Manual, Counter-Top RO Systems

[Ray]

As many of you know, watering orchids with pure water is a major step forward in most folks' culture. I've been distributing standard residential RO systems, and custom-building systems to individual's needs (greater capacity, lower waste, etc.) for close to a decade.

I was recently approached by a grower who routinely purchased jugs of RO water from their local drug store, but was tired about lugging them home every week, and asked to devise a simple system that could be connected to the water supply, used to fill jugs with pure water, then put away again. After talking with my wholesale suplier, I was able to come up with a pretty good version, which I am now stocking:



It is not intended for drinking water.

[Joseia]

Well, that is definitely what I have been looking for! I have been buying and lugging so much distilled water for my humidifier that I feel like a pack mule. I've been looking at RO systems with a tank that would go under the sink, but that would end up taking up all the space down there and I quickly set that idea aside. Space is at a premium in our small condo. I would love to get something like this if it meant I could produce enough water for the humidifier, especially in the winter, and still have enough water to use on the orchids.

Question: I see it is rated at 50 gpd - what does that mean exactly? Does it process 50 gallons per day of tap water, or produce 50 gpd of RO water? I'm guessing it is the former. Any idea how long it would take to produce 5 gallons of RO water with this system hooked up to the faucet of my kitchen sink? I imagine that would depend on the psi of the water coming out my faucette and the temp, but can you give an approximate time for 5 gallons of RO?

[Ray]

System capacities are typically pure-water output at specific temperatures and pressures. Standard resaidential systems are rated at 65psi and 77°F water at the system inlet. I specifically use low-pressure membranes in these, rated at 50 gpd at 20 psi & 77°F water.

So, assuming those were the exact parameters as they entered the system, you should get 5 gallons in about 2.4 hours.

[Island Girl]

Wow! I've been going thru the same thing as Joseia. Thanks! I will definitely be getting one of these in the near future! : Thank you!!!

Ray, out of curiosity, if it would (in this hypothetical situation) take 2 1/2 hours to fill a five gallon bucket, then would you have to stand there and turn it off when it's full, or is there a way to put some type of overflow/timer on, and have it turn itself off when the 5gal bucket was full? Thanks!

[Ray]

You would need some sort of shutoff.

My "Grower's" and "Residential" systems come with a hydraulic cutoff. When a shutoff valve of some sort (most often a float valve in the storage tank) closes, and the back-pressure increases to 2/3 of the incoming pressure, the hydraulic cutoff stops all water flow.

The "Counter-Top" systems is entirely manual. If you put a float valve on its exit, the pure water would stop flowing, but the flush water would continue to flow until you shut off the incoming supply.


Ray Barkalow
Sent using Tapatalk

[Joseia]

I got one of these a few weeks ago, and it has been working great. Ridiculously easy to set up and use. And depending on your water pressure, you may find the process alot quicker - it is only taking me 10 minutes to produce a gallon of RO water. TDS dropped from 207ppm to 17ppm. In just two weeks, I have seen an explosion of root growth.

[cbuchman]

Just put it on my Christmas list ! Thanks Ray!

I use a rain barrel in the summer months when every body is outdoors, but will shut it down when we get near to freezing. So I need something for indoor use during the winter months.

[HighSeas]

This is awesome! I have a question though....WHY can't you drink the water? Just wondering because my dogs like to help me when I'm tending to the orchids and every now and then they want a sip! For that matter...every now and then I want a sip!

[Joseia]

Originally Posted by HighSeas

This is awesome! I have a question though....WHY can't you drink the water? Just wondering because my dogs like to help me when I'm tending to the orchids and every now and then they want a sip! For that matter...every now and then I want a sip!

Demineralized water FAQ - Lenntech

Not sure that I would drink RO water exclusively, some evidence that it can have some negative health consequences. I've been trying to find a World Health Organization report on the safety of demineralized water, but can't find it anymore. It was released in 1980 and concluded that it tended to leach minerals, especially salts like potassium, from the body. There are RO systems out there that include a post-processing canister that adds essential minerals back to the water or taste

I bought my system for the plants and humidifier, not using it for drinking, though I have been using t for coffee and some cooking every now and then.

[Ray]

Animals driniking the RO water will have no issues.

I think the reported negative health effects of pure water are mostly hogwash.

"Leaching" is theorized because of the physical driving force of osmotic balancing of the ion concentrations on each side of a cell membrane, and as pure water has nothing, it would pull everything out of the cells.

Of course, that ignores that fact that the contents of cells are not necessarily held there passively, and then there's that "minor detail" concerning "regular" tap water:

The likely, predominate ingredients in most water supplies are carbonates of calcium, magnesium, and iron. If leaching was a significant issue, one would expect the water to leach everything else... Anyone out there suffering from a mineral deficiency due to their water?

I do agree with Joseia's comment about taste though. Pure water quickly comes to an equilibrium with CO2 in the air, forming carbonic acid, giving it a very sour taste. Most folks that order residential systems from me add an inline calcite cartridge in the pure water line to stabilize the pH and improove the taste.