RO Membrane Question

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by EmilyB

water pressure is 42psi, but it's always been that way. Flow restrictor? I don't think I've ever seen it or taken it out?

at 42 PSI a RO isn't going to work very good at all. my 100 GPD unit used to fill up my top off bucket in 3.5 hours from empty with 100PSI, the other day when I did it with 42PSI it took me 2 days so you can see how much it slows down if you are aproching the 40PSI minimum.


ok on your waist water line there should be a insert that limits the flow of waist water. this will give you the back pressure you need to make the membrain work properly. do you have a flush valve? if so if you look at it it will look like a loop with a valve that you can open to flush your membrain, usaly this is taken off befor and after the flow restrictor.

If this is confusing take a couple pics of the tubing and I will try see how it is set up.



Steve

[Veng68]

did you ever figure it out Deb?

Cheers,
Victor

[EmilyB]

I did a 30 minute backflush and I have some flow now. I guess it is probably as good as I can get in the winter with 42psi and the cold water.

[golden69_ca]

you have a cloged membrain which you proved by backflushing it . how old is your ro . on the water machines i work on we get about a year out of a membrain . you can get allittle more life if you leave if on a back flush for a couple days . it is recomended to back flush them every couple weeks to prolong lifespan .

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by golden69_ca

you have a cloged membrain which you proved by backflushing it .

She also has very cold water and only 42 PSI which means only about 20% of the rated flow.

Steve

[Veng68]

Originally Posted by golden69_ca

you have a cloged membrain which you proved by backflushing it . how old is your ro . on the water machines i work on we get about a year out of a membrain . you can get allittle more life if you leave if on a back flush for a couple days . it is recomended to back flush them every couple weeks to prolong lifespan .

I notice that you are in the lower mainland........ how does the RO membrane clog within a year around here since our water has a very lower TDS?

Cheers,
Vic

[Aquattro]

Vic, it's very difficult to gauge clogging in time. A lot depends on how many gallons you process. I go thru 40g/week with my unit and it's about 1.5 years old. Our TDS is fairly low here, but we have a lot of algae. I go thru prefilters like crazy

[EmilyB]

I guess then the fact that the membrane is probably a year old, and I run double or more what Brad runs, I probably need a new one soon.

[golden69_ca]

the membraine will also catch organics . i know where the bad water sorces are in the lowermainland and trust me there are some bad areas that you would not think of .

[mnoll406]

Hey Guys,
Actually 42 PSI is not that low. I have a 50GPD, and my inlet is only about 42psi. I fill a 8 gal bucket in a couple of hours. I do flush the unit for 5-10 min before I use it, and do longer run lengths (ie 8 gallons) every time I do it.

Mike