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Where's my rain?


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2 minutes ago, Stu said:

The one Chris has and posted is very good value and comes with everything you need. I doubt you'll find ones much cheaper than that, and if you do I'd be dubious of their quality.

typically i found that through google earlier after searchin through ebay and it and the pressure gauge are in my basket! I couldnt find a hose connector bundle on ebay and then hardly any had the manual flush but this one seems perfect. I can run the waste into my bath and use it for the plants seeing as they need watering every day now (already lost the leaves and fruit on one of my blueberry bushes, this lack of rain is brutal)

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Yes a pressure gauge is a very handy addition. I added one on mine as it allows me to quickly check at a glance that the mains pressure is where it should be and will indicate if a leak ever occurs.

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I don't have a meter I moved here in 1986 not moving till the grim reaper comes for me lol

just seen the weather forecast and they are saying no change for the next two weeks

kept the RO going all night and notice that the TDS is 60 in the night and now in warmer

Temp back up to 70 

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Poured with rain here in Devon yesterday filled both butts to brim,just as well as the RO unit I bought from a company on Ebay came with no instructions,big thanks to "Stu" for advice on pipe colours,now just have to source the filters before butts run dry again.

 

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2 hours ago, Ezza said:

Poured with rain here in Devon yesterday filled both butts to brim,just as well as the RO unit I bought from a company on Ebay came with no instructions,big thanks to "Stu" for advice on pipe colours,now just have to source the filters before butts run dry again.

 

Nothing in the SE; 20% chance tomorrow and 40% on Thursday....

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I've had my ro unit running for 3 days now and am managing to keep my trays full and store a bit up but this is the longest dry spell I can recall since I started my collection. 

The last of my rain water got used around a week ago, the butts have been cleaned and are begging for a refill......

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My butts 750 ltrs are full now with RO water mixed abit with rainwater 

TDS is approx 55 out of the butts company I bought the unit from

has put in post a new elbow for carbon filter pot, I am not convinced 

that the RO TDS figure will go down with no leaks ?? Keep you updated

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10 hours ago, Deltatango301 said:

TDS is approx 55 out of the butts company I bought the unit from

has put in post a new elbow for carbon filter pot, I am not convinced 

that the RO TDS figure will go down with no leaks ?? Keep you updated

I bought, perhaps hastily given your subsequent experience but I was starting to feel a bit exposed without a backup plan, from the same vendor as you, except my unit is the 100GPD FS-401 http://www.pure-pro.com/fs401.htm 

The lack of instructions were a bit troubling, and the single sheet that does exist refers to a flow restrictor on the RO water outflow elbow that could be inside the unit but is not at all obvious. It also includes some unexplained components which I believe are intended for attaching to garden or kitchen taps  

Anyway, I did simply connect it up and it was producing 20ppm within 10 minutes. We do have very high water pressure here, though - I wondered if that was possibly a contributory factor for you?

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2 hours ago, osmosis said:

The lack of instructions were a bit troubling, and the single sheet that does exist refers to a flow restrictor on the RO water outflow elbow that could be inside the unit but is not at all obvious. It also includes some unexplained components which I believe are intended for attaching to garden or kitchen taps 

If you need help identifying the bits, post a pic and I and/or others will have a look.

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13 hours ago, osmosis said:

I bought, perhaps hastily given your subsequent experience but I was starting to feel a bit exposed without a backup plan, from the same vendor as you, except my unit is the 100GPD FS-401 http://www.pure-pro.com/fs401.htm 

The lack of instructions were a bit troubling, and the single sheet that does exist refers to a flow restrictor on the RO water outflow elbow that could be inside the unit but is not at all obvious. It also includes some unexplained components which I believe are intended for attaching to garden or kitchen taps  

Anyway, I did simply connect it up and it was producing 20ppm within 10 minutes. We do have very high water pressure here, though - I wondered if that was possibly a contributory factor for you?

It certainly pissed me off the one sheet just telling you the flow diagram, I just have to wait for the new elbow to arrive

to stop the leak that is just a drip drip so it must be losing some pressure? I don't think my pressure here is very high

i can see me having to buy a pressure gauge, they say should have a minimum of 50 psi got no idea what the usual 

pressure average for home is, I know you can buy a unit to up the pressure.

