Making quality RO/DI with softened/neutralized Well Water?

[BigJohnny]

Good Afternoon,

I just moved into a new house which uses well water and am hoping you can help me determine if my current RO/DI set-up is sufficient. I was using a basic BRS 4 stage RO/DI unit at my prior residence, which had city water. I have tried to do some research but there are different ways of treating the water and I am not sure what I have/what I need to add to my RO/DI unit to compensate for this (if anything). Id also obviously like to prolong membrane life and reduce resin consumption as much as possible.

I am told the well water goes through a ph neutralizer and water softener. I believe the neutralizer is of the calcite variety, not soda ash, although the well pH was between 5.6-6.0 depending on the test which can be below the neutralizing capacity of standard calcite (based on my research). I really have no idea what it is, but it looks like a calcite unit.

Attached are some of the pictures of the equipment and test results I received during the due diligence period of the home buying process. The first test results were done by a well/septic inspector, the second results were done a few weeks later by the company who installed the treatment system in the past.

You will see that the TDS is 297 after treatment which is almost double what my city water had (argh), I assume this is due to all the additives used to raise ph and soften the water. My question is, do I need to do anything to help filter out those additives or is it the same as any TDS being removed. Will I have to deal with high levels of any specific water parameters after the RO/DI has been created?

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks!!

-Big J

 

[TheEngineer]

Looks like we have the same neutralizer setups. You can fill it with whatever media you need. My pH is under 6, can't remember what exactly, and I use calcite. The neutralizer doubled my TDS from around 70 to around 140 (give or take, depending on the day). The water softener will about double that, so you're in the same general range as me straight out of the wells. You don't really need a softener at those levels, but that's not a big deal.

Running softened and neutralized water through your system is fine. You don't need to do anything different.

 

[BigJohnny]

Looks like we have the same neutralizer setups. You can fill it with whatever media you need. My pH is under 6, can't remember what exactly, and I use calcite. The neutralizer doubled my TDS from around 70 to around 140 (give or take, depending on the day). The water softener will about double that, so you're in the same general range as me straight out of the wells. You don't really need a softener at those levels, but that's not a big deal.

Running softened and neutralized water through your system is fine. You don't need to do anything different.

Aw man that is a huge relief. I was just counting $ in my head already.

I also read about one guy who had to aerate his RO before it went through DI or would get color change after only 5-10g due to high CO2. Is that something I have to worry about?

Thanks for your help!

 

[TheEngineer]

Aw man that is a huge relief. I was just counting $ in my head already.

I also read about one guy who had to aerate his RO before it went through DI or would get color change after only 5-10g due to high CO2. Is that something I have to worry about?

Thanks for your help!

Haha, that's me You'll find out soon enough. If you start plowing through DI resin you might have high CO2.

 

[BigJohnny]

Haha, that's me You'll find out soon enough. If you start plowing through DI resin you might have high CO2.

Hilarious, i thought i recognized your username. So since we have similar set-ups do you think that will be an issue? What causes that? How did you setup your RO system to compensate?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I agree, would run the treated well water into the RO/DI without worries, except possibly for CO2, which might need to be degassed if there is a lot.

 

[BigJohnny]

I agree, would run the treated well water into the RO/DI without worries, except possibly for CO2, which might need to be degassed if there is a lot.

Awesome thanks.

 

[TheEngineer]

Hilarious, i thought i recognized your username. So since we have similar set-ups do you think that will be an issue? What causes that? How did you setup your RO system to compensate?

I run my RO into a bin and aerate for 24 hours then through the DI.

 

[BigJohnny]

I run my RO into a bin and aerate for 24 hours then through the DI.

gotcha, so do you use a pump to run it through the DI? I would love to see pictures of your set up if you could. Hopefully i wont have to copy it, but if i do it sounds like youve got it down.

Thanks!

 

[TheEngineer]

It gravity feeds through the DI from the bin.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-co2-degassing-chamber-for-ro-di.212587/

 

[TheEngineer]

That thread has pictures of my original setup in it where I didn't hold the water for 24 hours, I just passed it through that degasser. It seemed to work pretty well, but I couldn't get the flow rates to match so I had to watch it didn't overflow.

Here's the larger thread with some pics of what I use now.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/why-am-i-burning-through-di-resin.211235/

 

[BigJohnny]

It gravity feeds through the DI from the bin.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-co2-degassing-chamber-for-ro-di.212587/

Awesome thanks man.

 

[BigJohnny]

Well, unfortunately I found out I only have 35 psi before the membrane here, so had to order a booster pump for my RODI unit. Quick question, would it be safe to rinse my new dry rock off several times with straight water out of the faucet (well water through the nuetralizer and softener)? I just finished curing the rock with lanthanum chloride and want to wash them off repeatedly before starting my cycle. Was going to use rodi but won't be able to until Monday and I'm on a tight time frame for my tank move.

I still plan on using rodi for the tank obviously.

 

[TheEngineer]

I would say it is fine, there is so much junk that is going to come off of it anyway that the little bit added by your tap water won't really add much. That assumes you don't have any heavy metal issues in your water.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The clearest concern is if there is substantial phosphate in that water, it will get onto the rock. If you load that water with lanthanum, that will be a reduced concern, although metals and such can still be an issue.

 

[BigJohnny]

I would say it is fine, there is so much junk that is going to come off of it anyway that the little bit added by your tap water won't really add much. That assumes you don't have any heavy metal issues in your water.

Hm, don't know about heavy metals. The tests only listed iron content which was zero after processing. I'll just wait I guess.

 

[BigJohnny]

The clearest concern is if there is substantial phosphate in that water, it will get onto the rock. If you load that water with lanthanum, that will be a reduced concern, although metals and such can still be an issue.

The majority of lanthanum would likely only be bonded lanthanum phosphate because I already rinsed the rock once in the water it cured in and now it's dry. Question regarding the phosphate and heavy metals, would those be removed by my RO/DI?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, RO/DI removes everything significant in water.

 

[BigJohnny]

Yes, RO/DI removes everything significant in water.

What about distilled water, is that okay to use until my RODI is fixed?

 

[BigJohnny]

Im on a tight schedule and since my booster pump got delayed and won't arrive until Monday, I need an alternative