Today's installment in this series addresses two concerns I've seen several times, mostly on "articles" which appear to be nothing more than sales letters for some other kind of water treatment system... One has to do with cleaning the system, which is an integral part of almost any "cartridge in sump" filtration setup.
The only kind of filtration appliance that doesn't need some kind of periodic cleaning and sanitizing is one where the entire assembly (basically everything except the plumbing itself) gets changed out at filter change time. These systems can be convenient, but filter changes are more expensive and involve a lot of waste - extra plastic housings which are thrown out each filter change, instead of just the spent filter cartridges themselves. Definitely a trade off in these days where we want to be as GREEN as possible.
Myth #5: When you Sanitize a Reverse Osmosis (RO) System, Chlorine Reacts with Organics to Create Disinfection Byproducts.
Myth Busted: I think they're really lost in the woods here... The chlorine is rinsed away after the sanitization and BEFORE the RO system is brought back online. Even if chlorine was left in the system at the time the system was re-activated, it is designed specifically to remove chlorine AND disinfection byproducts. I mean - that is the point of an RO system. To say it all the sudden cannot do it because you're cleaning it makes no sense. Again - hogwash...
Myth #6: RO is a Slow Process and Cannot Produce Enough Water for My Family
Myth Busted: RO does take time to process water, but that's why there's a storage tank! RO systems can be specified with membranes that produce anywhere from around 12 gallons per day, up to 50 gallons per day for standard residential use. There are membrane options up to 250 gallons per day that will still fit and work with a standard residential RO system.
Exactly how much water are you planning on using? Even the slowest system still can produce the equivalent of two 5-gallon jugs of water a day. Most residential systems ship with either a 24 or 50 gallon per day membrane. That is plenty for almost any family. I've even deployed a system like this for commercial use with absolutely no problems. Larger storage tanks are also available. Most come with 3-4 gallon capacity, but there's really no limit to tank size, other than whatever space limitations you may have.
Myth Busted: I think they're really lost in the woods here... The chlorine is rinsed away after the sanitization and BEFORE the RO system is brought back online. Even if chlorine was left in the system at the time the system was re-activated, it is designed specifically to remove chlorine AND disinfection byproducts. I mean - that is the point of an RO system. To say it all the sudden cannot do it because you're cleaning it makes no sense. Again - hogwash...
Myth #6: RO is a Slow Process and Cannot Produce Enough Water for My Family
Myth Busted: RO does take time to process water, but that's why there's a storage tank! RO systems can be specified with membranes that produce anywhere from around 12 gallons per day, up to 50 gallons per day for standard residential use. There are membrane options up to 250 gallons per day that will still fit and work with a standard residential RO system.
Exactly how much water are you planning on using? Even the slowest system still can produce the equivalent of two 5-gallon jugs of water a day. Most residential systems ship with either a 24 or 50 gallon per day membrane. That is plenty for almost any family. I've even deployed a system like this for commercial use with absolutely no problems. Larger storage tanks are also available. Most come with 3-4 gallon capacity, but there's really no limit to tank size, other than whatever space limitations you may have.
HINT: Mount the RO in the basement and most-often your size restrictions go away completely since most basements aren't quite as tight on space as the areas underneath kitchen sinks (but again, most residences need no more capacity than a standard 3 gallon tank, which takes between 1 and 3 hours to completely refill from empty.) This not only allows you to use a bigger tank, it also allows you to keep the space under the sink for garbage cans, recycling/composting bins and cleaning products.
-NOTE: this should only be done if the RO system is ultra-efficient and doesn't lose a lot of water pressure compared to the home's normal water supply. Some systems lose as much as one third of the home's pressure by the time the water is stored in the tank.
-NOTE: this should only be done if the RO system is ultra-efficient and doesn't lose a lot of water pressure compared to the home's normal water supply. Some systems lose as much as one third of the home's pressure by the time the water is stored in the tank.
If the house has 60 PSI water and the tank only has 40 PSI, by the time you run a length of plumbing all the way from the basement up to the kitchen or main floor dispenser, you could be down to 30 PSI or less - definitely could result in slow water delivery and low pressure at the faucet... (This is one reason I especially like the Hague H3500 RO system with the non-electric permeate pump built right in - this keeps pressure at the optimal setting, makes water faster and increases the amount of contaminants removed from the water.)
This may not be possible with some 'bargain brand' RO systems.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment