"Zero waste" RO system

uberlink

Active Member
Heard of these? Any good? Coscto has them for $239.
"For years, the only solutions to poor quality drinking water involved buying water by the gallon at the supermarket or paying expensive fees to deliver 40-pound bottles to your home. Now, systems with the same technology as water bottling plants can be installed right under your kitchen sink, providing you with gallons of water for pennies a day.
While standard reverse osmosis systems waste 4 or more gallons per every gallon produced. The new patented "Zero Waste" reverse osmosis system wastes no water.
This state of the art system reduces Arsenic(v), Cysts, Barium, Cadium, Chromium, Copper, Floride, Lead, Radium 226/228, Selenium, TDS, and Turbidity. In addition, bad tastes and odors, such as chlorine, can be virtually eliminated from your drinking water along with unwanted chemicals and sediments, giving you fresh, healthy tasting water with every glass.
Features:
The only 100% efficient reverse osmosis system available today
Perfect for areas with higher water costs or low water pressure
Eliminates the need for air-gap faucets
Patented water conserving design
Easy to install
Inexpensive to maintain
NSF certified
Tank Dimensions: 11"D x 16"H
Filter Dimensions: 18"L X 15" W X 6"H
Warranty: 1-year limited warranty
WATTS Premier features high quality NSF certified reverse osmosis and filtration systems for your home or office. They are designed for easy installation and maintenance and are the same systems sold nationwide by professional installers. In addition, WATTS Premier sells a variety of filtration components which are compatible with many other reverse osmosis and filtration brands."
 

moneyman

Member
I think the waste just get injected back into the cold water pipe. The 'waste' will be removed next time you take a shower or flush the toilet. Brillian idea. I too wonder about its effectiveness and longevity of the membrane.
 

jamie814

Member
The "Zero Waste" Reverse Osmosis System Process
"Zero Waste" reverse osmosis systems come in two basic types. The more advanced types of "zero waste" systems eliminate water waste by pumping the brine water into the hot water plumbing instead of down the drain. The drawback to this design is that the brine water injected into the hot water line can be discharged from your kitchen sink faucet on your hands, cooking, dishes, etc, and into your dishwasher. The less advanced types of "zero waste" systems will pump the brine water back into the cold water line that feeding the reverse osmosis unit. The downside to this design is that the additional concentrated brine water in the feed water will force the reverse osmosis system to work harder and wear down the system components faster resulting in more frequent filter changes and overall shorter system life than a comparably equipped standard reverse osmosis system. Both systems are effective at eliminating water waste but their downsides are significant.
 

moneyman

Member
Dumping it into the washing machine is a good idea.
The best way to run a zero waste system is to hook it up at the begining of the cold water line. Then, when someone uses the faucet/shower/toilet, the brine is carried away from the membrane... just something i had to say to get my post count up :)
 

barelycuda

New Member
I am no expert but I believe that this unit is not a DI unit, just RO. Also what is the rating for the sytem in gallons produced per day. It would suck to have a unit that took 3 days to produce enough water to do a decent size water change.
Just a thought.
Cuda
 

2563

Member
Barelycuda, if you don't mind me asking, I noticed you live in Vancouver and was wondering if you have ever been to a store called J&L Aquatics in Burnaby? Sorry To hijack the thread.
 

cain420

Active Member
sounds like that would make me not want to shower! u could just bucket up the waste water that comes from your existing unit and bathe in it, if u dont want to waste.. sounds like it would be the same thing.. YUCK!!!
 

agent707

Member
Go to Lowes and get one of those plastic ponds... dig a whole in your yard and have a small outdoor pond. Dump your waste water in there. Problem solved.
Or.... just let it go down the drain and deal with the extra $1 your water bill is going to be.
 

jamie814

Member
Originally Posted by Agent707
Go to Lowes and get one of those plastic ponds... dig a whole in your yard and have a small outdoor pond. Dump your waste water in there. Problem solved.
Or.... just let it go down the drain and deal with the extra $1 your water bill is going to be.

Well that may work in the summer but you still are wasting the water and cost wise our water and sewer bill is less than $20 a month here in iowa BUT some people we know that live in colorado pay over $100 a month just for water alone!! So it really depends on where you live if it is worth conserving the water.
The wast water is not like sewer water as some seem to pretain to it it is just like ordinary tap water with a slightly higher concentration of dissolved solids. Not even noticable if you were to bath in it. :happyfish
 

phixer

Active Member
My house is in Colorado and the cost of H20 is ridiculous. Im contemplating efficient ways of using the waste H20. Not to long ago couldnt water the grass certain days of the week because of H20 rationing. Could use the RO waste but 7 months out of the year its freezing.
 

agent707

Member
Water cost ~$1 per 100 gallons here in Tennessee. If I made 75 gallons of RO/DI (BTW, my BRAND NEW TypoonIII is curning it out right now
), a month for a 100% water change per month, that would be about 375 gallons of water = $3.75.
The other day (before I had my TyphoonIII) I needed to top my tank off and didn't want to wait till the unit got here, so I went to Target and bought 4 gallons of Distilled. Cost $4.40 tax and all.
I'll be honest... after dumping about $1500 getting this 75 going, and given my Elect is going to cost ~$10-$15 a month to run it... A couple of bucks for waste water going down the drain? No, I refuse to loose any sleep over that. No Sir!

My feelings is, if you worry about wasting a couple hundred gallons of water to maintain your Awesome Saltwater Tank..? Wrong hobby.
 

mrdc

Active Member
For uuuhhhh country members...
Ok, I feel like I may be asking a stupid question. For those that have waste water going back into the house for whaterver reason (washing clothes, etc...), will that increase the sediment load going into your septic tank.
My waste water goes into a 50 gallon drum which I use in the yard. I water the plants and flowers and use it in my weed spray canister. Now if I could hook it up to my sprinkler system, that would be very efficient for me!!!
 

firebane

New Member
Originally Posted by 2563
Barelycuda, if you don't mind me asking, I noticed you live in Vancouver and was wondering if you have ever been to a store called J&L Aquatics in Burnaby? Sorry To hijack the thread.
I've been there.. in fact I live like 10 minutes away from there!
 

tscuda

Member
I have my R/O waste dump right into the washer. Not only to cut down on waste water but also it was easier to run the line to it then cut my drain for a return. I have city water so I see no reason to worry about the waste water going back into the hot water pipes. Really now do you think water is bad enuff to only get 1 gallon good out of 4 gallons coming in to the house.
 

merredeth

Active Member
Originally Posted by mrdc
For uuuhhhh country members...
Ok, I feel like I may be asking a stupid question. For those that have waste water going back into the house for whaterver reason (washing clothes, etc...), will that increase the sediment load going into your septic tank.
While I'm far from a scientist, I do live in the country and have a septic. Anything that goes in the septic is going to increase something.
Denise M.
 

maxalmon

Active Member
When we had our home built, the RO system was included in the plumbing design along with a 48kgrain softener (potassium) system along with resin absortion. The water in Vegas is the worst. On our next home we are planning on a whole house RO system, their pretty common here in vegas
 
Top