The reverse osmosis unit in the old bio lab is back online and making RO water. I replaced all the filters with the new ones that were next to the sink.
Some of the quick disconnects are a little flaky but I cut the ends off some of the tubes and everything seems to be leak free now.
I’m going to add a 55 gallon barrel to receive RO water as we’ll be using it to do some water changes on the aquaponic system in the future.
Note: The previous filter sequence was sediment, carbon, RO, and some kind of polishing filter. Now the sequence is sediment, carbon, RO, and a carbon filter because these are what we had on hand.
If anyone notices the RO leaking the black line connected below the sink has a shut-off valve that will cut pressure to the system.
Unless you feel strongly otherwise, I might attach a box or something to stop light from hitting the filter. I think that the presence of light is what led to the algae growth on the last filter.
I thought it may have been due to the system sitting unused for long periods. I try to empty the reservoir every time I’m in the space and make some new RO water. @iheartblocks Go ahead and make a light proof box. That will definitely stop algae growth.
@stepho, I would think so. Everything is clean and the quality of the RO water produced is better than city water itself. I believe RO is pretty close to distilled water which is pure H2O. If we had a deionizing cartridge it would be a different story. DI water will leach minerals from your body. Just my understanding. Someone else probably knows more about this than me.
Thanks! But now I realized I wasn’t clear in what information I was seeking with my question. While I know it is safe to drink RO water (as I have a system at home), is it appropriate to use this system for drinking water, or should we reserve its use for the fish tank and aquaponics system?
I’m not sure how many total gallons the filters can produce. The instructions say replace at 6 months. Capacity on the RO filter itself is listed at 75 gallons per day. A total dissolved solids meter or TDS can tell you how well the RO is functioning. Our water here in Austin is very hard so RO is quite useful.
So the filter produces three or four times the amount in waste water as it does RO water. I’ve often wondered about the usefulness to this ‘waste’ product. It should only be a little higher in hardness than tap. And it has passed through sediment and carbon filters. I’m installing an RO at home and plan on using the waste product to water grass-n-stuff and save the RO for my fish. There must be a lot of people with RO systems putting a lot of good waste water down the drain. Kind of a big deal in a world where fresh water is becoming increasingly scarce.
My question is - How can we use the RO waste water here at Asmbly?
I’ve got more big blue barrels and plan on putting caster wheels under everything. When doing water changes on the aquaponics (which will be about 10% every so often) I think it’ll be easiest to just roll the barrel of RO over to the tanks. We could just as easily collect the waste water. Maybe a power washer would be a useful tool in our arsenal. Just a thought.
We also have a 3stage filter setup and a water bottle filler in back that we can install outside the lounge bathroom. if someone has the time let me know and I can lay out the parts for you.
