RO system Setup

[jayjeep]

I'm new to the saltwater world and I am going to be starting to gather stuff for a 75 gallon aquarium that I will be getting this weekend.
I would like to setup a ro system at my house so that I don't have to go buy water. I would like to take the water from the feed that goes to my washing machine because it is the most accessible. The line going to the washer is straight from the water softener so I'm wonder if I can run softwater into the ro system. Will this hurt anything or will the ro system take care of it all?
I tried searching on here but could not find the exact question that I had.
Thanks
Jason

 

[florida joe]

This is just my own thinking on the subject. A water softener replaces hardness with sodium. It is achieved by ion exchange. How it is achieved I do not know but I am sure you can research it but I do know that water softeners do achieve it. Now your RO/DI unit will remove the sodium. If it is convenient to do so you can hook the RO/DI to the line after the softener. BTW I am sure you know this but I will state it anyway. You should never drink water straight from a softener
ok i did some reserch
on softeners
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCg-I5U9X3w

 

[tur4k]

According to the manual for my Spectrapure Maxcap RO/DI, softening the water will actually help to prolong the life of your RO membrane. I use the feed and the drain from my washer for my RO/DI. I just attached a garden hose Y to the cold water feed for the washer and shoved the waste water tube from my RO/DI unit down the drain pipe for the washer.

 

[jayjeep]

Ok I have the RO/DI system setup but I have a question about adjusting the flow. Here is the paragraph in the installation instructions
"Ensuring the dial on top of the E – Z Flush Flow Restrictor has been entirely opened, visually judge how fast the water is flowing out of the blue water line and then visually restrict that flow by 1/3rd or (33%) by turning the dial on top of the E – Z Flush Flow Restrictor clock wise (Right)."
My question is, How the heck do you tell when you have restricted the flow by 1/3rd? Anybody have any tips?
Thanks
Jason

 

[deejeff442]

what kind of r/o did you get? i have had a few over the years and they all just hooked to the water supply and that was it? the more pressure the better.r/o units come with a psi input rating .i have never heard of cutting it back 1/3?

 

[snakeblitz33]

Let your RO run for a few hours before using any water and adjusting the flow. The RO membrane and filters have to "flush" all of the compounds out of it before you can use it. Once you've let it run for a little while, discard all of the water it has produced and start fresh. Look at the flow coming out of the blue line, and reduce it by 1/2 of it's normal flow, and then adjust it back up a little bit. That should put you in the ball park. It's not rocket science!

 

[snakeblitz33]

Modern RO units have flow restrictors that "shoot" water into the membrane instead of using a high psi. If you already have a high psi rating, you probably don't even have to restrict it at all. Though, follow the instructions that came with the unit. If you have any really detailed questions about it, you should call the company you ordered it from, or e-mail their customer service. That way you don't void the warranty.

 

[deejeff442]

modern r/o ? i just bought a new one 4 months ago

 

[snakeblitz33]

Hmm, then I guess it just depends on the model that you buy. Six years ago when I bought my first one, it didn't come with a flow restrictor. Then my second and third ones did. I guess it's just the model... A different way of doing it.

 

[1guydude]

yep mines got a flow restrictor and i just turn it off and flush the system for 5-10mins.....
than turn it back on and the pressure goes up thats when ur producing the better water! I purchased a pressure gauge and a hose adapter for mine, im pushing 50psi when flushing and 60psi with the flow restrictor on...
maybe just get a pressure gauge and attach it to ur input.

 

[jayjeep]

Maybe I will get a pressure gauge. Also, probably going to get a TDS Meter. So you install the pressure gauge on the line coming from the house?
By turning it off you are not pushing any water through the membrane correct?

 

[1guydude]

Nope by turning the flow.restrictor off u would allow full flow through the system and the pressure will drop a bit.
Flow restrictor and fast flushes are the same thing