in the garage...will aerate the RO water and the gravity feed the DI..assuming my CO2 is bad..which almost certain it is.

 

[brclark82]

I have a well and was running through resin quickly as well. Changed to a 3 stage DI and only the Anion was being depleted quickly. Found out it was CO2 so if it is only your Anion you can probably safely assume it’s CO2, if it’s both then you have other issues.

I ended up just adding a second trash can. Now I run through my RO into the first trash can at around 3 TDS from 600+…I have an air stone in this trash can and let it off gas for a couple days or more depending on needs. Then I pump it through my DI into the final trash can and barely notice any DI resin usage at this point. Honestly wish I hadn’t upgraded to the 3 stage because it’s completely unnecessary for the amount of water I use but I have made around 500 gallons with the new setup and can barely see any resin discoloration so far.

 

[jepuskar]

I have a well and was running through resin quickly as well. Changed to a 3 stage DI and only the Anion was being depleted quickly. Found out it was CO2 so if it is only your Anion you can probably safely assume it’s CO2, if it’s both then you have other issues.

I ended up just adding a second trash can. Now I run through my RO into the first trash can at around 3 TDS from 600+…I have an air stone in this trash can and let it off gas for a couple days or more depending on needs. Then I pump it through my DI into the final trash can and barely notice any DI resin usage at this point. Honestly wish I hadn’t upgraded to the 3 stage because it’s completely unnecessary for the amount of water I use but I have made around 500 gallons with the new setup and can barely see any resin discoloration so far.

Yeah. I'm not the OP...but that is what is happening with me. I will probably be able to gravity feed my DI as the new aeration container will be about 6 feet above it. I had no idea this was a thing...my previous home/setup had lake Michigan water....which is awesome compared to this crap.