In the market for an RO system. How does this one look for starters?

[JB_OrchidGuy]

RO system on fleabay

How does this look, I was thinking about getting a large holding tank setup with a float switch and using a pump to water out of the holding tank, but would also like to have an on demand pressure tank too. Is there any advantage to having two DI units when it comes to plants?

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Looks fine..

What I look for:
Standard size filter housings. (this unit uses them)
Separate particle prefilter and carbon block so you can change only the one that's needed and not clog your carbon block by using it as the particle prefilter as well. Would like to see 1micron though instead of 5.

All the extra DI cartridges and such are overkill. They won't hurt but they are not needed to produce water plenty pure enough for all cps.

I am skeptical of the water output as well as the ratio of 1:1 1:1.5 they claim.

 

[JB_OrchidGuy]

That is why I wanted folks with more experience to assist me. I have never used an RO system at home before. I assume the hospital used one its steris machine, but it had 2 filters and no waste water outlet that I remember, and it was supposed to be producing sterile water for the machine from tap as it rinsed the freshly sterilized piece of equipment with the tap water that came through the two filters. Maybe it filtered out the bugs but not the minerals.

Ok so if I had the choice of pressurized tank over a second DI go with the tank. and look for a 1 micron filter. Cool cool. I need one of these soon. I think plants are suffering. EEEGADS!!!

 

[blokeman]

I have this as RO filter, so far so good, I have had no issues with my plants reacting bad to it. It has a pre-carbon filter a sediment filter and a RO membrane( it's either 3-4 stage, unsure... how noob of me), that's it. As for cost, I got it second hand, and have been using it for the past 5-6 months... Saved myself a lot of cash in getting it as I was buying more and more water as time went by. It only set me back 300$, but will end up saving me 200$ by one year, not including replacement filters...
Sadly, I can't test my water, as I don't have a TDS meter, but as I mentioned, no ill effects so far.
I unplugged the cold water line from my washing machine and plugged this in its place. I have a huge rubbermaid storage container full with 35 gallons of pure high quality H2O, ready at all times. I used to have it plugged in at my parents place in their garage, but I was tired of lugging 50L of water every week up two flights of stairs.
Hope this helps! feel free to pm me
here's my RO filter:

 

[Tony Paroubek]

You would have to ask someone else about the pressure tank systems. I have never used one. I know they work on the water pressure of the line and as the tank fills the rejection ratio gets worse as the pressure in the tank increases closer to the line pressure. I think they make a booster pump which works to pressurize the tank independently and keep the RO membrane working at full efficiency.

There are certainly other systems such as pure DI etc. They don't have any wasted rejection water. The hospital filtration system probably used some sort of milipore filters to remove any harmful pathogens. Many labs use them to sterilize fluids without heat. But their function is to sterilize not remove chemicals.

RO filters over the years have gotten crazy with all the stages. People have the mentality that more is better. If you find a good deal on a RO system you like and it has those extra stages you can simply use them and not replace them filter later. Simply remove the filter when it's exhausted. It won't matter to the water if it's flowing through an empty filter housing. Or you could remove the housings themselves but seems like extra unneeded work. If it takes standard filters you can purchase higher quality filters to use once the initial filters are due for a change. Which is why the standard filter housings are necessary. You are not limited to a manufacturer specific filter to fit only their housing. Remember though that your particle filter needs to be the same micron or smaller than your carbon block.

 

[Tony Paroubek]

You could bring a sample of water to a decent aquarium pet shop Blokeman. They should be able to test it for you. You could also bring in a sample of your source water and your rejection water to see how well the system is functioning.
Each filter step is counted as a stage. So seperate particle and carbon block prefiltering plus RO membrane is 3stage. All you really need for very high quality water your plants will be happy with. It is however important to see where the filters are. I have seen many 3 stage systems that use a single combination particle/carbon prefilter, RO membrane, and a carbon POST filter. These are much cheaper and not worth it when for a few bucks more you could have a much better system.

Just as a side note Josh.. Go with one rated at 100gpd or higher. Your actual water production will be lower than stated regardless of the claims. Your water pressure and temperature will not be ideal, which is what they have when they measure these things. So water that is colder and lower pressure than the 'ideal' will decrease the output.

 

[Av8tor1]

Josh,

Tony is spot on as usual,... the 1:1 rejetion ratio is unrealistic. It can be done easy enough but at the cost of membrane life. The brine output is used to constantly flush the membrane. Membrane manufacturers recommend a 4:1 ratio or their warranty is void.

This particular unit does not appear to have a manual flush valve. I would also recommend one with the captive air tank and permeate pump

Be prepared to spend closer to $200 after its all said and done but you will have the system for many years

A good unit will be reliable and inexpensive to maintain, a cheap unit will be unreliable and expensive to maintain

Av

edit: Josh.... This seems like a decent deal.
At the first filter change I would make some changes in prefilter selection. But this will be true of most any ebay system.
In the last five years there has been a steady drop in "bang for the buck"

Caveat... I dont have any first hand knowledge of this vendor or their quality

http://cgi.ebay.com/100-GPD-RO-Reverse-Osmosis-6-Stage-Permeate-Pump-3-NEW_W0QQitemZ390063870837QQcmdZViewItemQQptZSmall_Kitchen_Appliances_US?hash=item5ad19e5375&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

this system does not appear to come with a manual flush valve, but that can be taken care of with a couple tees and a ball valve from lowes

 

[mark.ca]

Agree! When the filters were new i was getting a bit over 1:1,5....now it's more like 1:2. The 0 PPM i was suposed to get i did not! From the beginning i got around 10ppm....they say the presure of the water going in was/is too high....yeah right! The tanks come presurized most times u want to use the water all you have to do is open the valve and the water will just shoot out with pressure depending on how full is the tank. For a larger collection go with 20 gal. This unit that you are looking at seems ok....similar to mine.

 

[blokeman]

Brilliant idea Tony, I definately will do that, as I have been curious to know what's coming out ever since I got it, thanks for the tip!

 

[Av8tor1]

Bloke... TDS meters can be found for as little as 15 USD, if you have an RO unit it really is a good idea to have one (and a pressure gauge)

It will help you deteremine when its time to flush/change the membrane and with a pressure gauge you can replace the prefilters based upon actual pressure drop and not based upon calender use

see this link

They can pay for themselves in short order

just my 2cents
Av

 

[blokeman]

Ahhh, LOL, I was 'supposed' to get one, payed for it on ebay, but never received it in the mail... payed 20$ never came... I was too patient and leniant, I sent the seller a couple emails, but to no avail. And by the time I realized I could do something, the 90 day delay period was gone by, and at that point, I kissed my 20 bucks goodbye. Even though I've read multiple times to verify the credibility of a seller, I was just too anxious to get another gadget. Learning from my mistakes

 

[Av8tor1]

I understand, geeze that sux...

fwiw I did a quick google for some sub 20$ models outside of ebay

example

 

[JB_OrchidGuy]

Thanks for the input.