Ro Filters?

[tmccaff]

I have a RO unit with one sediment and two carbon blocks. I know my municipality uses chloramine. I noticed though my sediment filter gets extremely bad in only 3 months I am using .5 micron. I also currently use 1 micron and .5 micron carbon blocks. Will carbon blocks actually remove chloramine? Or I need special filter? The Bulk reef carbon block I have says it does remove it but block only lasts 3500 gallons thats what it says anyway and thats water going through it I am guessing I am 4:1 ratio which means I will get 875 gallons roughly before block goes bad.

currently my setup is 0.5 sediment, 1 micron carbon, 0.5 micron carbon, 99% spectrapure membrane and two DI cartridges.
My question is will it be better if I added another sediment?

I was thinking adding 1 micron sediment so I would have 1 micron sediment, 0.5 micron sediment, 1 micron carbon, 0.5 micron carbon. I would think would make my 0.5 sediment filter last longer. Thoughts?

 

[Snoopy 67]

My understanding is, with Chloramines you need 2 carbon filters.
Buckeye Hydro is the one you should ask.

 

[tmccaff]

@Buckeye Hydro thoughts?

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

With chloramines your safest approach is two carbon blocks, with at least the first (upstream) block being one that is designed for chloramine treatment.

For instance, our Chloramine Special RODI uses a sediment filter followed by a Chloraguard Carbon block followed by a Chlorine Grabber.

Remember that the concept of successive filters having smaller and smaller pore sizes is a good one, but that applies to sediment filters only. Once you get to the carbon blocks, you put your highest capacity block first.

Russ

 

[tmccaff]

Ok, so if i have 1 micron carbon and 0.5 micron carbon. The one micron or 0.5 goes first after sediment filter?

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Ok, so if i have 1 micron carbon and 0.5 micron carbon. The one micron or 0.5 goes first after sediment filter?

Look at the spec's for each carbon blocks CHLORINE CAPACITY. Put the one with the higher capacity first. If your vendor doesn't provide that info... get a new vendor!

 

[tmccaff]

I have the spectrapure cf-0.5-10 and looked at site dont show what it is.. hmm?

​

I bought from you before. If I go with the Chloraguard Block and workman would that work for me? Or go with 2 Chlorine grabber. Main issue is my sediment filter I have well water and guessing brown is rust, etc.

​

 

[Snoopy 67]

On a well you are going to have to De-Gass your water before your RO unit.
Right Russ?

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Well... well water is not chlorinated... so unless you have some other issues with your water you haven't mentioned (e.g., organics) you really do not need two carbon blocks. Well water can have high sediment loads relative to muni water, and with sediment you may have to do some experimenting to see what combination or pore sizes works best for you. Here's where I'd start:
5 micron sediment filter->
1 micron sediment filter->
5 mic Workman carbon block
and you may, or may not benefit from degassing your RO water before sending it to the DI - depending upon your level of dissolved CO2.

With muni water with chloramines, as a reasonable compromise between "best available filtration" and "lowest cost filtration" I'd go with:
1 mic sediment filter->
Chloraguard carbon block (1 mic) ->
Chlorine Grabber carbon block (0.5 mic)

The best available would be to use two Chloraguards.

Some people prefer to use a 20" x 4.5" Chloraguard in a Max Flow Housing ahead of the entire RO system. It's always a good idea to have a sediment filter ahead of any carbon block.

The spec sheet on the Chloraguard blocks is here:

https://matrikx.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Chloraguard.pdf

Russ

 

[exnisstech]

I noticed though my sediment filter gets extremely bad in only 3 months

This does not seem excessive for the sediment filter. I change mine every 1-2 months.

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Dialing in which sediment filter works best for you may take some experimenting. Some guidelines:

• Make sure you remove sediment down to 5 mic or smaller in an RO or RODI system.
• If you go through sediment filters too fast, consider adding a second sediment filter with a larger pore size before your existing sediment filter.
• Pore sizes on your carbon block(s) should be no more than 0.5 micron smaller than your sediment filter. The idea here is that you don't want your carbon blocks to capture sediment - you want all the pores in the carbon to remain unclogged so they can do their job - treating chlorine or chloramine.
• If you're in a situation where you have lots of sediment (this is sometimes the case with water from a residential well), and you want to remove the sediment from all water coming into your house, we have solutions for that (e.g., backwashing tank with sediment removal media).

Russ

 

[tmccaff]

Dialing in which sediment filter works best for you may take some experimenting. Some guidelines:

• Make sure you remove sediment down to 5 mic or smaller in an RO or RODI system.
• If you go through sediment filters too fast, consider adding a second sediment filter with a larger pore size before your existing sediment filter.
• Pore sizes on your carbon block(s) should be no more than 0.5 micron smaller than your sediment filter. The idea here is that you don't want your carbon blocks to capture sediment - you want all the pores in the carbon to remain unclogged so they can do their job - treating chlorine or chloramine.
• If you're in a situation where you have lots of sediment (this is sometimes the case with water from a residential well), and you want to remove the sediment from all water coming into your house, we have solutions for that (e.g., backwashing tank with sediment removal media).

