RODI help

[Davisc1293]

Hi everyone I'm looking for some advice on a recent issue. I've been using the aquatic life 4 stage twist in rodi filter and honestly until recently it has been great for my needs. I wanted somthing small and compact that can be mounted in a Rubbermaid container and stored in a closet because I am limited on space. This unit has been great because I can bring it out once a week to make the water I need and store it when not in use. It has allways produced 0tds water until the last 2 or three weeks now and i cant seem to figure it out. The water coming out of my tap is around 150 tds the ro membranes is getting it down to 3 or 4 however the di is only getting it down to 2 tds. Thinking I had a bad batch of di resign I replaced all cartridges except for the ro and am still getting 2 tds and I can smell the water in the container it does have a slight chlorine smell compared to the batch of 0tds water I have left that has zero odor from a few weeks ago. I reached out to aquatic life and they are sending me some cartridge add ons both for the regular cartridges and also one for the ro to add more stages.

My question is what should I add first a second carbon filter? A second di filer? Or a second ro filter? Running two ro membranes doesn't make much sence to me as I would be feeding the waste water into the second membrane. And don't see how that will be more efficient.

 

[00W]

Hi everyone I'm looking for some advice on a recent issue. I've been using the aquatic life 4 stage twist in rodi filter and honestly until recently it has been great for my needs. I wanted somthing small and compact that can be mounted in a Rubbermaid container and stored in a closet because I am limited on space. This unit has been great because I can bring it out once a week to make the water I need and store it when not in use. It has allways produced 0tds water until the last 2 or three weeks now and i cant seem to figure it out. The water coming out of my tap is around 150 tds the ro membranes is getting it down to 3 or 4 however the di is only getting it down to 2 tds. Thinking I had a bad batch of di resign I replaced all cartridges except for the ro and am still getting 2 tds and I can smell the water in the container it does have a slight chlorine smell compared to the batch of 0tds water I have left that has zero odor from a few weeks ago. I reached out to aquatic life and they are sending me some cartridge add ons both for the regular cartridges and also one for the ro to add more stages.

My question is what should I add first a second carbon filter? A second di filer? Or a second ro filter? Running two ro membranes doesn't make much sence to me as I would be feeding the waste water into the second membrane. And don't see how that will be more efficient.

It is possible that your source water changed and contains chloramines now, which, in my understanding can wreck the ro membrane which cannot filter this out.
Amazon sells an in line filter for the ro buddie for chloramines you can easily install.
I've been using the buddie for years and love everything about it.
Only other thing I can think of is if your water pressure has changed and is too low the system is not going to work properly.

 

[Davisc1293]

It is possible that your source water changed and contains chloramines now, which, in my understanding can wreck the ro membrane which cannot filter this out.
Amazon sells an in line filter for the ro buddie for chloramines you can easily install.
I've been using the buddie for years and love everything about it.
Only other thing I can think of is if your water pressure has changed and is too low the system is not going to work properly.

My mother works for the department of public works and the first thing I did a couple weeks ago was have her ask the guys at the water department if anything has changed which they confirmed has not. I do live in a rather large apartment complex though, so I have no idea what happens to the watter when it gets here from the town.

As far as pressure that's somthing I never checked. I have a pressure gauge and a in line tds meter I never hooked up but I could check into pressure I'm sure easy enough and make sure it's adequate, but I'll have nothing to compare it to. We seem to have great pressure out of all our faucets though.

And I havnt seen any other carbon blocks for the ro buddy just the typical red twist in but I will try and search for it. Thank you for the feedback!

 

[00W]

My mother works for the department of public works and the first thing I did a couple weeks ago was have her ask the guys at the water department if anything has changed which they confirmed has not. I do live in a rather large apartment complex though, so I have no idea what happens to the watter when it gets here from the town.

As far as pressure that's somthing I never checked. I have a pressure gauge and a in line tds meter I never hooked up but I could check into pressure I'm sure easy enough and make sure it's adequate, but I'll have nothing to compare it to. We seem to have great pressure out of all our faucets though.

