Ro di waste water

Jamie814 · Apr 14, 2026

Freenow54 said:
You can always add a properly sized UV filter . Since you are dealing with fresh water " Geek " Makes a very large one whole house for just over 200 Canadian and replacement parts are reasonable and very available Amazon

UV sterilizers don’t break down or remove chlorine or ammonia, and they don’t filter or take anything out of the water. Instead, they work by killing organisms like bacteria and algae.

Wastewater from a properly functioning RO unit shouldn’t contain chlorine or ammonia because the carbon filters before the RO membrane remove them.
Both chlorine and ammonia can damage the RO membrane.

Reef Jedi · Apr 14, 2026

TangerineSpeedo said:
Can you elaborate on the Co. thing?

@UncommonSense is correct! I’m here near Boulder Colorado and close to the mountains. We have crazy heat and cold extremes so I can’t leave anything outside you don’t want to freeze. As a fun example, it’s been super hot here the last couple weeks and I just turned on and tuned my sprinklers for the summer this weekend. Now of course since I just did that, it’s going to be cold all week and snow Thursday and Friday. Of course this is how it goes here. I do have a couple months of the year I could send it outside but It couldn’t be a permanent option.

Calmwaters · Apr 14, 2026

UncommonSense said:
I plumbed my waste line ~25ft to an outdoor deep water culture hydroponic system in the yard… it tops this ~150g system off, and helps feed whatever I happen to be growing in there at the moment!

(This has since become an aquaponic system, with the adoption of several aquatic turtles, and sees all manner of migratory birds stopping for a drink!)

I love this!

UncommonSense · Apr 14, 2026

Reef Jedi said:
I do have a couple months of the year I could send it outside but It couldn’t be a permanent option.

Hmm… are you opposed to digging a skinny trench?

— Water pipe heating cables are becoming much more prevalent these days!

(You probably don’t need 5w/ft either… maybe 1-2w/ft! For 1/4”-3/8” RO line!)

Mark-Stover · Apr 14, 2026

I too live in Colorado (Evergreen) so although water is precious here mine goes down the drain. I look at it that it’s coming up from the well, then back into the septic so eventually it’s helping the trees on my property get watered.

code4 · Apr 14, 2026

Wyoming here. This may sound crazy. But I decided to see how much water my shower uses today. Plugged my tub and showered as usual. About 20 gallons. Maybe a tad more. I have longish hair.

Then for the exercise I took it outside and poured it into 5 gallon buckets with a small hole drilled low on the sise. Watered my 3 rose of sharons this way.

Reef Jedi · Apr 15, 2026

UncommonSense said:
Hmm… are you opposed to digging a skinny trench?

— Water pipe heating cables are becoming much more prevalent these days!

(You probably don’t need 5w/ft either… maybe 1-2w/ft! For 1/4”-3/8” RO line!)

That’s really not a bad option. I used heat tape to help my friend with a 365 camper situation for him self. His choice he likes living in huge campers but comes with its own challenges in Colorado. This heat tape worked well for his inlet lines. I never thought about putting it on RO lines!

Freenow54 · Apr 15, 2026

DI lasts 6 months as well as all the filters

tbrown · Apr 15, 2026

sergifed91 said:
What does everyone else do with the waste water from their reverse osmosis?
I collect mine. I use it for a few things like washing the car, garden, bathing the dogs, mop water, and etc. Sometimes I use it to rinse the dishes. The water charge has gone up much here I hate to waste it. I have three I use. One for drinking water on the kitchen second for the bathroom sink for brushing my teeth
And the another one for the fish tank. My water from the city is awful. So I use three.

When I was using RODI I used the waste for the garden or, occasionally I added it to top off the freshwater tank.

CopepodsForSale · Apr 15, 2026

Airedale Reef said:
I have the run off going into a brute bucket. I use it to water the plants. Yeah, so much waste to get that 0 TDI.

@UncommonSense the aquaponic turtle setup is wild, would love to see pictures of that whole rig if you ever start a thread on it.

saltyfins · Apr 15, 2026

dloberry said:
I am in a very dry climate as well, i am in the desert so the little water I have from waste water will not do much.

small world! I grew up there, and am now in Nine Mile Falls. One of my sons, still lives there

winzig · Apr 15, 2026

Freenow54 said:
sergifed91 said:

What does everyone else do with the waste water from their reverse osmosis?
I collect mine. I use it for a few things like washing the car, garden, bathing the dogs, mop water, and etc. Sometimes I use it to rinse the dishes. The water charge has gone up much here I hate to waste it. I have three I use. One for drinking water on the kitchen second for the bathroom sink for brushing my teeth
And the another one for the fish tank. My water from the city is awful. So I use three.

Click to expand...

I have a Zero waste system made by Watts I believe in Arizona

I can’t find this anywhere?
May I ask where you got it ?

CapeCoralDan · Apr 15, 2026

I Also send mine to the pool. I'm in Florida, my pool evaporates as quick as my tank!

UncommonSense · Apr 15, 2026

CopepodsForSale said:
@UncommonSense the aquaponic turtle setup is wild, would love to see pictures of that whole rig if you ever start a thread on it.

I’ve been tempted to start threads on both that aquaponic turtle system, and the bespoke turtle pond…

though, I think I’m already pushing my luck enough with @revhtree by sneaking in my 250g freshwater tank as a build thread!

(Then there’s formatting… my systems are all constant projects so it feels strange to list them in the Aquarium showcase as incomplete/ugly, but I can only maintain a profile link to one build thread at a time!)