RO waste water
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: DIY
Forum Description: Do it Yourself
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=30743
Printed Date: September 22 2025 at 9:30pm
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Topic: RO waste water
Posted By: chastings
Subject: RO waste water
Date Posted: January 12 2009 at 5:03pm
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I hate how much water ends up going down the drain with these dang RO units. I once read somewhere that you can run the waste water back into your water heater, but can't figure out how to do it, or even if it's a good idea. I know that it's probably against code, but we drink the ro water, and the other water would only be used to flush toilets, do laundry, and bathe. I would love to come up with a good way to use this water. Anyone out there have a creative solution besides this? Thanks, Charlie |
Replies:
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: January 12 2009 at 5:10pm
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I think it is a great idea. There has to be a way to do it.
Mike -------------  |
Posted By: Andreason
Date Posted: January 12 2009 at 5:29pm
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We use ours in the washing machine. I think others here do as well. ------------- Andreason's |
Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: January 12 2009 at 5:45pm
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Ive done that before. Some ro units waste 5g for every 1 produced. ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 12 2009 at 7:05pm
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Don't worry about it. I once took a tour of a sewage plant. They had to add water to the sludge coming down the pipes. That means the water our RO units produce just saves them from adding a little water. But if you are really interested, check out the link below. Any RO unit can be switched to a Kold-steril which wastes absolutely no water. I have set up several hobbyists with this kind of water system. It works great. http://www.poly-bio-marine.com/ - http://www.poly-bio-marine.com/ ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: TriggerHappy
Date Posted: January 12 2009 at 7:55pm
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Try a permeate pump, not only do you get less waste, but also longer filter life. Better all the way around!
------------- 210 gallon Mixed Reef |
Posted By: Andreason
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 9:48am
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It isn't just about wasting water. It is also about the bill. My sewage bill is based on my water usage. So, the more water I go through the higher my water and my sewage bill are. ------------- Andreason's |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 10:09am
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Then the Kold-steril is your most economical option. It's about $50 to convert with all new media.
------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: Andreason
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 10:11am
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I looked at the site and it was too technical for me. Does it do the DI as well? Is it just I take out the media I am using (and the membrane) and put in new media and viola? And it will basically take it to <10ppm? ------------- Andreason's |
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 11:13am
Really? I didn't know that. If that is true it would really make me feel better about wasted water like that.
I'm going to check on that.
Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Mark Peterson wrote:Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 11:20am
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Cold Sterile does not make RO nor DI water. It leaves almost all the dissolved ions in the water. It supposedly removes the copper, lead, arsenic and other heavy metals and phosphates and organics. The outlet will have the same tds as the inlet. IMO, if you want to try cold-sterile, just save your money and start using tap water. A lot of the tap water along the wasach front is not really that bad. I've see a few tanks using just tap water that look just fine. But I personally prefer RO/DI because it's easy to know if it's "ok".
------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: Connie
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 11:22am
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I run a line out to my pond. I fill my ponds and my tank at the same time..... ------------- I have flying monkeys and I'm not afraid to use them. 180 gallon money pit that I love..... |
Posted By: jessedidthis
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 11:41am
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I don't have time to read the whole thread. Sorry. But - I've always thought of putting a large 50+gallons container in the ground and watering the lawn with the waste. 75% of our water bill goes to watering the lawn. ------------- Jesse Stewart |
Posted By: larhalli
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 12:34pm
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In the winter months I just seem to waste the RO waste water and it goes down the drain, but during the summer I take that water and water my gardens and the large flower pots in the yard. It has worked pretty good the last couple of years. I like the idea of putting it in the ponds but then I worry about the added minerals and chemicals that are filtered out of the RO water and wonder what effect they may have on my pond fish. Connie have you noticed any problems? I doubt what little waste water I would get daily would have any noticable change in my large ponds and I would still have to add other water as well. Jesse I am glad to see that you are still around, I have not seen many posts from you for a while and I asked Kalli if you were still around. Hope all is well. ------------- Larry Halliday West Jordan |
Posted By: Ryan Thompson
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 1:50pm
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Ok so I have an idea. I don't want to hijack this thread but let me explain where I am coming from. My Dad and I are looking into breeding discus as there is no where in the state to get a good discus for a decent price. So when breeding discus you have to change the water daily in the breeding tanks. So with us having (10) 29 gallon tanks we would be going through almost 150 gallons of RO a day. We are not about to waste/spend the money on over 600 gallons of water a day! So my thought was, couldn't you just fill up a water tank and then pump that water through the RO unit? Then have the waste water go back into that tank and be run through again? We can use the waste water in the grow out tanks but not the breeding tanks so that helps save water too.
