My RO System

[ITV]

I recently finished installing my RO system. I decided to add additional components to feed my refrigerators since I prefer clearer ice cubes. I installed it in my basement above my utility sink which is less then 25' of RO tubing to each of my two refrigerators. The pressure tank allows quick filling of glasses of water/water bottles and the 10 gallon brute container allows slow filling before a brew day. I used a 3-way valve for the faucet to give me a choice of a slow fill (5 gallon container) or a quick fill (water bottle).

See attached schematic.

 

[ITV]

Above are some pictures of my system.

 

[WBCo]

I have the same unit from BRS. I had an RO/DI unit from them years ago but sold it when I got out of the saltwater game. Went back to them once I got fed up with lugging gallons of distilled water home from the grocery store every brew day.

 

[danrb]

I have the same unit from BRS. I had an RO/DI unit from them years ago but sold it when I got out of the saltwater game. Went back to them once I got fed up with lugging gallons of distilled water home from the grocery store every brew day.

Same here. Using the RO/DI to give me 0 TDS water and then build back a water profile with brewing salts.

Need to repack my DI, was wondering what DI Resin to use or if it even maters?

 

[ajdelange]

You don't need DI water for brewing. RO is demineralized to the extent that you can consider it essentially pure for brewing purposes.

 

[ITV]

You don't need DI water for brewing. RO is demineralized to the extent that you can consider it essentially pure for brewing purposes.

Correct, RO is recommended for brewing. DI is used for aquariums.

Just for clarification, my RO system originally was set up for a DI cartridge but I never installed it. I substituted a second stage 1 micron carbon block instead. I also added another carbon block filter after the pressure tank (see attached pdf).

 

[danrb]

I have the same unit from BRS. I had an RO/DI unit from them years ago but sold it when I got out of the saltwater game. Went back to them once I got fed up with lugging gallons of distilled water home from the grocery store every brew day.

Not really if you do the tests. My city water runs between 200 and 250 TDS. RO takes it down to about 25 TDS. With Calcium is 5 PPM, with Magnesium 10 PPM, the rest is mostly silicate. The DI is 0 PPM for over 30 elements tested. That is pure water and allows me to build the profile I want.

 

[danrb]

Correct, RO is recommended for brewing. DI is used for aquariums.

Recommended by whom? It really depends on you starting tap water.

 

[day_trippr]

I think it's just an accepted convention that a well performing membrane renders a DI stage unnecessary for brewing water as there's so little left it's not worth maintaining the DI resins.

Note an 87.5-90% rejection rate is also not considered "well performing" at a consumer scale...

Cheers!

 

[Bobby_M]

My system takes 400ppm TDS down to 9 with no DI. Granted I'm running a booster pump to 120psi to get that.

 

[ITV]

Recommended by whom? It really depends on you starting tap water.

Poor choice of words on my part. The DI stage strips the water of ions which are then added back by brewing salts. This seems unnecessary to me.

I am on Lake Michigan water with a 108 TDS on the incoming water and 3 TDS on the output for my RO system.

 

[danrb]

Late reply. My TDS goes from 200+ to 25 through RO and DI gets me to 0 TDS. I've been using RO/DI on the mash and trying to match profiles for the beers I make. Been happy with the results. The latest batch I made had a ph of 5.2 and an overall efficiency of 92%. I only use DI on the mash. For the sparge I use RO.

Very happy with my brews.