Purchased used RO. TDS showing red. questions

[hrdneglcry]

I purchased a second hand Aquatic Life RO Buddie. The Deionization filter has not yet changed all the way. So after doing 35 gallons I used the TDS meter on a new bucket of RO water. The meter goes into the red at about 98 to 101. So I tested my water out of the tap and it is at 112. What does this mean? I have the four stage RO Buddie. As I said the Deionization filter should still be good. Guy said others don't need to be changed but I don't know. Is there one that I would need to change to get that TDS reading down? Is that reading acceptable? I ask because it is not much lower than my regular tap water. Or is it? Reg tap 112, RO water 98

 

[hrdneglcry]

Update guy said its less than a year old. Why am I getting such a high TDS he said it always did 0 TDS?

 

[Jedi1199]

Update guy said its less than a year old. Why am I getting such a high TDS he said it always did 0 TDS?

I know this sounds obvious, but are you sure you have it hooked up correctly?

Did you SEE the water from it on his setup reading 0TDS? I would double check that it is properly installed, and if still having issues, replace all the filters including the RO membrane.

 

[hrdneglcry]

Yeah I just double checked . So I am running water through it now. I measure TDS and now it says 4485 ppm which doesn't make sense since last night tap showed 112 ppm. so i will dump this and test again. Just upsetting. Wasted alot of time and salt filtering 35 gallons before I took the reading. I had run HOT for the first bucket by accident. Now I dropped the whole tds in the bucket and probably broke it. FUN

 

[Jedi1199]

Yeah I just double checked . So I am running water through it now. I measure TDS and now it says 4485 ppm which doesn't make sense since last night tap showed 112 ppm. so i will dump this and test again. Just upsetting. Wasted alot of time and salt filtering 35 gallons before I took the reading. I had run HOT for the first bucket by accident. Now I dropped the whole tds in the bucket and probably broke it. FUN

One thing.. When you test your TDS.. make SURE that the container you hold the water in is ABSOLUTELY clean!! I found this out the hard way!!

I use a small glass container that I wash thoroughly every time I test with it. I make absolutely sure it is clean and completely dry. even dust from the room will skew the results.

I take the clean water tube and fill the glass by hand (meaning I wait the few minutes for it to fill enough to actually test) and then test it.

I never trust the collection can or any other larger container. Most TDS meters will give an accurate reading in an inch or so of water.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Running HOT water through an RO membrane is a good way to kill it.

That membrane might be toast considering it was used and now had HOT water run through it.

Most RO/DI systems are setup
#1 Sediment Filter
#2 Carbon Block
#3 RO membrane
#4 DI Resin

The RO membrane should be removing most of the TDS. Generally 95%-98% of the TDS should be removed by the RO membrane. Your DI stage will remove the last few TDS.

if your source water is 112 and everything is working correctly... you should only be seeing around 5 or 6 TDS MAX out of your RO membrane, and if the DI stage is still good, you should be seeing 0 TDS after the DI stage.

 

[KStatefan]

Wasted alot of time and salt filtering 35 gallons before I took the reading.

How did you waste salt?

 

[Jedi1199]

Yeah I just double checked . So I am running water through it now. I measure TDS and now it says 4485 ppm which doesn't make sense since last night tap showed 112 ppm. so i will dump this and test again. Just upsetting. Wasted alot of time and salt filtering 35 gallons before I took the reading. I had run HOT for the first bucket by accident. Now I dropped the whole tds in the bucket and probably broke it. FUN

Whoa!! Wait!! Are you testing it AFTER adding salt????

You can't do that at all!! You test your TDS directly from the output. NEVER after adding salt. That would explain the crazy jump right there.

As I said above, take the output tube, hold it over a small CLEAN glass, fill an inch or so and then test.

 

[hrdneglcry]

No not after salt. Just saying I was thinking I was putting good RO water into the tank so used up salt. Then when I took a reading there was high TDS. I will try the clean receptacle. But I dropped the Tester in the water and it might be broken now. Aquatic life said to test without DI cartridge to see if the membrane is used up. Thisnis less than a year old. But I ran hot water for 5 gallons not knowing. It should be ok but who knows.

 

[hrdneglcry]

How did you waste salt?

Well here it is. I tried the clean glass measuremnet and its zero. So I didn't waste salt. Was saying I wasted it because the water was measuring high TDS out of the RO before salt and I put 35 gallons of mixed water in the tank. That would have been a waste if that water wasn't RO low tds.

 

[Jedi1199]

Glad it worked out for you... and now you know my trick for proper TDS testing.. Win Win... lol

 

[HBtank]

Nice!

It’s a good idea for any testing to use a clean container, fill and rinse it with whatever water you are testing, then fill it again and test.