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Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 2:28pm
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Sure that can be done. I'm sure there are other Discuss breeders in Utah. The increase in tds of the waste water is an insignificant amount. It is fine ordinary water. After all the TDS in St. George is ~500 vs. ~200 in Centerville where I used to live. Even the waste water there was cleaner than what I drink from the drinking fountain here. (that's why we drink our own RO water.  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: Ryan Thompson
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 2:34pm
I don't know of any and I watch a lot of the discus forums out there. I would love to find one and talk to them. I am glad to hear that my suggestion could be done. I don't know the TDS here in Lehi.
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Posted By: Andreason
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 3:32pm
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Lehi is usually 220. There used to be a discus breeder up in Layton. Have you checked with GSLAS? ------------- Andreason's |
Posted By: Andreason
Date Posted: January 13 2009 at 3:36pm
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Yep, Mike Dennis still breeds Discus. Here is his website.
http://www.ihavefishwantmore.mysite.com/ - http://www.ihavefishwantmore.mysite.com/ ------------- Andreason's |
Posted By: chastings
Date Posted: January 16 2009 at 1:24pm
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Thanks everyone for your input. I think I'm going to try to plumb the waste water into my water heater. I've been talking to someone that sells RO units, and he's telling me that all I need is a check valve, and possibly a delivery pump. I'm still working out the specifics, but should know more soon. My logic is as follows, if St. George, and undoubtedly numerous other municipalities have tds levels that vary so widely, the difference I'll be creating won't harm my appliances, and since I don't drink the water, it will only effect me in that my water will become a little "harder" (is that the correct terminology, or is hardness a reflection of other measurements?). I'm wondering if I (or more likely my wife) will even notice a difference, will my showering become somehow less pleasureable, any thoughts? Thanks, Charlie |
Posted By: jamzdean
Date Posted: January 18 2009 at 10:16am
| I would like to know how this worked for you. My RO unit is right next to the water heater, if it works I will do the same thing. It just seems like such a waste. |
Posted By: chastings
Date Posted: January 27 2009 at 8:45pm
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I hooked everything up last night and everything seems to be working just fine. All I did was buy this check valve http://www.airwaterice.com/product/WB-CV3344-Q/Check_valveUnion_In_Line_14.html%20 - http://www.airwaterice.com/product/WB-CV3344-Q/Check_valveUnion_In_Line_14.html , and re route the waste water line into the main line. I don't think i'll need a pump to overcome the pressure, as it seems to be working now. I have samples of my water before the modification and need to get my tds levels measured. When I get that done I'll post my results on tds before and after. Hopefully it works out ok. If it does this could be a very good way to cut down on water waste. -Charlie |
Posted By: Andreason
Date Posted: January 27 2009 at 9:04pm
 I may try this as well.------------- Andreason's |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 28 2009 at 9:41am
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Okay, so you took the waste line into a check valve and teed it into the intake line, right? I am not certain but it seems to me that eventually there will be a problem. My understanding of RO is that the waste water must be continually washing over the membrane to keep the unwanted molecules from clogging it up. The way this mod is set it up, the pressure on the intake side is the same or very close to the same as the waste side of the membrane. This essentially stagnates the water within the RO unit. I will be very curious to see the TDS and to see if it clogs the membrane prematurely. (That's an expensive test.  ) I'm thinking that such a simple modification would have been known and used long ago if it was feasible and practical.------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: chastings
Date Posted: January 29 2009 at 8:41am
| I agree Mark, it does seem too simple, but I'm all hooked up now. I'm going to get my first round of tds tests tonight, and i guess I'll soon find out whether or not this was a good idea. |
Posted By: Andreason
Date Posted: January 29 2009 at 8:55am
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I asked an RO unit seller about the outgoing pressure needing to be high and fouling the membrane
and this is what he said:
"That is a potential danger to doing that. You could get a delivery pump to help with this, though. There's also the potential danger of the main water line not needing the amount of water being pumped back into it and causing a block in the drain line while the RO is trying to make water. This can cause membrane fouling.
Again, these are only potential dangers. " Let us know if you have any of these issues, as I am intertested in doing this as well. As a side note, in the summer we could run the waste line to the AC. I wonder if it could keep up. Anyone tried that?