Edited by Deltatango301
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Received my 100gpd aquarium RO unit from collins, free next day delivery. The only issues i had were undoing the membrane lock (stuck on really well) and the hosepipe connector is actually a garden tap hozelock connector. I bodged together 3 inches of hosepipe with the RO pipe using some moldable plastic I had which held fine for the 3 1/2 hrs at 60psi that i was using it for this evening. I emailed them and theyre sending me the barbed piece free to connect the hosepipe to. Nothing but praise for them and the unit, making life so much easier.

Our water is generally around 430-440ppm, the ro water was at 0ppm each time i tested it and the waste water about 640-650ppm (and only 1.3x more than the clean, far from the 4x atm), half which has gone to the fruit and veg plants and the flowers and the rest for tomorrow.

Flushed the system before and after use for a few minutes and closed the 3 valves I brought to keep it wet inside

Thanks Stu

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13 hours ago, Stu said:

If you need help identifying the bits, post a pic and I and/or others will have a look. 

Cheers, I'm all OK now. I plan to buy a flush kit, in which case I think I need to open up the elbow and remove the inbuilt restrictor anyway

Probably get a pressure gauge at the same time, if that's a good indicator of clogged up prefilters  

 

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Zerbirus; you're welcome. Sounds like you're all sorted and as you have near optimal pressure around 60psi, I'm not surprised you're getting efficient ratios of clean:waste water.

osmosis; yes that's correct. The flush kits have a flow restrictor in them so you need to remove the miniature one concealed in the outlet elbow. A pressure gauge is good for monitoring, yes. I have mine installed just after the pre-filters, before it enters the RO membrane. That way i can tell if the pre-filters are clogging. Don't forget to hook it up first at the very start of the system to get a baseline value for the mains pressure (i.e. what it should be).

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On 6/30/2018 at 5:13 PM, Zerbirus said:

In april I had 100l, now im down to about 25l and 10l of deionised left, its ridiculous. Wish there was a cheap portable ro unit for sale somewhere or universally connect to a tap like those garden hose adapters, or hose connector or gravity fed.

If anyone could give me a link to everything i need from ebay it'd be really handy. I'm just going around in circles trying to find adapters and then adapters for adapters to the tap

I bought two hosepipe to 1/4" pipe connectors on Amazon for £6,They work perfectly,And one of the RO units I got was also from Amazon £18 with Membrane filter,replacement filters £6 on Ebay, a cheap water solution.

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1 hour ago, Ezza said:

I bought two hosepipe to 1/4" pipe connectors on Amazon for £6,They work perfectly,And one of the RO units I got was also from Amazon £18 with Membrane filter,replacement filters £6 on Ebay, a cheap water solution.

Collinswaterproducts are sending me one of these free http://www.collinswaterproductsltd.co.uk/ourshop/prod_6001907-2-x-14-male-bsp-to-12mm-barbed-connectors.html where I brought my ro unit and accessories from on monday. Slightly more than £18 ha, but its all setup and working (watched a couple of tutorial videos before buying which helped with the setup) and has saved me from buying ridiculous amounts of water so I cant complain.

edit: no rain here since june the 2nd (wasnt much anyway) and none for the foreseeable future.

Edited by Zerbirus
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Keith Shoesmith has just bought a distiller from Amazon for 85 pounds. I am not sure which one it is but it says it is suitable for doctor's surgeries, dental surgeries and labs.

Keith is quite pleased with it so far.  My distiller cost me 140 pounds 20 years ago but I think that the Ecowater ones are about 300 pounds now, which is a lot of money.

If Keith's distiller turns out to be OK, 85 pounds is quite reasonable.

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I had a quick look on Amazon. Amazon also sell distillers for making moonshine. It would be important to buy one for distilling water unless you want a visit from HMRC.

I think moonshine distillers would be highly illegal in the UK. Someone did tell me years ago that you need a licence for a water distiller in the UK. It's probably one of those things that the police have got more important things on their agenda and they probably can't be bothered to chase these days.

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I have put on order a pressure gauge to see what my home pressure is think it must be low

they say on the website to my unit must be minimum of 50psi I can see it now having to buy 

booster pump got this one earmarked 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Reverse-Osmosis-200-GPD-Booster-Pump-Marine-Fish-Tank-Aquarium-RO-Water-2016-New/252450766838?hash=item3ac73cfff6%3Ag%3AE3EAAOSwXeJXfB2S&var=551313756823

 

 

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