Ro Membrane Help

[saltfishlover]

ok.. i attached my RO 4 stage unit to my sink. Myself and other use this sink for other things so i have to "tear down" the unit when i am done. thing is i use it about 2-3 times a week. so.. can i just unhook hose from unit. cap off outlet hoses, good water and bad water. then put up? will this keep my membrane wet? should i remove it everytime and put in water? any advice would be great.

thanks


www.napavine.org

 

[prow]

can you not just drill into the supply pipe under the sink and use a supply valve with a drain saddle. or if your plumbing is made of a braided supply hose (tubing) then you can use the supply valve and a supply adaptor. its really simple and then you put the unit under the sink.

 

[saltfishlover]

there is not anyroom for it there. even if i were to put it there.. once i was done i would still have to figure out what to with membrane. could i just cap off the drain lines? how would i "tap " into the braided line?

 

[prow]

you can run a line from the supply source and put the unit anywhere.

for the braided line here a link showing you how its done. http://www.automatedaquariums.com/ro_inkit.htm

you can get all you need from homedepot if you dont like ordering online.

here is a plastic one that work really well too.
http://www.airwaterice.com/product/STV-FPT
have to go to this site and look under installations, but its easy too. i like this better because the water lines to the unit fit right in.

 

[saltfishlover]

thanks.. looks easy. but until then.. what about storing my membrane? can i just turn off water and cap off the drain lines?

 

[prow]

i am not sure on that but would think capping it and putting in the refrigerator should be good. the frig will keep the water fresh, just make sure you dont freeze it and flush it before using it, you should be good to go.

 

[Melev]

ok.. i attached my RO 4 stage unit to my sink. Myself and other use this sink for other things so i have to "tear down" the unit when i am done. thing is i use it about 2-3 times a week. so.. can i just unhook hose from unit. cap off outlet hoses, good water and bad water. then put up? will this keep my membrane wet? should i remove it everytime and put in water? any advice would be great.

thanks


www.napavine.org

When you are done making water, close the output line. The water in the RO unit will remain in there and your filters and membrane will be fine. I don't know what fittings you are using now, but you shouldn't need to cap off the tubing necessarily.

Have you considered putting a faucet divertor on the sink, so you can press a button to enable the RO unit and the rest of the time it operates as a normal faucet?

Moving the tubing so often definitely end up with some wear and tear on the fittings, so I'd try to keep it as stable as possible. I knew a college student that had the unit under the sink in an apartment. He used the faucet diverter, and put the drain line (black) tubing in the sink's drain. The output of the RO unit went into a 5g water cooler jug, and the source line was attached to the diverter. He kept the jug in the sink when making water so that if it overflowed, the water would go down the drain rather than flood the downstair's neighbor. The unit was never moved, but the tubing was long enough to handle the flexing and movement.

 

[saltfishlover]

well ive mounted it on my wall above the sink. Its the only place i have rooom for it right now. so i think ill drill into the cabinet and put "T" line with braided hose. Hope that would work. will i still have to cap/close off the drian lines though? doest the filter drain out water.

 

[blue_eyes53813]

I think you are fine. I use to do the same thing as you.. I believe the membranes can go a month without use.. as much as you are using (2-3 times a week) it will be fine... I would unhook mine from the sink and keep as much water in the unit as possible... If you wrap the hoses up above the unit somehow... it wont drain... You want to keep as much water in it as possible... If it dries out or sits in there longer than a month than you run into problems..

 

[BoomerD]

I've done it the same way you are for almost 20 years with no problems. Don't sweat it...there should be more than enough moisture in the membrane to keep it damp.

 

[Melev]

It will not drain out. It will be fine.

It is recommended you use your RO unit at least once weekly to avoid growing bacterial strains within the unit, which would be detrimental to the health of others (and our fish). AZDesertRat on RC has more details if you want to know what exactly is growing in there. All I care about is what I need to do rather than knowing why.

 

[saltfishlover]

all that really helps alot thanks. last question about it is this. i have a 4 stage and use well water. im not sure what my pressure to the RO unit is, but i have noticed the the water level in the 1st 2 canisters is full. In the 4th stage DI canister though i can only get it to fill 1/2 or less. is this ok? is there something wrong with my unit. I get good flow from unit as it is rated as a 50gpd unit. I get about 5 gals bad water for every 2.5 good gallons made.

 

[Melev]

Lower PSI going into the unit will decrease production rates. The membrane is also less effective at lower PSI, but still does a great job.

The water has to pass through the DI media to exit, so don't worry about that. I find that new DI cartridges can take up to 10 days to stay full all the time, and that even if they do and you make a lot of water in one day (50 - 75g) it may suddenly run 'empty' again for a while. This is not a flaw nor a problem.

 

[saltfishlover]

i c. i thought it had water inside, but it was the outer portion that i see fill with water through the clear plastic. but if water needs to go through to get out then i guess it is pumping good. thanks

 

[burning2nd]

perce valve to 1/4 urothan line, to 1/4 ball valve.

plug the unit in to the ball valve, open the valve. then open the valve on the unit, make water

when its time to pull out and brake camp. close the valve leave the 2.50$ valve and line there.

 

[Woodstock]

Thanks for the info Melev.

Burning2nd... huh?

 

[lcstorc]

Ditto to Woodstock.