DeepSeaPhilosopher
Community Member
(Sorry for the wall of text, in short I have been using my RODI filter with the flush valve always turned on while in use, have I destroyed my RO membrane? Water TDS is reading 0, so maybe it's ok?)
So I bought a RODI filter a while back and I finally got around to changing the filters today. While I was looking around to figure out what I needed to do I realised I had been using it completely wrong.
It's a 4 stage system, and has (what I now know is) a membrane flush valve built in on top. There are two valves, one from the water line into the RO that I turn on before use, and the other valve on the system. In the instructions it had said to turn the valve on before use, reading online now it must have said to turn it back off again when you go to use it. So every time I've been using it I've had both the water valve and the flush valve on.
I assumed this was the way to use it, and that the valve on the system was essentially a secondary valve to stop water that's still in the system from leaking out after you put all the hoses away. Also, it always sounded like the system was under a lot of stress if I turned off the flush valve before the water valve. I just filled a tub though with the flush valve down, and realised it just takes some time for the water to run through and the system to settle down.
So, what are the consequences of this? I had been getting low TDS readings on the water which is why I thought it was working as intended, but it's reading 0 TDS now which is obviously ideal. Have I probably used up most of the RO membrane's lifespan? I read these things usually last a long time but I assume i've been sending at least a lot of water directly through the membrane? The filters were still quite dirty when I changed them, but it has been quite a while of use.
So I bought a RODI filter a while back and I finally got around to changing the filters today. While I was looking around to figure out what I needed to do I realised I had been using it completely wrong.
It's a 4 stage system, and has (what I now know is) a membrane flush valve built in on top. There are two valves, one from the water line into the RO that I turn on before use, and the other valve on the system. In the instructions it had said to turn the valve on before use, reading online now it must have said to turn it back off again when you go to use it. So every time I've been using it I've had both the water valve and the flush valve on.
I assumed this was the way to use it, and that the valve on the system was essentially a secondary valve to stop water that's still in the system from leaking out after you put all the hoses away. Also, it always sounded like the system was under a lot of stress if I turned off the flush valve before the water valve. I just filled a tub though with the flush valve down, and realised it just takes some time for the water to run through and the system to settle down.
So, what are the consequences of this? I had been getting low TDS readings on the water which is why I thought it was working as intended, but it's reading 0 TDS now which is obviously ideal. Have I probably used up most of the RO membrane's lifespan? I read these things usually last a long time but I assume i've been sending at least a lot of water directly through the membrane? The filters were still quite dirty when I changed them, but it has been quite a while of use.
