ro waste water

pham411 · 08-16-2006, 07:00 PM

just wondering how much waste water you folks produce from you ro unit each waterchange. do you reuse the waste water? do booster pumps make a difference in producing less waste water? im afraid my water bill is going to go through the charts if i get a unit. if you have pix of your ro unit and waste water procedures that will be helpfull.

oh if you love your unit. post it please, it will be easier to make a decision on which unit to get.

thanks

JayBeDriften · 08-16-2006, 09:11 PM

Pham411, from my personal experience my RO/DI unit which is not a name brand unit produces 1 gallon of purified water for every 4 gallons of waste water with the required pressure. Each unit has their own ratio of purified to waste water but a booster pump is going to make sure that your RO/DI unit is running at optimal efficiency. Hope this helps.

pham411 · 08-16-2006, 09:47 PM

doesnt that seem like a huge amount of waste water? what do you do with yours, how did it effect your water bills

JayBeDriften · 08-16-2006, 09:49 PM

Pham411, unforuntately this is my first RO/DI unit but in my experience in searching for a unit that is about average. But I'm sorry that I cannot help with the water bill since water is included within my rent. :-)

**CarmieJo** · 08-16-2006, 10:23 PM

You can use the waste water for watering plants and things like that. I think the 1:4 ratio is pretty common. I don't know how much water there is but here it is not that expensive (<$0.004/gallon) so even if you made 100 gallons a month that is about $1.60.

Danamck · 08-18-2006, 03:31 AM

I live in California, where summers are often a time of droughts. And I go through a lot of water. My Kent Marine Hi-S unit has been great. I agree with the previous posts, it's about a 4:1 waste vs. RO/DI ratio. That's in the summer. In the winter, when it gets cold (my unit is in the garage and is plumbed directly to my main water coming in, with an on/off flow valve) the ratio drops to 5 or 6:1. This really does bug me, as I consider myself an environmentalist.

In the summer, I use most of the waste water to water plants. In the winter, most of it goes down the drain. I keep the waste water in a 32 gallon Rubbermaid garbage can, and encourage my neighbors to use as much as they'd like. They rarely take me up on the offer for free water - too bad.

Our water bill has gone up considerably. But that's NOTHING compared to our electric bill. It's gone up by around $200 a month. I'm sure some of that is the rising cost of electricity, at least that's what I tell my wife!

pham411 · 08-18-2006, 07:56 PM

yups, i think we are on the same page danamck. i really do feal guilty wasting water. i guess it is the environmentalist side of me.

Danamck · 08-18-2006, 08:39 PM

I saw an ad for a product made by the same company that makes Poly Filters. They claimed this product produced the same quality water as RO/DI, but with no waste water. Does anyone know about this? It sounds too good to be true, so it probably is!

pham411 · 08-18-2006, 09:33 PM

costcos ro unit claims no waste water. but ill let whoever owns 1 be the judge.

***Rob*** · 08-19-2006, 05:48 PM

yes, i have seen these, but have never used one..

Raggamuffin · 08-19-2006, 06:07 PM

Mine does the same 4:1 waste to pure, it's a coralife. I looked at it like this, $20 for salt $0.10 for water vs. $60 buying premade (for 50 gal.) and as has been pointed out that savings can go directly into the power bill which has gone up considerably compared to the water bill.... and this is in the worst drought year since the dust bowl here.