RO/DI Waste Water

JulesVane

Member
Hi All! So, I spent the last year buying gallon jugs of distilled water from Walmart. Making "special" water trips, carrying 12 gallons up 23 steps to my place, having too many empty gallon jugs to get rid of and the cardboard boxes that held 3 gals. all over my kitchen 'til recycle day every 2 weeks, etc...(you get the picture). Paying .83 cents per gallon and I don't even have fresh water kits to test with. Anyway...I took the plunge and bought a nice 5-stage RO/DI unit from Marine Depot, all good. Now, mind you, I'm the landlord and live in my 2-family house. Rent for tenants INCLUDE water. I'm paying water bills of $400. to $500. every 3 months. I made my first 3 gallons of RO/DI water with the waste line filling up my washing machine. The washer is full and I don't do THAT much laundry!! (LOL). Of course, I need more water! What in the world do you guys do with all that waste water?? It's Winter time, please don't say to water the lawn or garden and if I bathe our Cockerspaniel and Basset Hound THAT much, they'll drown! Hopefully, I can get some suggestions for homeowners that pay a municiple water/sewer bill. Thanks in advance.
 

JulesVane

Member
With all due respect...what do you store it in? 1 gallon of RO/DI water to 4 gallons of waste water? That's ALOT of drinking water!
 

Reddog170

Active Member
I use it for cooking, coffee, washing machine and topping off the broiler. I use it all, and the city charges me for it all to. Shaun
 

GlassMunky

Active Member
I just fill up a couple of old 2L soda bottles, the rest goes down the drain. Oh, I also use it to fill up my cats water bowls =)
 

SubRosa

Well-Known Member
If you keep FW fish that prefer harder water like Africans, Goldfish, Livebearers, etc you can use it for them.
 

onix

Member
I don't know if your system is like mine but if you check, that water passes through the first three filters, so it is much cleaner water than you had before.
What I did was to connect the wastewater output to the water input using
a ( T ). I have good result but you need good pressure and need to replace the revese osmosis membrane to half the suggested time
 

Gfoot2000

Member
Lol I didn't realise that wastewater so still pretty much clean water, if it runs thru the sediment and carbon filter, its basically drinking water
 

SubRosa

Well-Known Member
Lol I didn't realise that wastewater so still pretty much clean water, if it runs thru the sediment and carbon filter, its basically drinking water

Maybe. There will be 3x the levels of any contaminants that was in the source water that carbon didn't remove. In the case of nitrates this could easily result in levels above what is considered "safe".
 

chipmunkofdoom2

Well-Known Member
There are plenty of uses for RO/DI waste water. I'd say Google "How To Use Rain Water" and you'll get plenty of hits.. green sites have lots of info on how to store and use rainwater for things that you don't need purified water for.

The one thing that fascinates me most about RO/DI waste is the possibility of using it to flush toilets. All you need is your RO/DI waste resivoir to be higher than your toilet. Once I move to my own place I definitely plan on doing this.
 

JulesVane

Member
I believe it is ok to drink RO water, but not safe, or recommended to drink DI water. Someone correct me if I'm wrong...
 

SubRosa

Well-Known Member
Why wouldn't it be potable after the filter since it was potable BEFORE the filter?

If the source water contains NO3 at a level that is close to maximum as allowed by FDA regs as is sometimes the case in agricultural areas then the wastewater will contain NO3 in excess of "safe" levels. It depends on what your definition of potable is. The FDA would consider such water non-potable.
 

steved13

Well-Known Member
PREMIUM
If the source water contains NO3 at a level that is close to maximum as allowed by FDA regs as is sometimes the case in agricultural areas then the wastewater will contain NO3 in excess of "safe" levels. It depends on what your definition of potable is. The FDA would consider such water non-potable.

I'm trying to learn, Am I understanding that basically, once it goes through some of the stages, you've concentrated the "bad stuff" because you've removed the "good stuff"?

And to answer bigAl's question, is it true that the waste water is technically the "stuff" that didn't go through the filter, but was rejected by it?
 

SubRosa

Well-Known Member
I'm trying to learn, Am I understanding that basically, once it goes through some of the stages, you've concentrated the "bad stuff" because you've removed the "good stuff"?

And to answer bigAl's question, is it true that the waste water is technically the "stuff" that didn't go through the filter, but was rejected by it?

Essentially yes.
 

imaccat

Active Member
I didnt think it was drinkable either, in fact my RO/DI unit specifically stated that it shouldnt be drunk as any contaminates are very concentrated.
 

csmsss

Member
None of the above makes any sense whatsoever. How could it be "very concentrated" if you are, at most, concentrating the levels of any particular mineral constituent by a maximum of 20%? Absurd. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to consider your R/O wastewater to be anything but entirely potable (assuming it was potable prior to filtration, of course).
 

JulesVane

Member
RO units ARE used for purifying drinking water, absolutely. The question is: After water has passed through the DI Resins, is it then "safe" to drink?
 
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