RO Maintenance Between Uses

[oldschool]

Hey all,
Just started using an RO unit for homebrew and I’m wondering how you all treat the system between brews. I’m mostly worried about stuff growing in it. Do you let it all drain/dry or just periodically run fresh water through? There aren’t too many practical options in my eyes besides what I mentioned but please share your thoughts.

Thanks

 

[day_trippr]

I'm not sure but I think allowing the membrane to dry out might be deleterious to its health.

To that end, I have an Arduino controller that I programmed to turn on the RO system each night and produce a half gallon of product - which gets sent down the drain along with the solute water...

Cheers!

 

[Bobby_M]

I'm constantly using it for drinking water, cooking, etc.. between brew days so I've never considered stagnation. You only use it for brewing?

 

[oldschool]

I'm constantly using it for drinking water, cooking, etc.. between brew days so I've never considered stagnation. You only use it for brewing?

Yeah only for brewing. I built a skid for it so I can move it around or stack away on a shelf, etc.

 

[ba-brewer]

I have a RO system for brewing only, I added quarter turn valves to inputs and outputs so things don't dry out between uses. I brew about once a week so it does not sit too long between uses. Never had anything funky past the first sediment filter.

 

[MaxStout]

IIRC, Russ @Buckeye_Hydro posted on a thread somewhere that you should run it about once a week.

You might find other uses that will have you using it more often. I initially bought mine just for brewing water, but now use it for mixing Starsan, Keurig coffee maker (I haven't had to de-scale it in the 3 years I've owned the machine), clothes iron, etc.

I don't know how often you brew, but if there's a lot of time in between, you could perhaps make RO a few gallons at a time, once a week.

 

[Buckeye_Hydro]

I'm not sure but I think allowing the membrane to dry out might be deleterious to its health.

To that end, I have an Arduino controller that I programmed to turn on the RO system each night and produce a half gallon of product - which gets sent down the drain along with the solute water...

Cheers!

The textbook answer is from membrane manufacturers, who tell you that if a membrane is not used for more than seven days it should be removed from the system and placed in a preservative. That’s not practical for most people and most people don’t do that. And the easiest thing is to just run it for five or 10 minutes at least once per week. And as mentioned above, you never ever want a membrane to dry out once it has been wetted. If a membrane dries, it will be ruined.

 

[oldschool]

The textbook answer is from membrane manufacturers, who tell you that if a membrane is not used for more than seven days it should be removed from the system and placed in a preservative. That’s not practical for most people and most people don’t do that. And the easiest thing is to just run it for five or 10 minutes at least once per week. And as mentioned above, you never ever want a membrane to dry out once it has been wetted. If a membrane dries, it will be ruined.

Thanks for the replies