And I havnt seen any other carbon blocks for the ro buddy just the typical red twist in but I will try and search for it. Thank you for the feedback!

It's just a thought.
I don't know how to link it, really haven't ever figured that out but it's made by envig.
Water pressure for the buddie has to be over 35 psi.
Could be possible it falls below that when everyone is using the water.
I have no idea just a shot in the dark.

 

[Davisc1293]

I'm back! Lol I appreciate the advice I got and was able to order those envig catalytic carbon filter and aquatic life is sending me attachments to add more stages to setup.

In what order should I put these filters? Is it ok for the catalytic Carbon to go before the sediment. As this isn't a twist in like my other stages. Or should I put the sediment on one of the add ons they're sending then go through the envig and then send that to the ro buddy and just run an extra carbon block where the sediment was?

 

[Davisc1293]

I went ahead and added the catalytic Carbon after the sediment and before the regular carbon, followed by the ro and di cartridges. The added catalytic filter ended up making the water come out closer 5-8 tds so overall worse? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm wondering if I should keep the catalytic in hopes it is taking care of any chloramines that my be present even if it is increasing the overall tds, and hope adding another di stage when it comes in will helps clean up the rest, but right now the di stage doesn't seem to be doing much of anything.

 

[Shirak]

If your DI mixed bed is working properly you should get 0 TDS out of tap water.. until it stops working which would be quickly. BUT it should still give you 0 tds. IF it is not then there is a problem with the DI stage.

 

[Davisc1293]

If your DI mixed bed is working properly you should get 0 TDS out of tap water.. until it stops working which would be quickly. BUT it should still give you 0 tds. IF it is not then there is a problem with the DI stage.

This started with what I thought to be a bad batch of di so I bought a new cartridge and am getting the same results even after adding a catalytic carbon block. I have 2 di cartridges one was less then 6 months (but still no sign of color change as i only make about 5 gallons a week) and the other I just got. Aquatic life is sending me some more add ons so I plan on running both in series when it comes in. But I don't understand how the di stage isn't working all of a sudden

 

[Shirak]

Have a few photos of the DI stage? Sometimes the color change is subtle..

I don't have an explanation either. If you have 5ppm water going in then you should get 0 out if it's working. If you are not, then there is a problem with the resin or it's channeling through too fast and not getting filtered properly, or the tds meter is broken..

New carbon block will take out impurities and chlorines etc but won't affect the TDS going into the RO membrane. Good way to check to make sure your carbon is working is a pool chlorine test kit. They are designed for chlorine and chloramines. Test the water going into the RO canister periodically.

 

[Davisc1293]

So the tds coming out of the sediment filter was 91 tds coming out of the catalytic Carbon was 110 so maybe it just needs to be rinsed longer but I would assume something is wrong with the di aswell but I did just change it the color change on these twist in is pretty obvious but like I said I changed it anyways and still no difference. And this is on a unit that has worked great for over a year

 

[Shirak]

TDS out of the RO going into the DI?

 

[Shirak]

In theory you should be able to run tap water through the mixed bed DI and get 0 tds water... aka Brita filter

So even if your RO membrane is letting some TDS through the DI should catch it. It is possible the DI is bad even if it's new. Only other explanation I have is the TDS meter is not reading correctly.

 

[Davisc1293]

In theory you should be able to run tap water through the mixed bed DI and get 0 tds water... aka Brita filter

So even if your RO membrane is letting some TDS through the DI should catch it. It is possible the DI is bad even if it's new. Only other explanation I have is the TDS meter is not reading correctly.

I have ruled out the tds meter with a second meter and testing the last of the "good" water I was able to collect a few weeks ago still reading 0 tds. And other then using the third and final new di cartridge I've ruled out the di cartridge themselves (in fact I've replaced everything except the ro and even added the catalytic) I do have a 75 gpd membrane I can replace the current 100gpd but like you said the di should be able to do it I don't want to keep throwing $50+ filters at it but what else can I check?

