RO output

[66chuck]

Got a RO unit for Christmas. Just hooked it up. In approximately 3 hours, it has discharged 9 gallons of discard water as opposed to 1 gallon of RO water. Is this normal?
I am running the unit off of my water line before it goes into my water softener. Would it be better to run the unit after the water softener?

 

[waterlogged]

Originally Posted by 66chuck
Got a RO unit for Christmas. Just hooked it up. In approximately 3 hours, it has discharged 9 gallons of discard water as opposed to 1 gallon of RO water. Is this normal?
I am running the unit off of my water line before it goes into my water softener. Would it be better to run the unit after the water softener?
That is very low output. What is its rated GPD.
I don't know the answer to your next question.

 

[66chuck]

It is rated at 50 GPD.

 

[waterlogged]

It sounds low. So you have good pressure to ro unit?

 

[66chuck]

Pressure is good. The problem is that the discard water is 90% more than the RO water.

 

[pastor b.]

Dear hobbyist, your RO unit works by gpd (gallons per day) .The more gpd that your unit can produce , the more filtered water it will give you . I purchased a RO/DI unit which does 110 gpd ,and believe me , in order for me to get one gallon of water ,it takes 15 minutes . The reason why it takes so long ,is because , water being filtered is moving from a 1/2 inch water pipe into a 1/4 inch water tube . When water is coming from a large pipe , to a smaller one , it will take time to move from start to finish .

 

[66chuck]

I understand that this is a slow process, but I don't know why I have to discard 10 gallons of water for every 1 gallon it produces. By the time I pay my water bill, I could have just bought RO water and saved myself the trouble.
Is it normal to have this much waste water?

 

[grennan]

As a general rule of thumb waste to RO is typically 2/3 gallons waste to 1 gallon RO. Not sure what your RO manufacturer specs are...
Possible causes of Low water production:
Low source water pressure
High total dissolved solids
Low temperature source water
Clogged pre filter

 

[bgrae001]

I agree with grennan.
When my water is cold it takes a long time to filter water, when it's warm it works a lot faster and I have less waste water.
All the waste could be because the unit is new and needs to break in.

 

[dragonzim]

Put the RO unit after your water softener. The softener will remove a lot of the metals that your RO membrane is being forced to remove now. You should see your waste water level drop by doing this.

 

[66chuck]

Thanks all, will do.