What am I doing wrong? RO/DI

[Blntz]

I just don't get it? I don't get waste water. I have a Maxima 50gpd system. I'm postive it's hooked up correctly. I have it connected to my sink. I turn the sink on to a tiny stream and let it flow throw the unit. This method yeilds no waste water and I burn my HI/S cartridge quickly. (less then 200 gallons) Is this normal? I read some things online about pressure to the unit...how do you do this? My tap has enough pressure to get the water through the unit, why would you need anything more?


Thanks
Confused.....

[chrisjet]

Why would you have to turn on your sink to let the water flow throuhg it should do it automatically ?

[RWillieK]

Are you SURE there is a membrane in the housing? Sounds dumb I know - but it happened to my younger brother.

Robbie

[Blntz]

Automatically? So you mean I sould turn the sink on full blast?

There's no such thing as a dumb question. There is indeed, I just changed it?

[chrisjet]

no, running water should be off. Once you tap into the line it will automatically feed the unit.

[davocean]

Unles your not tapped.
It may be a faucet adapter.
Usually waste to good is 4-1.
Have you checked tds?

[RWillieK]

I'm betting theirs no RO membrane in it - he's using up the DI way too fast for it to be doing anything!

Robbie

[Fishbulb2]

I'll bet it's in there but the memrbane is just shot since he's getting no waste water. Pull out your flow restrictor and see if yhou get waste water then. Maybe it's defective or ruined.
FB

[Blntz]

Where in the unit is the flow restrictor?

[Blntz]

I also just replace the membrane about 2 months ago? How long do they normally last? Yes, mine unit is connected to a sink valve. How much water should I run though it? If I turn the sink water volume up, it just pushes it through the system faster?

[AZDesertRat]

Your membrane is not seated all the way into the RO housing so you are bypassing the membrane thus no waste flow, no treatment since its short circuiting and poor DI life since its doing ALL the work.
If you use a TDS meter I'll bet it confirms this.

[sagekoala]

If the membrane was missing then water would be coming out of the waste water and the pure water fairly quickly, so i doubt the membrane is missing. Last friday I went to setup an RO system at a friends house and the place I ordered it from forgot to install the membrane. I was puzzled for a moment but then I checked the housing and what do you know, empty. I emailed them and in 18 hours I had the membrane from cross country in my hands.

I would be checking the waste line for any kinks/obstructions, as well as checking the flow restrictor, also somewhere inside waste tubing I think there maybe a check valve on my until at least. Just another possibility.

The flow restrictor is large-ish white cylinder in-line with the waste or a small tube inside of the waste tubing. The feed water should be connected to the side of the housing with the threaded lid. on the side of the housing without the threaded lid should be two connections. The pure water connection is more towards the center of the end, and the waste water is more off to the side of the end.

hopefully it is just some tube is plugged somewhere it shouldn't be. Also membranes should last several years with normal usage.

[green814]

Could the waste water check valve be installed backwards? Just an idea. Chris

[Colin]

Turn the sink on full blast. You want as much pressure as possible (up to about 100 psi, which few people have in their house).

If you still don't get any waste water, start pulling lines, starting from the back of the flow restrictor, then back to the membrane, until you see what's blocked. It sounds like there is either a blockage in the flow restrictor or in the waste water line coming out of the membrane.

HTH,

--Colin

[Colin]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9467402#post9467402 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Blntz
I just don't get it? I don't get waste water. I have a Maxima 50gpd system. I'm postive it's hooked up correctly. I have it connected to my sink. I turn the sink on to a tiny stream and let it flow throw the unit. This method yeilds no waste water and I burn my HI/S cartridge quickly. (less then 200 gallons) Is this normal? I read some things online about pressure to the unit...how do you do this? My tap has enough pressure to get the water through the unit, why would you need anything more?


Thanks
Confused.....

I wanted to reply a little more in depth to this. RO works by forcing pure water through tiny little holes in the membrane. Anything bigger than water can't fit through the holes, and so goes out with the waste water. You need pressure to push the water molecules through the holes in the membrane. The more pressure, the more water gets pushed through, the more pure water you get.

Can you post a picture of the top of your unit, including the membrane holder and flow restrictor?

Thanks,

--Colin