DI COLOR CHANGE RESIN

[renato120]

This is how my resin looks with less than 40g of water made

 

[renato120]

I just don't see it in the pic. I see black line in, blue good water line out, but cant see the waste line.

The one I am pointing goes right to the laundry pipe.

 

[Pancake]

So, might be a huge pain in the butt, but can you move the one sensor between the RO membrane and the DI stage?

I think you should just buy a pen style tds meter for 12 bucks on amazon and compare the readings. You can see if the pen is within range by testing a bottle of sparkletts, it should be 8-15 tds or somewhere within that range. Yeah something is definitely not right. Also adding valves between lines and purging the water post each filter will help remove tds creep and is a convenient way to test the water to see which filter needs to be replaced.

 

[TaylorPilot]

Will this one works as well?
The one you bought it doesn’t have the prime. Will take a week to be here. this on will arrive next day.

I haven't tried it, but it has what you need, so it should work. I will add also that the problem with most RODI system installs is that they are not "one size fits all". You really need to know the quality of your water coming into your home first, then build the system around it. The problem is most people don't want to do that, and as a new hobbyist you have a million other things you are trying to figure out, so they just make simple kits that will get the job mostly done. But if people were better educated on figuring this stuff out, the amount of money you have spent on Di resin in the past year or so could have paid for this:

SpectraPure - Innovators in Water Technology

SpectraPure, Inc. is an Industry Standard in the Water Purification world. From Drinking Water to Aquarium Systems, you don't just want pure water, you want the PUREST Water! Get it with SpectraPure!

www.spectrapure.com

I think companies who design RODI systems should sell a kit that has all the tests you would need to perform a few test to help make you a custom system designed for your water supply. Then you would also have tests to determine when your filters are spent. Just changing them on a time basis is not good. Some filters may have 70% life still in them. If properly pre-treated, and with the flush ratio right, a Dow RO membrane could last 5-7 years under moderate use (avg size aquarium).

 

[renato120]

I haven't tried it, but it has what you need, so it should work. I will add also that the problem with most RODI system installs is that they are not "one size fits all". You really need to know the quality of your water coming into your home first, then build the system around it. The problem is most people don't want to do that, and as a new hobbyist you have a million other things you are trying to figure out, so they just make simple kits that will get the job mostly done. But if people were better educated on figuring this stuff out, the amount of money you have spent on Di resin in the past year or so could have paid for this:

SpectraPure - Innovators in Water Technology

SpectraPure, Inc. is an Industry Standard in the Water Purification world. From Drinking Water to Aquarium Systems, you don't just want pure water, you want the PUREST Water! Get it with SpectraPure!

www.spectrapure.com

I think companies who design RODI systems should sell a kit that has all the tests you would need to perform a few test to help make you a custom system designed for your water supply. Then you would also have tests to determine when your filters are spent. Just changing them on a time basis is not good. Some filters may have 70% life still in them. If properly pre-treated, and with the flush ratio right, a Dow RO membrane could last 5-7 years under moderate use (avg size aquarium).

I say I could have bought 5 a least. No joking.
I bought the test kit should be here tomorrow. I will check the chlorine

 

[DeepBlueSeaV1]

How old is your RO membrane?

If your supply water has Chloramines, and you haven't used a specific chloramine carbon, pretty good chance your RO membrane is shot and as a result, DI is being exhuasted attempting to pick up the slack of a bad RO membrane.

TDS Monitor... You want to know your TDS INTO into the 1st stage filter and the TDS leaving the membrane before DI cartridge. If you have a 98%-99% RO membrane and your input is 100 TDS, you should have membrane out of 1 or 2 TDS. The DI cartridge then polishes the 1-2 down to 0. If you watch the TDS OUT of membrane, you'll always have an understanding of the 'health' of your RO membrane and know when you need to swap it out.

I bet your RO out TDS is extremely high.

 

[DeepBlueSeaV1]

Is this your water supply company... Use this to check chloramine usage for your area.

My Water System – Pennichuck

pennichuck.com

 

[DeepBlueSeaV1]

Looks like Chlorine is used in the pennichuck, nashua, NH

https://pennichuck.com/pdf/CCR-A0.pdf

 

[renato120]

How old is your RO membrane?

If your supply water has Chloramines, and you haven't used a specific chloramine carbon, pretty good chance your RO membrane is shot and as a result, DI is being exhuasted attempting to pick up the slack of a bad RO membrane.

TDS Monitor... You want to know your TDS INTO into the 1st stage filter and the TDS leaving the membrane before DI cartridge. If you have a 98%-99% RO membrane and your input is 100 TDS, you should have membrane out of 1 or 2 TDS. The DI cartridge then polishes the 1-2 down to 0. If you watch the TDS OUT of membrane, you'll always have an understanding of the 'health' of your RO membrane and know when you need to swap it out.

I bet your RO out TDS is extremely high.

Membrane was last changed on April 2017. Even before that I had the same problem.
the TDS reads
In reads:101ppm
Out reads: 001 now. I just changed last night but the DI is gone. I need to do fill it with DI RESIN it again to go back to 0

 

[renato120]

Looks like Chlorine is used in the pennichuck, nashua, NH

https://pennichuck.com/pdf/CCR-A0.pdf

It looks like it.

