New RO/DI set-up

[DmitryB]

I got a BRS 4-stage RO/DI unit set-up last night. Let it run for a while to "flush out" whatever it needs to flush. But checking the TDS readings now 12+ hrs later, it reads between 2 and 4 ppm on the output water. So not the ideal 0. Anybody got any ideas? Is 2-4 still acceptable (right now it would be for cooking LifeRock) or do I need to somehow get it down to 0? (For the record, the input reads about 20 ppm). I've also opened the Flush valve for a while.

(Set this whole thing up in the tub of the guest bathroom, the inline coming out of the handheld shower attachment!)

 

[Uncle99]

It sounds like the DI stage is not working.
Check TDS out of membrane if that’s about the same, DI needs to be checked to ensure water is passing the media.

Sometimes water can “channel” through the DI, or perhaps the media is exhausted.

Open the DI resin container, full of new resin? Should be damp, maybe blueish, but not yelllow.

We expect out of RO, that 95 to 99% of source TDS is gone and that DI mops up the last few %.

I don’t know what’s in the 4ppm you measure now, so me, not using that. Not taking that risk, be it small.

Should not be hard to fix I think.

Go for zero!

 

[DmitryB]

It sounds like the DI stage is not working.
Check TDS out of membrane if that’s about the same, DI needs to be checked to ensure water is passing the media.

Sometimes water can “channel” through the DI, or perhaps the media is exhausted.

We expect out of RO, that 95 to 99% of source TDS is gone and that DI mops up the last few %.

I don’t know what’s in the 4ppm you measure now, so me, not using that. Not taking that risk, be it small.

Is DI the last stage, with the blue thing inside? These are brand new out of a box, so I'd hope the media is not exhausted! Am I looking for anythings specific if I take the membrane?

 

[KStatefan]

It looks like you have a 2 position tds meter what are the two readings

 

[Uncle99]

Is DI the last stage, with the blue thing inside? These are brand new out of a box, so I'd hope the media is not exhausted! Am I looking for anythings specific if I take the membrane?

You need to test tds at the source, say 150 tds and then what it is after RO. If that process results in say 10ppm or under, then RO is working well. If it’s much more then RO membrane is done.

DI is last and can easily t make 10ppm to zero.
It can make higher TDS zero as well but exhausts the media super fast (expensive) so you want to make sure your RO filter is removing 95-99% of your tap water tds.

Is the DI filter solid dark black when water running through it%. Does it look fresh? Based on your post it sounds like your water is not passing through the DI cannister much. Is the DI container upside down maybe. I’ve had this several times over the years and after flushing the container a few times, it just seems to start working.

When new, it should take and hour to get a zero reading when working correctly.

When testing, I use a 150ml glass container, super clean and dry, with say 100ml of water and test right away.

The hand held pen tds meters work good with this

 

[DmitryB]

It looks like you have a 2 position tds meter what are the two readings

It's reading about 20 ppm on the In and 2-4 ppm on Out.

 

[Shirak]

Looks like your DI is working as there is some changed to orange already at the bottom. 20ppm into the DI is a bit high. What is your source water? Is it from a well?

 

[DmitryB]

You need to test tds at the source, say 150 tds and then what it is after RO. If that process results in say 10ppm or under, then RO is working well. If it’s much more then RO membrane is done.

DI is last and can easily t make 10ppm to zero.
It can make higher TDS zero as well but exhausts the media super fast (expensive) so you want to make sure your RO filter is removing 95-99% of your tap water tds.

Is the DI filter solid dark black when water running through it%. Does it look fresh? Based on your post it sounds like your water is not passing through the DI cannister much. Is the DI container upside down maybe. I’ve had this several times over the years and after flushing the container a few times, it just seems to start working.

When new, it should take and hour to get a zero reading when working correctly.

When testing, I use a 150ml glass container, super clean and dry, with say 100ml of water and test right away.

The hand held pen tds meters work good with this

Here's a photo of the DI filter. IT's black except on the bottom. What is that other color?

How do I know if it's upside down? I mean, I can open that canister and flip it...

And it's not the white tube on top, right? Leave that alone?

 

[DmitryB]

Looks like your DI is working as there is some changed to orange already at the bottom. 20ppm into the DI is a bit high. What is your source water? Is it from a well?

I do believe it's from a well. It is not the cleanest water. There is a brownish residue that you can see if you boil water, etc.

 

[Uncle99]

Here's a photo of the DI filter. IT's black except on the bottom. What is that other color?

How do I know if it's upside down? I mean, I can open that canister and flip it...

And it's not the white tube on top, right? Leave that alone?

What’s TDS from tap?
I’m guessing 300 ish?
Filter looks right to me in pic

 

[DmitryB]

Here's a photo of the DI filter. IT's black except on the bottom. What is that other color?

How do I know if it's upside down? I mean, I can open that canister and flip it...

And it's not the white tube on top, right? Leave that alone?

What’s TDS from tap?
Filter looks right, screw on cap at bottom.

The In readings have ranged from 11 to 20 ppm. Output 2 to 4 ppm.

 

[Uncle99]

So I see, used Resin at the bottom of the cannister as many change from black to dirty yellow as it’s used up. So DI is processing water.

All what I see looks fine. 11 to 20 is high coming into DI.

Well water usually needs some additional work, there’s quite a few vids that explain what you can do.

It would be interesting to know what source tds was.

 

[reefeer]

20 ppm seems pretty high after a new RO membrane, but even then the DI resin should still be able to polish it down to 0 TDS. I’d double-check the DI cartridge/resin — make sure it’s seated correctly, packed tightly, and that water is actually flowing through the resin the right way.

 

[Shirak]

The TDS meter is probably set up to measure RO TDS and then final TDS after DI. Where is the other sensor located? Is it on the line that goes from the RO housing to the DI cartridge?

You could move it to the line coming from the shower fitting going into the sediment cartridge to check the TDS of your source water.

Maybe you have a lot of CO2 in your well water? Either that or your source water is very high in TDS

 

[DmitryB]

One thing I did just find out is just how dirty the water is. I got a distiller recently and ran it for the first time yesterday.This is what was left after 1 gallon of distillation.

 

[Shirak]

One thing I did just find out is just how dirty the water is. I got a distiller recently and ran it for the first time yesterday.This is what was left after 1 gallon of distillation.

My well is pretty silty and goes through house sediment filters down to one micron. It’s also pretty hard with the limestone rock out here by Lake Ontario. I am still able to get my 280ppm tds water down to 2-3ppm post RO with a 99% rejection membrane.
I also run a very high waste water ratio as there is still silt in the water that gets through and it will clog the membrane otherwise. So it’s basically running in flush mode…. Comes out of the ground on one side of the house and back into the ground on the other!
You should be doing a lot better than 14ppm RO!