RODI no Waste Water

Nasabeau

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Hello. so my RODI unit is about a month old now. I had the waste water line sticking down the drain so I didn't notice till now, but while the water seems to be coming out fine (TDS 0-2 depending on how well I cleaned the container before hand) I am producing minimal if any waste water. is this normal?

Edit: I just got a sterile specimen cup and ran the RODI directly into that and read 0TDS, So I am sure that the TDS is 0. double checked the calibration on the TDS meter and it was also normal.
 
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Tastee

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That doesn’t sound normal. Typical units waste between 1.5-3 to 1 depending on incoming TDS and water pressure.

Can you provide some details of your RODI?
Brand, number of stages etc. A typical setup is 4 stage - sediment, carbon, RO (which is where the waste comes from) then DI.
 
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Nasabeau

Nasabeau

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That doesn’t sound normal. Typical units waste between 1.5-3 to 1 depending on incoming TDS and water pressure.

Can you provide some details of your RODI?
Brand, number of stages etc. A typical setup is 4 stage - sediment, carbon, RO (which is where the waste comes from) then DI.
yes, sorry, it is a coralife 05692 Pure-flow II 4 stage filter. the tubing runs from my faucet to the sediment filter, from there to the carbon filter, from there to the membrane, then to the DI filter, then lastly into my can, with the waste water being vented out of the membrane section.

edit: not sure if this helps at all, but incoming TDS is 20-23PPM depending on the day, and I know that my pressure fluctuates pretty significantly from day to day as well
 

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that's pretty good water,pressure?? timing on good water gph?
 
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Nasabeau

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that's pretty good water,pressure?? timing on good water gph?
it seems to be putting out about 1-2 gallons per hour, I haven't done a very accurate test, but if I turn it on in the morning, there is usually enough to fill my mixing bucket by the evening when I go to bed, which is realistically about 20-25 gallons in about 14-16 hours. I have no idea what the pressure is because there is no gauge on my unit, but assume fairly low house pressure most of the time. my house has pretty bad pressure because we're in an old house at the top of a hill.
 

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You have very good quality incoming water at 20 TDS so your waste will be lower. I consider my water high quality at 70-80 TDS as lots of folk on the forums have well over 100, but yours is much better than mine.

My understanding is that lower water pressure causes more waste, not less, so it sounds like you’re ok there. Most RO systems want 50-70 PSI.

Due to your high quality incoming water your low level of waste output may be quite normal.
 
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Nasabeau

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You have very good quality incoming water at 20 TDS so your waste will be lower. I consider my water high quality at 70-80 TDS as lots of folk on the forums have well over 100, but yours is much better than mine.

My understanding is that lower water pressure causes more waste, not less, so it sounds like you’re ok there. Most RO systems want 50-70 PSI.

Due to your high quality incoming water your low level of waste output may be quite normal.
that blows my mind, since we get water from our well. I kind of was under the impression my water was probably pretty low quality
 
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Nasabeau

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update, watching it today, it is producing more waste water, so maybe it was just something going on when I was looking at it that one time. thank you to everyone for your help!
 
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Nasabeau

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I wish my source water was that low. Mine runs between 295 and 380 TDS. Well water is usually very high in TDS.
IDK what to say... maybe my TDS meter is broken? I mean it calibrates fine, and I've been able to match TDS with ppt salinity using it as a test so I think it's acurate, but if I just run water into a cup out of my tap, the HIGHEST ive seen my TDS is 30

Edit: just tested it catching into a sterile specimen cup from my faucet and got a TDS of 17. I will say my TDS does fluctuate a lot
 

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My TDS is around 20. The main problem I have is the temp is in the low to mid 40s and upper 30s in the winter. All of this can affect the production rate. A booster pump and a watersaver upgrade now and I make over 40 gallons in about 8 hours. A year of making 30 gallons a week and I am going to replace the DI resin for the first time and my sediment filter is still shiny and white.
 