 

[MTBake]

So you have 001ppm tds coming out of the membrane and going into the di? And di is still being used up that fast?

Sounds like high co2 to me.

Following to see what the culprit is.

 

[DeepBlueSeaV1]

Membrane was last changed on April 2017. Even before that I had the same problem.
the TDS reads
In reads:101ppm
Out reads: 001 now. I just changed last night but the DI is gone. I need to do fill it with DI RESIN it again to go back to 0

No way a DI cartridge is expired so quickly with 1 TDS out of RO membrane. You have to be plumbed incorrectly. You are pushing waste water through your DI and dumping RO water.

 

[TaylorPilot]

No way a DI cartridge is expired so quickly with 1 TDS out of RO membrane. You have to be plumbed incorrectly. You are pushing waste water through your DI and dumping RO water.

Maybe, but not necessarily. The two things that will burn through DI faster than anything won't be picked up by a TDS meter. A Dow membrane can handle A LOT of chloramines without doing damage to the membrane, but it will pass right through it, so you won't have much of a TDS drop, but the water could still be full of chloramines. Free chlorine will destroy the membrane pretty quick though. If the water report you posted is true, they are only using free chlorine and not that much of it. I would have to agree with @MTBake, it is looking like the likely culprit is CO2, aka the hardest thing to treat for....

 

[renato120]

So you have 001ppm tds coming out of the membrane and going into the di? And di is still being used up that fast?

Sounds like high co2 to me.

Following to see what the culprit is.

Yes that’s what’s happening. And how to I fix the co2?

 

[MTBake]

Yes that’s what’s happening. And how to I fix the co2?

2 choices really.

1)
You will need a holding tank for the ro water. Airate that with an air pump with air stone. Let it airate for 24 hrs before sending that water through the di stgaes.

2)
Get the co2/silicate buster add on di resin stages from BRS. And replace the anion resin as it becomes depleted.

I would go with 1 myself. High co2 is the hardest thing to remedy with a ro/di system, imo.

There are tests available to see if you have high co2 in your water. I did not use one. I set up a spare 10 gallon tank and pumped the ro water into that. Airated it for 24 hours and gravity fed it through the di stage separated from the system. After making 100 gallons and not seeking a color change, I had found the issue. I have since moved and no longer have high co2 in my source water. It was a pain.

 

[TaylorPilot]

Yes that’s what’s happening. And how to I fix the co2?

The only way I know to do it is to bring your tap water into a larger reservoir like a rotomold container, aerate the water so the CO2 can off gas, then have a feed pump that pumps it to your high pressure pump that feeds the RODI unit. When you get the test strips tomorrow and test the levels going into the RO membrane we will know more. I wouldn't do anything until you can rule chlorine out.

 

[TaylorPilot]

2 choices really.

1)
You will need a holding tank for the ro water. Airate that with an air pump with air stone. Let it airate for 24 hrs before sending that water through the di stgaes.

2)
Get the co2/silicate buster add on di resin stages from BRS. And replace the anion resin as it becomes depleted.

I would go with 1 myself. High co2 is the hardest thing to remedy with a ro/di system, imo.

There are tests available to see if you have high co2 in your water. I did not use one. I set up a spare 10 gallon tank and pumped the ro water into that. Airated it for 24 hours and gravity fed it through the di stage separated from the system. After making 100 gallons and not seeking a color change, I had found the issue. I have since moved and no longer have high co2 in my source water. It was a pain.

This would be cheaper than my way because it doesn't require a HP pump to pump it through the RO, but there is a chance that while you are aerating the clean RO water, you will reintroduce contaminants back to the water. Water is a great air filter, and any contaminants in the bubble will stick to the water raising your TDS. It is probably better to off gas the raw tap water before running it through any filtration, but it might not be worth the added expense. I would probably do a little experiment like he said by gravity dripping it through the DI. If it works, you can figure out how involved you want to get into making it completely automated, maybe do it in stages.

 

[MTBake]

This would be cheaper than my way because it doesn't require a HP pump to pump it through the RO, but there is a chance that while you are aerating the clean RO water, you will reintroduce contaminants back to the water. Water is a great air filter, and any contaminants in the bubble will stick to the water raising your TDS. It is probably better to off gas the raw tap water before running it through any filtration, but it might not be worth the added expense. I would probably do a little experiment like he said by gravity dripping it through the DI. If it works, you can figure out how involved you want to get into making it completely automated.

Contaminants were a concern for sure. I didn't notice any issues but only had to run like this for a year.

I wouldn't invest much more than trouble shooting the problem right now. Once it's obvious what the issue is, then it can be fixed.

 

[TaylorPilot]

Contaminants were a concern for sure. I didn't notice any issues but only had to run like this for a year.

I wouldn't invest much more than trouble shooting the problem right now. Once it's obvious what the issue is, then it can be fixed.

Exactly my sentiment. Isolate the problem then come up with a game plan on how he wants to set it up long term.

 

[DeepBlueSeaV1]

Maybe this thread would help. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-co2-degassing-chamber-for-ro-di.212587/