What would I need to use my irrigation well for my RODI filter?

[BrettDS]

So I moved into a new house recently which has city water, but it also has a shallow well for irrigation. The city water is heavily chlorinated (I smell like I was in a swimming pool when I get out of the shower) which makes me fear for the life of my RO membrane.

I was thinking it might make sense to use the irrigation well water for the tank instead. I won’t need to worry about it being chlorinated, plus it’s a free source of water.

However, it was just designed to work with a sprinkler system. The pump will turn on to run the sprinklers and turn off when they are done. There is no pressure tank or anything.

Here’s a picture of the pump. The pipe leading to it comes from the well and it’s output goes right back down underground to feed the sprinklers.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160305/fe516a38a4463d535dbf0badd84f94ea.jpg

Would I be able to use this pump and just get a small pressure tank and some sort of a pressure switch to turn on the pump to fill the tank?

Alternately could I just get a small pump to just use with the RODI filter that I could turn on when I needed to make water?

[billdogg]

If you are going to use it, what I would do is use that pump to fill a 55g barrel, then using a booster pump, run that water though your RODI and in to a second barrel.

[BrettDS]

Hmm, that would be quick and easy. Perhaps a little less automated than I might prefer, but I do like quick and easy. Would a standard RODI booster pump work if I was starting at 0 psi?

[billdogg]

I would think so but can't say for sure.

Give Russ at www.buckeyehydro.com a call. If he can't answer your rodi question I'm betting that nobody can, and he'll have anything you might need to make it work at a very competitive price.

[KingFin]

Does the sprinkler system actually turn on this pump? Or just the release of pressure tells the pump to turn on? Their is a pressure switch you can add for fairly cheap that does that very job on your pump. A bladder/pressure tank inline with your RODI system can be put in to hold pressure when there is none from your pump. Also before using any ground water, not potable for human consumption, I'd maybe test for any organics or bacterias, I don't know if RODI systems will actually kill or dump out bad pathogens that may harm our aquariums.

[Windy2]

Fill your first barrel with your chlorinated tap water, add declorinater and let stand for 24 hours, then run it through the RODI into the second barrel. My experience with shallow water wells is that they have high mineral levels and will stain concrete. Why try to clean that up when you only need to de-chlorinate.

[BrettDS]

Does the sprinkler system actually turn on this pump? Or just the release of pressure tells the pump to turn on?


Right now the sprinkler system turns it on. There is a relay that the sprinkler system energizes to start the pump.

[BrettDS]

Fill your first barrel with your chlorinated tap water, add declorinater and let stand for 24 hours, then run it through the RODI into the second barrel. My experience with shallow water wells is that they have high mineral levels and will stain concrete. Why try to clean that up when you only need to de-chlorinate.


Even the city water here is incredibly hard, so I'm not sure the well water would be much worse. Might be worth testing it, though, before I get too far into this project.

[jmeehan]

Unless your city water comes from a reservoir, it probably comes from the same underground water table as your well. Where else would it come from? The city just adds chlorine. I would pump out of the well.

[bhbell]

I'm in the country and use well water, but it's from a deep well. I would recommend testing it (check with your county health department). A shallow well is more likely to have higher levels of bacteria and fertilizer present as well as other nasties. Not an issue for watering the yard but may be more trouble to get rid of than chlorine.

[jmeehan]

I'm in the country and use well water, but it's from a deep well. I would recommend testing it (check with your county health department). A shallow well is more likely to have higher levels of bacteria and fertilizer present as well as other nasties. Not an issue for watering the yard but may be more trouble to get rid of than chlorine.

Good point on the shallow well.

[BrettDS]

At this point I’ve decided to go ahead and connect it to the city water for now. My plan is to get the tank up and running on friday or saturday and I just realized that I’m going to need to start making water now if my 75G/day unit is going to be able to make 250 gallons by friday.

The filter will be installed near the well, so I will be able to easily change it over at some point if I want.

[zachts]

check if your city water uses chlorine or Chloromine. the latter needs a special type of carbon filter to avoid killing the membrane. the former can be easily delt with via carbon prefilters unless you are going thru crazy amounts of water for a huge tank. Carbon is cheap and reloadable cartridges for the dechlorinization stage are readily available. City should be able to easily tell you how much chlorine/chloromine is in the water and a quick consult with someone like buckeye hydro previously mentioned could tell you how many carbon cansisters and how often you should change them to deal with the city water.

Just my two cents.

Fyi, 250 gallons will likely exhaust a carbon prefilter, depending on system efficiency, you might wan't a couple extra on hand, with high chlorine smell they will exhaust pretty fast.

[Redman88]

Carbon filters reduce/remove the chlorine

[Cliff@AWI]

Hmm, that would be quick and easy. Perhaps a little less automated than I might prefer, but I do like quick and easy. Would a standard RODI booster pump work if I was starting at 0 psi?
Airwaterice's boosterpump powerstation can go from a bucket (0 psi) to 65 psi....it is plug and play and designed to give you flow of 1/2 gallon per minute...very simple and easy solution.

[Buckeye Hydro]

Aquatec booster pumps, for example, the 8800, are sold widely, are built like a tank, and have been around for years. They will work fine with 0 psi on the feedwater side.

Russ