Heating RO feed water

[E Rosewater]

Are there any products or solutions to heating the feed water for an RO/DI system? I have a very cold crawl space and my 150gal/day system is down about a gallon/hour and I'm looking to heat the feed water in a way that does not tap into my hot water line.

[dwebster86]

A simple aquarium heater. Put it inside and plug it in and set the temp

[E Rosewater]

A simple aquarium heater. Put it inside and plug it in and set the temp


I'm looking to heat the feed water not the water that has been produced.

[dwebster86]

Oh generally you don't want to do that. It kills the membrane alot faster. Supposed to run cold water through it

[E Rosewater]

Oh generally you don't want to do that. It kills the membrane alot faster. Supposed to run cold water through it


I know this. I'm not looking to put hot water through it. I I live in upstate NY, my water comes in through a crawl space that is not heated. This time of the year my cold water is very cold, due to this my production drops from ~6gal/hour to about 1gal/hour. I have a 200 and a 60 gallon tank which means I make a lot of water. I just want to bring my feed water up to 60-70 degrees.

[dwebster86]

I guess you could rig up a setup to where you fill up a 55 gallon drum with tap water. Put a heater in it and then put a pump in there and modify the end to accept the rodi line and there you have got the feed line heated.

[dwebster86]

Put a couple float switches on both ends to constantly have it running.

[Toddrtrex]

Fill a rubber maid bin with water, put a heater in there.

Make the feed line to your RO/DI a lot longer, A LOT, coil it, place it in the rubber maid bin.

[reepher315]

^ thats a good idea!

[Gino555]

what about inline heater "Hydor".?

[dwebster86]

That could work too Gino, can you regulate the temps on those?

[Mrramsey]

what about inline heater "Hydor".?

I don't think that would work. Those are meant to gradually raise the temp over time and maintain. I don't see it heating up tap water 10 or 15 degrees from the time it enters til it exits.

[E Rosewater]

Yeah I would love some kind of inline filter but I don't see it heating enough with the lack of contact time.

I've thought about submerging the feed line in a long run of tubing, I just don't know if I'll be able to manage that as I have limited space.

Thank you for the suggestions

[outssider]

when I lived in Oregon we had a well for house water. There was a electrical wire wrapped around the pipes where the pump was. It was plugged into an outlet and had a thermostat. It was a heater designed to heat up the pipes enough so they wouldn't freeze.

This would work perfectly for what you want to do. Check around at plumbing stores. Ask them if they have something like this to heat pipes up so they don't freeze.

[travis010]

I agree with what outssider said regarding the pipe wire. I've had some experience with it when I lived in Kansas and it was very effective at warming the water temp to prevent pipe freezing. Be sure to check the thermostat range / on/off options to make sure that you can be used to raise the temp high enough for you. You can easily find it online by searching for "pipe warmer" or "pipe heating cable".

Toddrtrex's idea is a good one too!

[Shaummy]

If you have hot and cold water lines nearby where you tap your RODI source, maybe you could use a mixing valve to blend the hot and cold source water before it goes into your system?

I've seen people do this to deal with toilets that sweat excessively, they just mix the water to raise the temp to avoid the condensation.

[Cathman]

I use a 5 gallon bucket, small heater and small powerhead to keep it circulating. Long tubing coiled up inside that feeds the RO system....never measured the actual temp of output while its running, but i can tell a difference between not doing it and doing it this way. My RO system feed line is out in the garage so its cold initially. Bucket now sits out there as described. Have had zero issues.

[jamie1981]

small 120 volt Tankless water heater fitted with RO fittings is your best option assuming you can set it to 70 or so.
Inline heaters for aquariums could not take the pressure or heat fast enough for what your are trying to do.

[firemountain]

I run an inline uv sterilizer before my 1st stage. It does get the feed water a bit warm, but not hot. Since I use my RO unit as a double duty for drinking water/ fish tank water, the UV was a nice addition. Right now I don't run a UV on my DT, so at least this helps.

http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/uv-disinfection/ultra-sun/ust-200.htm

http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/uv-disinfection/ultra-sun/ust-400.htm

FYI....I use the 1/4 one. You could place it after the membrane, so it doesn't heat it up. I do it before the first stage since my main objective is to kill any unwanted organisms, and can then get filtered out right from the beginning, after they are zapped.

This might be your easiest and cleanest setup. I can say that when I used to have it setup at the last stage, before my faucet, my water was warm...which was not fun to drink.

[E Rosewater]

Thank you all for the responses. Just so you know what I'm really dealing with my cold water is currently 43 degrees. And will get colder through the winter.

I have heating tape wrapped around the pipes coming into the house to stop them from bursting. This does not warm the incoming water significantly though.

I don't believe a UV sterilizer would heat the water fast enough and would have to be installed pre-membrane.

I've considered using a three way valve and putting he cold and hot water lines into it, I have reasons why I don't want to do this, mainly using that much hot water.

I did buy a small container (I don't have much space) that's 12qt and 75' of tubing. I tried today with a 100w heater and it didn't do a good job of keeping up with it but did help. I'm going to go up to a 300w heater and see what happens.

The heat tape made me think of wrapping the tubing into a heating pad and see if that would successfully warm the water.

[firemountain]

What about like an external engine block heater that you plug into a 110 outlet.

The Wolverines are the best out there.....

https://www.wolverineheater.com/SUVs-s/1513.htm

You could wrap the piping with it, since it's somewhat flexible. They come in different sizes and configurations.....maybe that would work.