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Nasabeau

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My TDS is around 20. The main problem I have is the temp is in the low to mid 40s and upper 30s in the winter. All of this can affect the production rate. A booster pump and a watersaver upgrade now and I make over 40 gallons in about 8 hours. A year of making 30 gallons a week and I am going to replace the DI resin for the first time and my sediment filter is still shiny and white.
yeah, I noticed when it got cold outside my water production got a lot slower, but I'm just going to be patient and in a pinch I can supplement with distilled water or premixed. I can still usually get enough for a 25% water change inside 24 hours though, so I'm not SUPER concerned. I also turned on the hot water and cold water which raises the temp a little bit and helped a bit. also update, after speaking with my dad (I live in the house next to his, on is property) apparently I was mistaken, our house does not get well water from the faucet, we are on city water, that was my bad. its just his house and the outdoor faucets that the tap is from the well.
 

Ippyroy

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yeah, I noticed when it got cold outside my water production got a lot slower, but I'm just going to be patient and in a pinch I can supplement with distilled water or premixed. I can still usually get enough for a 25% water change inside 24 hours though, so I'm not SUPER concerned. I also turned on the hot water and cold water which raises the temp a little bit and helped a bit. also update, after speaking with my dad (I live in the house next to his, on is property) apparently I was mistaken, our house does not get well water from the faucet, we are on city water, that was my bad. its just his house and the outdoor faucets that the tap is from the well.
Hot water out of your tap will destroy your filters. A booster pump is the way to go.
I bought mine slowly. No big rush. But they are live safers and I use a lot less water now. If you have a garden the waste water would be perfect for it.
 
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Nasabeau

Nasabeau

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Hot water out of your tap will destroy your filters. A booster pump is the way to go.
I bought mine slowly. No big rush. But they are live safers and I use a lot less water now. If you have a garden the waste water would be perfect for it.
oh, good to know. I've only done that once so far, so I will not do it again!! I'm not really super concerned about trying to speed it up that much. maybe somewhere down the road I'll get a booster pump, but for now I produce enough that I'm able to handle my needs. just have to plan ahead a little. usually what I do it water changes on saturday so I run the RODI friday and fill up my bucket, mix saturday morning and change water saturday evening.
 

Ippyroy

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oh, good to know. I've only done that once so far, so I will not do it again!! I'm not really super concerned about trying to speed it up that much. maybe somewhere down the road I'll get a booster pump, but for now I produce enough that I'm able to handle my needs. just have to plan ahead a little. usually what I do it water changes on saturday so I run the RODI friday and fill up my bucket, mix saturday morning and change water saturday evening.
That works fine. If you do get a booster pump make sure you have the water saver kit first. It's not good to readjust the pump after you first set it for some reason. Good luck!
 
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Nasabeau

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That works fine. If you do get a booster pump make sure you have the water saver kit first. It's not good to readjust the pump after you first set it for some reason. Good luck!
when I get out of school and have the money to get my dream tank I will definitely need more flow but for now, for my 75, I think I'm fine XD

Edit: frame of reference here, my dream tank is somewhere around 3-5 hundred gallons. probably a pipe dream, but that's one of my life goals
 
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Nasabeau

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You have very good quality incoming water at 20 TDS so your waste will be lower. I consider my water high quality at 70-80 TDS as lots of folk on the forums have well over 100, but yours is much better than mine.

My understanding is that lower water pressure causes more waste, not less, so it sounds like you’re ok there. Most RO systems want 50-70 PSI.

Due to your high quality incoming water your low level of waste output may be quite normal.
Another question, is it normal that the RODI seems to come out kind of sporadically? it will kind of drip and drip and then suddenly a whole bunch, then back to drips?
 

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Having the proper water pressure isn't just about making RO/DI at a particular rate, it's about efficiency of the RO membrane. If your pressure is low, you don't have enough pressure to push the water thru the membrane at the rate it needs to go thru.

I use this pump from Amazon, which is very similar to the one on BRS but at a significant discount.

My pressure runs at about 30 psi before the pump and 65-80 after the pump. Well worth the expense.

 

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