RO waste water

[tank watch]

I read that RO units waste anywhere from 2 to 4 gallons of water for every gallon made.
That doesnt sound attractive to me. The cost increase of city water will probably be higher than buying RO at the LFS. I will see what a gallon of city water cost on the next bill. Am i missing something? RO unit sounds like a high cost situation. (I still want one though :notsure: )

 

[jamie814]

Completly depends on where you live my city water AND sewer bill never comes to more than $20 a month and nearly $15 of it is the sewer bill. Then people in colorado spend nearly over $100 a month for water alone. And I water the lawn in the summer and have a RO/DI unit.

 

[anonome]

They are "wasteful", this is why you have to be creative with the waste. Especially during the summer, I collect the waste water to water my outdoor plants. I have my unit (Aqua Safe systems) 100gpd unit installed in my laundry room. I have a 50 gallon container with lid that the water holds in. It is heated and air stones circulate/airate the water. So, it is available whenever I need it. I am so over lugging jugs into the house from the store.

 

[jester805]

Originally Posted by Anonome
They are "wasteful", this is why you have to be creative with the waste. Especially during the summer, I collect the waste water to water my outdoor plants. I have my unit (Aqua Safe systems) 100gpd unit installed in my laundry room. I have a 50 gallon container with lid that the water holds in. It is heated and air stones circulate/airate the water.
That's a good idea. I wondered what people did with their waste water. I would think that it's still cleaner than tap water because it is going through the RO unit.

 

[milomlo]

Anonome - that still sounds like a lot of lugging in order to get your water where you need it (plants and such).
Does anyone have their unit going back to the washing machine or shower or something? What about to an outside sprinkler system?? I am looking at getting one, but my water bill is already $35 a month now and it gets in the $50's in the summer. I sure don't want to waste 4 gallons just to get 1

 

[murph145]

yeah they are very wasteful
but for me i am hooking the waste line up to fill my 2000 gallon koi pond to keep it full from evaporation
i do a 30G water change every 3 weeks so the RO unit produces about 100G of waste and my koi pond loses water everyday since its got a waterfall and the sun beating down on it so i figured the waste water can go to that when im filling up for water changes....
if not that i was guna attach a drip hose to run to plants around the pond but i think its still alot of water for some plants lol

 

[jamie814]

They do make 0 waste ro/di units also. It runs the waste water back into the houses hot or cold water supply. Filters may not last as long though because it is "recylcing" the water.

 

[anonome]

Originally Posted by milomlo
Anonome - that still sounds like a lot of lugging in order to get your water where you need it (plants and such).
Does anyone have their unit going back to the washing machine or shower or something? What about to an outside sprinkler system?? I am looking at getting one, but my water bill is already $35 a month now and it gets in the $50's in the summer. I sure don't want to waste 4 gallons just to get 1
Milomlo, it sounds like alot of lugging, but not really. Like I said I have a fifty gallon drum that the RO/DI water goes into, so the initial filling was somewhat wasteful, I filled it up "after hours" , so the cost is somewhat more reasonable, I really don't have to fill the drum very often. When I do I just allow for the trips with the buckets. I have lots of houseplants, plus a 46g oranda tank and multiple 1 gallon betta tanks. I use this water with conditioner for them. Maybe it is overkill, but I don't like to waste our resources either.

 

[oreo12]

I have never seen in an increes inmy water bill using it. we pay a min amount and never use the min amount of water anyway.

 

[puffer32]

whar waste water are you talking about? I just a unit, and instructions say when you use it the first time, discard the first 2 gals. It says nothing about throwing any away after that, am I missing something here???

 

[mudplayerx]

Originally Posted by puffer32
whar waste water are you talking about? I just a unit, and instructions say when you use it the first time, discard the first 2 gals. It says nothing about throwing any away after that, am I missing something here???
There are two output hoses. One is the good RO water, one is the bad waste water. The good hose is usually blue and the bad one is usually red. Never ever put water from the red on in your tank. You will have a massive diatom/microalgae bloom.

 

[puffer32]

Whewwww, you guys had me so worked up i couldn't even type my last post right :scared: I thought I just filled up my new 150 tank with waste water!!! :scared: :scared: :scared: Just asked hubby and he said he has the waste water going into the washing machine drain

 

[sunburnt]

I usually drain my waste water into the pool. I've also used it to wash my car, drinking water for my dogs, water my house plants, mop the floor, and in my carpet steam cleaner. You can find ways to use it!