I have some RO water questions that have probably been answered before.....

[BitterSweetBrews]

I just ordered a 5 stage, reverse osmosis water system. I bought it from a company called Costway. They sell the same system through Amazon but it was cheaper to buy it direct. At $85.95 it is $10 cheaper than the Amazon price. They have two, essentially identical systems they are selling. But, one looks like an older model for $1 more. It is duty rated at 50 gallons a day. Here are the links:

http://www.costway.com/costway-5-stage-reverse-osmosis-drinking-water-filter-system.html

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076FSQLMC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It appears to have everything that systems at a much higher price point have, such as 5 stages and automatic membrane flushing. I also bought a float valve to use on my HLT and a bunch of fittings to attach it my two refrigerator's ice/water lines. So, it isn't going to just be used for brewing.

My questions are these:

1. What do you think of this system and it's price?

2. Where should I put the RO system? I have a water softener and a whole house water filter (the standard $4 - 10" carbon filter). I currently run water through the softener first, then through the carbon filter. When I brew I bypass the softener, run city water for a few minutes to flush the lines and use the filtered hard water to brew (I consider the water line flushed when the water is getting cold from the ground). So, do I put the RO unit in front or behind the softener and whole house filter. I guess if it was under the sink, it would be in front of both. Does it really matter?

3. Will it clean the leftover sodium from the water softener too?

4. Does an RO system clean the water totally on the fly like a carbon filter? I am going to mount a float valve in my HLT to fill it with RO water and stop filling when it is full. Can I just set it and forget it or do I have to do it incrementally?

5. The system came with a holding tank as do many of them. Some don't. Why? What is the advantage of it?

6. All of the filter housings are 10" and appear to be standard. Can I buy any of the filters for the stages from any supplier?

7. I will need to buy some water line. Will regular plastic ice maker line work (in the correct diameters)?

8. The saddle taps for my ice/water lines for my refrigerators are right by where I will put it. They are copper. Is that an issue at all?

Thanks for your input and help.
Tim

 

[bstacy1974]

I would suggest moving this thread to the Equipment or Brew Science message boards. I think its been overlooked due to being in the Recipes section.
My quick response to your questions though...
1. Decent price for an RO with electric pump.
2. Unit should be supplied with soft water to prolong the life of the membrane. I'd also suggest moving your whole house filter housing prior to the softener as well.
3. Mostly.
4. Yes. Some people use a float valve in a larger tank or barrel to shut off the unit.
5. Actual flow out of the membrane is very slow. The holding tank gives you a buffer or small reserve of water to fill a glass for drinking or pot for cooking. These are usually small pressure tanks and only hold about half of their designated volume. So a 3 gallon holding tank will give you about 2 gallons or so before your down to a drip, or at least mine does. I get about 3 gallons per hour.
6. Yep.
7. Yep. I think its 1/4in OD tubing.
8. Nope. I'd recommend a small ball valve or other type of shut off valve to isolate the RO unit. Makes it easy to replace filters and such without shutting off water to everything else on that water line.

 

[mongoose33]

I don't want to sound mean, but perhaps these would have been good questions to address before you ordered the system?

 

[BitterSweetBrews]

I would suggest moving this thread to the Equipment or Brew Science message boards. I think its been overlooked due to being in the Recipes section.
My quick response to your questions though...
1. Decent price for an RO with electric pump.
2. Unit should be supplied with soft water to prolong the life of the membrane. I'd also suggest moving your whole house filter housing prior to the softener as well.
3. Mostly.
4. Yes. Some people use a float valve in a larger tank or barrel to shut off the unit.
5. Actual flow out of the membrane is very slow. The holding tank gives you a buffer or small reserve of water to fill a glass for drinking or pot for cooking. These are usually small pressure tanks and only hold about half of their designated volume. So a 3 gallon holding tank will give you about 2 gallons or so before your down to a drip, or at least mine does. I get about 3 gallons per hour.
6. Yep.
7. Yep. I think its 1/4in OD tubing.
8. Nope. I'd recommend a small ball valve or other type of shut off valve to isolate the RO unit. Makes it easy to replace filters and such without shutting off water to everything else on that water line.

Thanks for the input. I suspected most of what you said, I just wanted some confirmation. Good info on the holding tank. I will need to keep that in mind when I am needing 15 gallons for a brew day. At a flow rate of 50 gallons a day it is going to take 8 hours to get the water volume I will need. I'll have to think about moving the whole house filter to before the softener. I put it after it, thinking it might remove a little of the residual sodium.

I had searched for RO threads and the ones I saw seemed to all appear in Recipes. Do you know how to move a thread, for future reference? I was wondering Why I hadn't gotten any responses. The "New Threads" and "Today's Posts" selections appear to have gone missing recently, so I think is is harder to see new ones.

 

[BitterSweetBrews]

I don't want to sound mean, but perhaps these would have been good questions to address before you ordered the system?

I appreciate the feedback. You are probably right, but none of my questions or their answers would have changed my decision to purchase this unit. I will make it work regardless. Since I had already done a bunch of research up front, I was mainly interested in the questions about operation, placement and confirmation of what I found.