RO Systems HELP!?

Hi guys... I've finally had it up to... welll... you get the point...

I am sick of my stock water that I'm using... Its too damn difficult to adjust the water to get it to the desired level, so I want to start with RO water. I figure this is probably the best way to go about it, however I don't have any knowledge on what kind of system is good or how much I should spend.

I was looking in Lowes the other day and saw a Kenmore system and then later that day online I saw a Watts system...

I don't want to spend a ton of $$ but I do want somethign that is reasonably easy to maintain and the filters don't cost me an arm and a leg to replace...

Can any one help me on this one?

Thanks,

Jason

do you ONLY want it for brewing water? cuz the lower GallonPerDay systems are pretty damn cheap, and you'd just collect your water for a couple days til you had enough.

its the larger capacity units that get really spend, really quickly.

Try Bulk Reef Supply. They have all kinds of options for filters or RO systems. I buy a lot from them and have never been disappointed (haven't used with brewing). If it's just taste/odor you're trying to get rid of, you might be able to get away with just using a carbon filter or activated carbon for chloramine removal.

I bought from Drinking Water Filter- Reverse Osmosis Water Purifier Purification. It works great. Filters only cost about $40/year

I actually did check out Bulk Reef Supply... I was planning on buying from there actually.


I've been doing some serious reading on this and I've come to realize that RO systems are extremely inefficient.. apparently 1 gallon of RO and 8-10 Waste water... That is kinda a put off to me...

However what I think I am going to do before I make the jump is I am going to go out and buy about 15 gallons of RO water and do my adjustments with that... If it improves my BHE to a noticable point I will go ahead and purchase the system...

The Reef supply system has a membrane rinse feature but that is not mentioned in the FDW.com system.

I use a waste line flow-limiter and have been getting about 3 gallons of waste water per 1 gallon fresh water - still not great. The flush kit is nice so you can flush the surface of the membrane every now and then to prolong the life of the filter. The waste water also only comes from the RO membrane. If you only use a carbon filter or sediment/carbon filter combination, there wouldn't be any waste water. I'm also under the impression that if you filter all of the elements out of the water with an RO membrane that you will need to put some of them back in afterwards - specific amounts depending on the beer style - though I've never tried it.

Run the waste water into a tank and use it for your laundry or for watering around the garden.

P-Lay said:

I use a waste line flow-limiter and have been getting about 3 gallons of waste water per 1 gallon fresh water - still not great. The flush kit is nice so you can flush the surface of the membrane every now and then to prolong the life of the filter. The waste water also only comes from the RO membrane. If you only use a carbon filter or sediment/carbon filter combination, there wouldn't be any waste water. I'm also under the impression that if you filter all of the elements out of the water with an RO membrane that you will need to put some of them back in afterwards - specific amounts depending on the beer style - though I've never tried it.

Click to expand...

Yeah, pure water needs specific ranges of specific minerals-so using all pure water and then 'building' your brewing water is nice.

But just diluting your home water and making minor additions for amendment is less involved.