Well water affect on DI resin

C

C0pe

So the new house is running on well water and it's apparently doing a number on my RODI unit. I don't have a TDS unit to test the tap water but it's 37 after the sediment and carbon filters and 6 after the DI, all with brand new filters. Has anyone else ran into this problem? Should I add a 2nd DI stage? Maybe a sign of the RO membrane needing replaced? Any insight would be appreciated.


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I run shallow well water at my place. I use it directly without running through ro/di unit. My well water is pH 7. All i had to do is adjust the amount of salt i use because of the natural salts.
 
If it is 37 after the membrane, your DI cartridge won't last long - maybe 125g or so.
 
Right at that Marc. I replaced the filters in December 1st when I moved into the house. I make 30 gallons a week, 20 gallons for water change and 10 for topoff. I just replaced the DI again tonight after seeing TDS readings of 14 and the color change in the resin indicating exhaustion.


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Well water often has CO2, and CO2 devours DI resin. But .. you may need a new membrane. What's the TDS before the RO system?
 
I don't have a way to test before the RO. Need to pick up a hand held meter.


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I would check the pH of the water and if it's pretty low then you probably have a lot of CO2 in the water. This passes right through the RO membrane and eats up the DI resin like Mark was saying. From what I was reading your easiest and least expensive option to combat this is to store the water in an open container for a few days before running through your RO filter. This has the added benefit that it will also reduce iron before it goes through your filters. You'll need a booster pump to draw from the container though.

I'm assuming you have the standard sediment -> carbon -> membrane -> DI filter setup? If you really want to increase the life of your membrane and resin I would also add 2 more stages after your first 2 stages and before your RO membrane. Go with 5 micron sediment -> 5 micron carbon -> .6 micron carbon -> 1 micron sediment -> membrane -> DI. This keeps any carbon particles or anything else that made it through from hitting your membrane and the small micron size isn't a big concern since you'll have the booster pump already to draw from the settling tank.

Finally I would go with a dual inline TDS meter so you can check the TDS after the RO and after the DI.

I'm running the same setup except for the settling tank and I'm running a chlorplus carbon block before the 1 micron sediment because I'm on city water that uses chloramines. I also run dual 75gpd membranes to help reduce the amount of waste water I'm producing.
 
If you store the RO water in a container prior to the DI stage, oxygenate it with an airstone. Then using a peristaltic pump, move the oxygenated water through the DI stage into your final storage container.

This can be accomplished with something as simple as two 55g drums (or similar using the size you prefer). Be sure to have an adequate air pump to add plenty of bubbles to the RO water to export the CO2.
 
I'm running three stages before the membrane, 5 micron sediment , 5 micron carbon and .6 micron carbon. And have the dual TDS meter plumber in after the RO and after DI. Thanks for the tips, I'll test the PH and see what that reads and give oxygenating the water a try. Anyone know somewhere local to pick up the food grade barrels?


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I have several. If you want to buy a couple, that would be great. Free up some space in the backyard. :)
 
Sounds awesome Marc, I'll see if I can free up some time this week to make it down your way, need to pick up a TDS meter and some filters anyhow. Let me check my calendar for this week and I will coordinate something with you.


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no doubt that well water eats up the DI. I am going through one DI cartridge per week and making about 300 gallons total.. [smilie=whew.gif] My TDS before DI is 8 so the CO2 really kills them fast.

Another option for you is to just buy the DI in bulk bags and refill your used up DI cartridges. This is what I do.
 
Finally got around to picking up a hand held meter...
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Marc, how much of a number is that going to do on the membrane?
 
Saginaw proper is coming from Fort Worth city water. I'm up boat club in the resort and it's a community well. My water was around that too when I lived over off WJ Boaz, but up here man it's terrible. I've had readings as high as 850 which is a little concerning considering the EPA considers a TDS over 500 as bad water and anything over 1000 as unfit for human consumption.
 
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