 

[Shirak]

I have ruled out the tds meter with a second meter and testing the last of the "good" water I was able to collect a few weeks ago still reading 0 tds. And other then using the third and final new di cartridge I've ruled out the di cartridge themselves (in fact I've replaced everything except the ro and even added the catalytic) I do have a 75 gpd membrane I can replace the current 100gpd but like you said the di should be able to do it I don't want to keep throwing $50+ filters at it but what else can I check?

I would start back at the beginning. Check TDS of tap water, water coming out of the RO unit both RO and waste water. Confirm the RO membrane is working. You mentioned a little chlorine smell. It's possible the RO membrane is shot and you are getting RO water with too high tds for the DI cartridge to handle.

Also confirm the RO water is going into the DI housing and not the waste water accidently.

If everything checks out but the water coming out of the DI is the same TDS as the water going in then get a couple pounds of mixed color changing DI resin from BRS and repack the DI cartridge with fresh resin. I have used these housings myself and they are not hard to refill.

 

[Davisc1293]

I guess changing the ro is the only thing I have not changed so after i confirm water pressure i will change that too and I do have a 75gpd elmembrane which is supposedly more efficient then the 100gpd I am using but the membrane in there now does seem to be working. The tds out of the tap is over 180 the ro is getting it down to 5-8 these twist in cartridges are not able to be re packed but as I have mentioned I already changed it once thinking it was a bad cartridge.

 

[Shirak]

I guess changing the ro is the only thing I have not changed so after i confirm water pressure i will change that too and I do have a 75gpd elmembrane which is supposedly more efficient then the 100gpd I am using but the membrane in there now does seem to be working. The tds out of the tap is over 180 the ro is getting it down to 5-8 these twist in cartridges are not able to be re packed but as I have mentioned I already changed it once thinking it was a bad cartridge.

The DI is capable if it has the screw cap which it should. I use two on my system for cation resin and one for final mixed bed.

5-8 is a little high if you are starting with 180. Did you confirm the lines didn't get crossed and your RO is going into the DI? The RO buddie DI is not really big so if for some reason 180ppm was going into the DI it's possible it won't get it all the way to 0 if flow is fast. You would also see it changing color really fast too however if it is working properly.

Can you take a photo or two of your setup?

 

[Davisc1293]

The DI is capable if it has the screw cap which it should. I use two on my system for cation resin and one for final mixed bed.

5-8 is a little high if you are starting with 180. Did you confirm the lines didn't get crossed and your RO is going into the DI? The RO buddie DI is not really big so if for some reason 180ppm was going into the DI it's possible it won't get it all the way to 0 if flow is fast. You would also see it changing color really fast too however if it is working properly.

Can you take a photo or two of your setup?

My setup is very simple there's rly no lines to cross ect. Just twist in the cartridges and hook it up to the sink. It worked great or almost 2 years and now all of a sudden I'm having problems. I will snap a few pictures just to confirm tho.

I removed the envig filter and have it setup how I have used it for years with good results.

I also just checked the water directly from the tap and it is 93-98 not 180. Now coming out of ro at 4tds

 

[Shirak]

RO at 4tds is good! Don't bother swapping membranes or other filters. 4tds into DI mixed bed should give 0tds out. If it's not then it is either bad DI, or meter is busted. There is no other possibility.

Maybe pick up a gallon of distilled water from the store and test meter?

 

[Davisc1293]

RO at 4tds is good! Don't bother swapping membranes or other filters. 4tds into DI mixed bed should give 0tds out. If it's not then it is either bad DI, or meter is busted. There is no other possibility.

Maybe pick up a gallon of distilled water from the store and test meter?

I do have two meters and both read 0 on one of the last "good" batches of water I have left. I'm going to check the pressure today before i try yet anothet di cartridge.

 

[Shirak]

Thanks for the pictures! Only other thing I can think of is the water is somehow not flowing through the DI resin properly. Are you able to see the water going through the resin?