Russ

Thanks Russ, I purchased some filters from you and bracket. The brackets come with screws or no? I was thinking 2 sediment filters and 2 carbon blocks.

1st 5 micron sediment, 2nd 1 micron sediment, 3rd chloramine carbon, 4th chlorine grabber. That look correct?

Russ is it too late to add the

1 x Hex Nipple, Poly 2 of them to my order? Thanks​

 

[tmccaff]

I am guessing doing this the 1 micron sediment should last longer

 

[Devisissy]

Spectrapure makes a carbon block for chlorimides. I dont think the sediment filter would deplete like the membrane would with chlorimides.

 

[tmccaff]

Spectrapure makes a carbon block for chlorimides. I dont think the sediment filter would deplete like the membrane would with chlorimides.

I know that but a bad sediment filter will make carbon blocks go bad quickly. That is why I am adding a 5 micron sediment and 1 micron sediment. I am guessing the 5 micron will help a lot since will remove 5 microns and larger. The 1 micron will take care of the rest but should last longer.

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Thanks Russ, I purchased some filters from you and bracket. The brackets come with screws or no? I was thinking 2 sediment filters and 2 carbon blocks.

1st 5 micron sediment, 2nd 1 micron sediment, 3rd chloramine carbon, 4th chlorine grabber. That look correct?

Russ is it too late to add the

1 x Hex Nipple, Poly 2 of them to my order? Thanks​

Not too late! Give us a call this morning

 

[tmccaff]

What is ideal pressure? I am using a booster pump and its 85psi, is that too high?

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

"Ideal pressure..." good question - and one without a straightforward answer!

Manufacturers of residential 1812 (~1.8" in diameter and 12" long) specify the gpd production membranes are capable of at a particular pressure and at a particular water temperature.

With very few exceptions (I've seen this only with a few odd ball communist china membrane manufacturers) this test temperature is 77F (25C).

Nearly all manufacturers use a test pressure of 65 psi or 60 psi. Exceptions to that include Filmtec and some Axeon membranes which are spec'ed at 50 psi.

If you play around with our calculator, you'll see that in terms of gpd or gpm production, you can "make up for" low temperature by adding pressure. But also be aware:

• temps lower than 77 reduce flux (production per unit of membrane area, usually gals per square foot per day) but result in higher rejection
• pressures higher than spec result in higher flux and (within limits) higher rejection.

So, with all that said, there is really not a technical "ideal" pressure.

Practically speaking, in the systems used in this hobby, the more pressure the better, as long as pressures don't exceed limits of any affected components.

The weakest components in these systems, as they are commonly configured by most vendors, are the clear housings. Their upper limit is typically about 80 psi. This is why years ago Buckeye Hydro brought to this market the recommendation that booster pumps be installed after prefilters (and a strainer). In this way we can assure that the pressure limits of affected components are higher, and users can take better advantage of their booster pumps. As most users are unaware of the max operating limits of the many components, including fittings, tubing, RO membrane housing, RO membranes) a good practical target is 90 psi.

Remember also that if you increase permeate production, you may need to install a different flow restrictor to maintain your target recovery (often referred to as the concentrate : permeate ratio in this hobby).

Russ

 

[cjtabares]

With chloramines your safest approach is two carbon blocks, with at least the first (upstream) block being one that is designed for chloramine treatment.

For instance, our Chloramine Special RODI uses a sediment filter followed by a Chloraguard Carbon block followed by a Chlorine Grabber.

Remember that the concept of successive filters having smaller and smaller pore sizes is a good one, but that applies to sediment filters only. Once you get to the carbon blocks, you put your highest capacity block first.

Russ

Could you tell me why the carbon block with the higher capacity would go 1st? If I have a sediment filter with a smaller micron rating then either carbon block does the order of the carbon block mater, and if you have a sediment filter of the same micron rating or worse larger, and your higher capacity carbon block has a smaller micron rating then your 2nd, would the 1st not clog prematurely and not be used to its full potential?

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Could you tell me why the carbon block with the higher capacity would go 1st? If I have a sediment filter with a smaller micron rating then either carbon block does the order of the carbon block mater, and if you have a sediment filter of the same micron rating or worse larger, and your higher capacity carbon block has a smaller micron rating then your 2nd, would the 1st not clog prematurely and not be used to its full potential?

The idea here is to allow your sediment filter(s) to do their job (capture sediment) and allow your carbon block(s) to do their job.

By the time the water gets to the carbon blocks, if the micron ratings on all filters are designed correctly, sediment should be a non-issue. Maybe an example will help here:

BAD: 5 micron sediment->1 micron carbon (the carbon block will capture sediment between 5 and 1 micron)

If you use two carbon blocks, use your best carbon block (highest chlorine capacity) to handle the fully chlorinated water right out of the sediment filter. Use your lower capacity carbon block next to catch any chlorine that got past the first block.

Also - with few exceptions, there's no need for two carbon blocks on systems fed non-chlorinated well water.