"Upgrade" RO/DI filtration system?

[Waboss]

Ok, so here's my situation, and I'm hoping some of you water quality guru's can help me out.

My TDS seems to creep up quickly after replacing the sediment and carbon filters, and the RO membrane (we'll get to my DI resin in a moment). My water, from the tap, is 162 TDS, right after my RO membrane (prior to the DI resin), it starts at about 15 and ends up at about 23 after a couple of weeks (so about 50-60 gal since I use my RO water for my humidifier too, and not just my tank). Even starting at 15 seems out of whack to me, but I'm not an expert on the subject at all.

Now, for my DI resin, it depleted (changes color and TDS creeps up) after only a week or two as well, i'm guessing that's due to high CO2 since I'm on well water. I know I can store RO water, drop in an air stone/pump to increase the O2 (or decrease the CO2?) and then pump it through my DI filter, but I really don't have the space to do that, so it's not an option.

So, now on to my question, should I just scrap my existing RO/DI system and get something like BRS's 7 stage system? I'm leaning towards the 7 stage specifically because the DI resins are kept separately and I can just replace what's needed. OR, maybe I should change up my filters in the system itself?

Oh, and the details on my current system are:
-AWI Typhoon III, 5 stage system
-RO membrane is a Spectrapure
-Sediment filter is GE 1micron
-Carbon filters are 5 micron, then 1 micron
-BRS color changing DI resin (I do refill my DI cartridges)
-Aquatec 8800 booster pump (my pressure is around 80 all the time)

 

[FactoryKTMmotocross46]

Do you flush the ro membrane periodically and do you purge the system for a few minutes before running it through the di resin? I would look at the rated rejection rate percentage of you membrane to verify it is working correctly.

 

[FactoryKTMmotocross46]

Looks like you are at a 90.7% rejection and it should be around 99%. Could be temperature related.

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[lapin]

1st: you can add canisters to your current system for more di resins.
3 stages might help so you are not throwing away good resin because one of the mixed bed types has expired.
What is killing your resin is prob Co2 as you suspect along with the high TDS out of the ro membrane.
Not knowing what is in your well water will make it hard to figure out why your membrane is not getting a 98% rejection rate after making such little water.
I dont think its a temp issue as well water is usually in the 50's & 60's in the mid USA states.

You could try .05 carbon filters. They might clog faster but also might filter out something destroying your membrane.
You dont have a auto chlorinator for that well water right?

 

[Waboss]

Do you flush the ro membrane periodically and do you purge the system for a few minutes before running it through the di resin? I would look at the rated rejection rate percentage of you membrane to verify it is working correctly.

I do, I flush the membrane once a week for about 2-3 mintues.

 

[Waboss]

1st: you can add canisters to your current system for more di resins.

I was thinking that too. Add one canister and then just separate my DI resin. It would be nice to figure out why my output was so high between the RO and DI though. I'm communicating with a couple of water filter suppliers too to see what they say.

 

[lapin]

1st: you can add canisters to your current system for more di resins.
3 stages might help so you are not throwing away good resin because one of the mixed bed types has expired.
What is killing your resin is prob Co2 as you suspect along with the high TDS out of the ro membrane.
Not knowing what is in your well water will make it hard to figure out why your membrane is not getting a 98% rejection rate after making such little water.
I dont think its a temp issue as well water is usually in the 50's & 60's in the mid USA states.

You could try .05 carbon filters. They might clog faster but also might filter out something destroying your membrane.
You dont have a auto chlorinator for that well water right?

 

[FactoryKTMmotocross46]

I would contact spectrapure to get some suggestions. There is a section on how to calculate CO2.

 

[jlts21]

I know this doesn't cause catastrophic depletion, but does deplete resin faster. Are you doing very small batches frequently (ie have it on your ato reservoir so it kicks on and off alot) or are you doing large batches once every week or two? I am very close to your incoming TDS (on city water though) and my resin lasts a LONG time, but I only run 30 gallons once every other week all at one time (or 60 gallons if I'm going to do a water change)

EDIT* And I feel that there is an issue somewhere if you are starting out with 15tds on brand new resin (possibly not packed tight enough)

 

[Waboss]

I would contact spectrapure to get some suggestions. There is a section on how to calculate CO2.

Yep, I'm talking to them and another filtration vendor. Right now it's looking like the well water is very acidic (PH of 5), which could be causing another issue we're seeing which is the water bothering the wife when drinking it (I have it split off so drinking water is before the DI and tank water is after).

 

[Waboss]

I know this doesn't cause catastrophic depletion, but does deplete resin faster. Are you doing very small batches frequently (ie have it on your ato reservoir so it kicks on and off alot) or are you doing large batches once every week or two? I am very close to your incoming TDS (on city water though) and my resin lasts a LONG time, but I only run 30 gallons once every other week all at one time (or 60 gallons if I'm going to do a water change)

EDIT* And I feel that there is an issue somewhere if you are starting out with 15tds on brand new resin (possibly not packed tight enough)

Yes, due to the system filling the drinking water reservoir tank, it does come on for small batches. I only do longer runs once a month for water changes (as a rule).

TDS is 0 after a new DI canister (for a short period of time), it's 15 after the RO, but before the DI.

 

[FactoryKTMmotocross46]

Yep, I'm talking to them and another filtration vendor. Right now it's looking like the well water is very acidic (PH of 5), which could be causing another issue we're seeing which is the water bothering the wife when drinking it (I have it split off so drinking water is before the DI and tank water is after).

Yeah, everyone I know on well buys bottled water to drink, but they don't have RO systems.

 

[Waboss]

Yeah, everyone I know on well buys bottled water to drink.

Yeah, I grew up on "old school" well water, like hand dug well for years, before we had a deep well drilled. That might be why it doesn't really bother me.

 

[lapin]

a little more info

Factors Affecting Perf.

Factors Affecting Reverse Osmosis Membrane Performance

www.watertreatmentguide.com

or if your bored

https://www.rainmandesal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/dow-filmtec-sw30-manual.pdf

 

[FactoryKTMmotocross46]

Yeah, that's crazy. Does it smell like sulfur?

 

[jlts21]

Yes, due to the system filling the drinking water reservoir tank, it does come on for small batches. I only do longer runs once a month for water changes (as a rule).

TDS is 0 after a new DI canister (for a short period of time), it's 15 after the RO, but before the DI.

Ahh okay, I misread your original post. I would agree that there is some issue (whether is the low ph or high CO2 or some other issue) causing your RO to not be working efficiently. As others have stated the RO is not at a 98% rejection rate. Just out of curiosity what is your incoming water pressure?

 

[Waboss]

Yeah, that's crazy. Does it smell like sulfur?

Nope, no sulpher smell, but I can tell it's got a fair bit of iron in it since my sediment filter looks like rust after a while.

 

[FactoryKTMmotocross46]

Nope, no sulpher smell, but I can tell it's got a fair bit of iron in it since my sediment filter looks like rust after a while.

Oh wow, so you have an unlimited source of gfo, lol.

 

[Waboss]

Ahh okay, I misread your original post. I would agree that there is some issue (whether is the low ph or high CO2 or some other issue) causing your RO to not be working efficiently. As others have stated the RO is not at a 98% rejection rate. Just out of curiosity what is your incoming water pressure?

Water pressure to the filters is 80 psi (after the booster pump), it's like 35-40 before the pump.

 

[Waboss]

Oh wow, so you have an unlimited source of gfo, lol.

Hahahaha!