Reef nutrition

At what pressure does your RO system run? An what’s the TDS of your supply in what area?

R

ReefSparky

Supporting Member
BARcard
I recently upgraded my RO setup with the intention reaching optimal running pressure. Pressure closest to the main feed at my house is 46 psi. I had my 15 year old 3 stage plus added DI system in my backyard at around 42 psi prior to the upgrade, and the goal was to optimize wastewater ratio and extend life of my membrane and DI resin. I purchased a lightly used 4 stage system and Frankenstein’d a 6 stage using DI canisters that I had, and added a booster pump to increase pressure. I picked up a used aquatic 6800, but it only got me to 52 psi from 46. So I ordered the larger 8800 and now I’m at 82. I’m now concerned it’s too high, but I’m really not trying to spend a bunch of money on a pressure regulator to lower it. Most recommendations say not to go over 70, but BRS tests pretty much say if I’d doesn’t leak and it’s below 90 you’re good.

Has anyone been running their RO system at 80 psi or higher?

Also my incoming TDS was at 220 last time I checked. I’m curious how much it varies around the bay..

Here is my setup, I swapped the 6800 for the 8800 today so I’ll need to clean up my tubing routing accordingly if I keep it this way. I also use this for drinking water, that’s the filter with the yellow tube coming off it before DI

C5CE894E-6E25-426D-BD2B-017250B784BD.jpeg
 
We have a 4 stage with 80 psi at the house entry regulator at ground level. Our RODI is in the attic 40ft up and the pressure gauge when running says high 60s. I added a 6800 because I wanted to reduce waste water but it only drove it up to mid 70 and we didn't notice any difference.
Input 214, output 0.
So it's working fine. Instead, we plumbed the waste water out to our downspout outside...which goes to our rain barrels, which we use for the garden. So we don't really waste any water in our case. So, we took a different route.
 
I chain three 75GPD RO units in series and run about 80-85 psi... maybe 90?

I get better than 1:1 production.

With the current drought, I highly recommend everyone consider doing a 3 RO install to save on water. Best to use 75 gpd vs 100 for better rejection rate...
 
NanoCrazed said:
I chain three 75GPD RO units in series and run about 80-85 psi... maybe 90?

I get better than 1:1 production.

With the current drought, I highly recommend everyone consider doing a 3 RO install to save on water. Best to use 75 gpd vs 100 for better rejection rate...
Click to expand...
I’ve seen multiple membranes in series, is that what you mean? Or 3 multi stage units in series?
My girlfriend said “geez” when she saw my current setup, she’d probably question my sanity if I had 9 or more canisters and 10’ of wall space dedicated to water purification lol. I need to maintain the illusion that I care more about her than reefkeeping, and that won’t help at all
 
ReefSparky said:
I’ve seen multiple membranes in series, is that what you mean? Or 3 multi stage units in series?
My girlfriend said “geez” when she saw my current setup, she’d probably question my sanity if I had 9 or more canisters and 10’ of wall space dedicated to water purification lol. I need to maintain the illusion that I care more about her than reefkeeping, and that won’t help at all
Click to expand...
You put 3 membranes in series... the waste from the first goes into the second...waste from second goes into the third. And, you join all the product lines together before they hit the DI canisters...

So, in effect you are reclaiming all the waste water and squeezing out every last drop of goodness before you dump the brine into your *hopefully * grey water containers
 
Those pumps have adjustable pressure. There should be a set screw on the top that you can use to change the pressure.

I think i run around 70-80psi, and I see incoming water anywhere from 150-400 tds in south San Jose. I run 2 ro membranes and separate anion/cation di resin.
 
You can run the RO at 80psi, but your fittings may start to leak (even later - post install). If the unit is where water damage is a concern, I'd back off the PSI just for risk management. RO membrane will be fine, its the other components. 65 PSI is the sweet spot for me.
 
The Aquaticlife rodi 220gpd system booster pump pushes between 100-125psi at 0 tds output. Input tds varies between 25-125 depending upon time of year
 
I have mine T'd into my master bathrooms faucet. 95ish psi if I open the Inlet valve full tilt (which I do most of the time). I'm a bit over 200tds source water and 0 out. 75gpd system and definitely need to add 2 more ro membranes as I got lazy and started dumping my waste water down the sink. I used to collect at least 50% of my waste for my freshwater planted and watering plants outside. Eventually will get back to something like that but would still want closer to 1:1 ratio once I do.
 
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