NEPTUNE 200GPD RODI

[Crosis]

I'm looking for some Feedback on the NEPTUNE 200GPD RODI System ...

Yes I understand its expensive, excessive, and overall not necessary...

But, in my defense, my family already drinks Distilled Water on a daily basis (Wife's drinking water of choice), so having this on the Tap saves me weekly trips to the store to buy more jugs, means less jugs in the landfill, means less pollution... C'mon I'm tying to go green here... lol...

Tank wise - I am going to be running a 270g (Reef w/fish) and 100g Saltwater tank (FOWLR), 29g, 45g, and 50g Freshwater tanks...

That's a lot of water changes...

I figure I'd keep 4-6 55 Gallon drums of water on-tap in the Garage for SHTF Emergencies...

Having a high quality, mass producing system, would be in my best interest... Once everything is setup, knowing its there will give me peace of mind...
(And yes I planned on purchasing through our Sponsor Air, Water, and Ice... #showingsponsorsomelove


Any and all feedback from the community would be greatly appreciated... (Even the ones trying to talk me out of this system, please have replacement suggestions to back it up though)...

 

[JAR]

http://www.airwaterice.com/product/1EXTREMETYPHOONIII/EXTREME-TYPHOON-III-150-GPD-RODI-with-Gauge-TDS-Alarm-Dual-TDS-Meter.html
I have one just like this and Air water and Ice is a sponsor of ours.
Call them and tell them you want a drinking water kit and they will get you a pressure tank and a counter top spigot. you may also want a float switch so you can run a line to a holding tank of some kind.
Mention you are a BAR member and I think you will get 10% off.

 

[sfsuphysics]

I would suggest regardless which direction you go, and if you have the necessary water pressure to run two RO membranes in series, you'll produce twice as fast with half the waste water.

 

[iani]

Crosis I basically have the same system you linked. I have a cube system from AWI (they no longer make it) that had 3 prefilters, 2 membranes, and 1 DI chamber. I changed it to 4 prefilters, 2 membranes, and added my old ro unit as 3 DI chambers. It works extremely well, makes water fast, and does not make much waste water. The AWI sponsor forum has our 10 percent discount code. Please use the code because they track our orders and donated to the club partially based on club member purchases.

 

[Crosis]

JAR - That was my second choice for the RO/DI system, and I definitely planned on going with a Sponsor... I'm all about keeping "Mom & Pop" Shops, and Sponsors to my hobbies alive instead of funneling my money into a bigger business...

sfsuphysics - Thats a very good point, I'll have to look into that... Thank You

iani - That sounds like an interesting setup... Would it be possible for you to post pictures of it? - And again I definitely planned on using a Site Sponsor...


Thanks again for all the feedback, I really appreciate it...

 

[Buckeyefs]

I would suggest regardless which direction you go, and if you have the necessary water pressure to run two RO membranes in series, you'll produce twice as fast with half the waste water.

We get this question a lot - I think we need to add this to our FAQ list: http://buckeyefieldsupply.com/FAQ.asp

We feel it is misleading to tell people they can cut down on waste water by adding a second membrane. Here's why.

First - remember that what folks call "waste water" really would be better thought of as "flush water" in that this water serves the important purpose of internally flushing the surface of the semipermeable membrane to keep the membrane from fouling/scaling.

When you configure a system with two membranes in series (the waste from the first membrane going to the "in" port on the second membrane), for this discussion let's say it's two 75 gpd membranes, the system behaves like you have a single long (75 gpd x 2) 150 gpd membrane.

Now - if you use a proper flow restrictor, that is, one for a 150 gpd membrane, you'll have about a 4:1 waste to product ratio. Sounds familiar, right?

If however you don't change the flow restrictor - meaning you keep using the same restrictor you were using when you just had one 75 gpd membrane, then you'll see a waste to product ratio much lower than 4:1. But remember that the recommendation for a ~4:1 ratio comes from the membrane manufacturer. They are telling you that you need about a 4:1 ratio to keep the membrane flushed and keep the membrane from fouling or building up scale. Run the system with a lower ratio and you will foul/scale the membrane(s) quicker than would have otherwise been the case.

Instead of adding a second membrane to lower that ratio, you could have just changed out your flow restrictor ($4) instead. A much less expensive approach to get you to the same endpoint in terms of saving on waste water.

Now, to confuse things just a bit. Filmtec specs call for the 4 to 1 ratio on the basis of assumptions about the water that will be supplied to the membrane. If you have very soft water you MAY be able to get a decent service life from the membrane running at a ratio lower than 4 to 1 (e.g., 3 to 1). Remember that the waste water from the first membrane is about 25% harder than your tap water.

Bottom line: If what you are after is reduced waste water, experiment with a different flow restrictor for $4 instead of messing around with a second membrane plumbed in series.

As a side note, you can also lower the ratio by increasing the pressure delivered to the membrane (with a booster pump), because flow restrictors are sized assuming you are providing factory spec conditions (50 psi and 77 degrees for Filmtec membranes). Increase the pressure and you'll drive more water through the membrane and viola - less waste water. But as I mentioned above, if you do this (just like over-restricting a membrane) - the lower the waste to product ratio, the shorter the lifespan on the membrane.

Makes sense?

Russ