Wendy ------------- Andreason's |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 30 2009 at 8:42am
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Thanks Andreason. Charlie, that confirms what I said. It's not whether it makes water right now (which btw I can promise will look right on the TDS meter), but it's the fact that an RO unit uses the waste water to flush away the waste, otherwise the waste sits there at the membrane and eventually clogs the microscopic holes in the membrane which are supposed to let pure water through. My guess is that the membrane will become fouled/clogged within a week. Rather than save gallons of waste water this little experiment will ruin the membrane. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: chastings
Date Posted: January 30 2009 at 12:31pm
I'm already having problems with this setup. My ro unit has stopped producing. The guy I've been talking with this says I now need a delivery pump http://www.airwaterice.com/product/PDP5852 - http://www.airwaterice.com/product/PDP5852 to get things moving now. I hope I haven't already clogged the membrane  .I'm still deciding on whether or not I want to spend money on the delivery pump if I'm not positive it's going to work. any thoughts Mark? |
Posted By: Jake Pehrson
Date Posted: January 30 2009 at 5:32pm
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I am not even sure a delivery pump will work unless you are constantly using water so that the RO pump is able to pump the water into the main lines. Otherwise after the pressure rises past what the pump can handle you will no longer be able to pump water into the lines.
Don't know if that makes sense, but there it is. ------------- Jake Pehrson Murray http://coralplanet.com" rel="nofollow - coralplanet.com http://utahbeeranch.com" rel="nofollow - :) |
Posted By: chastings
Date Posted: January 30 2009 at 8:20pm
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It makes sense, for some reason I was thinking that this pump could somehow be pressure activated. I'll be converting it back tomorrow. But I'd be really interested if anyone knows how to pull this off. At some point I think I heard (printed or spoken I don't remember) Anthony Calfo recommending that this could/should be done. Ever since then the waste water has bothered me. I thought that there was a way to do this and that I was just being too lazy to figure it out. Sooo good luck to Andreason! I have a very busy month ahead of me an won't have the time to hit any more dead ends. Let me know if you figure anything out. Thanks all (Mark) for your inputs, you tried to warn me, thanks for trying. -Charlie |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: January 30 2009 at 9:41pm
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I do hope someone can figure this out. I hate the thought of wasting water that has already been processed.
Mike ------------- |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 31 2009 at 4:36pm
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No worries mate. Pure water output ceased... ...same thing happens when the waste water restrictor valve becomes totally plugged.If I'm not mistaken, the recirculating pump draws the waste water and pushes it into the source/input line so it can be reused. There might be a backflow valve in there somewhere. The diagram is on the internet somewhere. They sell those setups for RO units. Again, not to worry mate, the sewage system and treatment plants need the water. If they didn't get it from us they would have to buy it from the water department. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: February 01 2009 at 9:37am
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That drawing is nicely detailed and yet it shows incorrect connections at the RO unit. The supply water does not go directly to the membrane. It must pass through at least the Sediment cartridge and usually an AC cartridge prior to entering the membrane. Otherwise the particulates and impurities in the source water will quickly clog the membrane. <edit> Jerry's drawing and all his posts were deleted from this thread! What's up with that?  From all that we have discussed above there is one more thing to note. The operation of the RO Membrane is dependent on the lack of pressure on the exiting waste water side. Having the waste water rise up in elevation will effect the operation and actually reduce it's performance. To counteract this effect, remove the waste water restrictor valve and replace it with an adjustable valve. You can then adjust the valve to compensate for the pressure or in other words, the restriction created by trying to force the water uphill. Does this make sense the way I have explained it? FYI for every foot of elevation creates almost 1 psi of pressure. This means that a water storage container sitting 60 feet up the hill can create enough psi to run water through an RO membrane and create purified water. Cool huh!  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: chastings
Date Posted: February 01 2009 at 4:25pm
I disagree with you on this one Mark. Responsible water use is very important. We live in the desert (you especially) and should be very aware that fresh water is a resource that should not be wasted. I know that we have the mountains that act as great storage for all of the Wasatch fronts water, but with the massive suburban expansion that has taken place in the last 20 years, less and less of that water is getting back to the GSL. Lets not forget that that giant body of water acts as a recycler adding moistier to the storms that pass over it creating the lake effect, and boosting the amount of water stored. I spent time on the GSL this summer with someone that has spent most of his life sailing out there. In the last 8 years the lake has lost 8-10 feet of depth. So much that if it keeps getting shallower, the marina will need to be closed because many of the boats in it's slips won't be able to get out into open water. Now I know that levels always have and always will fluctuate, but the natural cycle has certainly been modified, and the longterm ramifications of this aren't clearly known. This is one of the reasons why conserving water is a priority for me. To each his own. I know many of you will come to different conclusions, and that is fine with me. Again good luck to anyone looking to figure this out! |
Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: February 02 2009 at 9:07am
 The pump and pressure switch are required for this to work. I'm not too keen on doing this though, because you're dumping the waste water into your hot water system. If you're using tap water in your RO unit, this means your waste will be quite a bit harder then normal. Heat that up and you're asking for scaling problems in your water heater or hot water piping. It's less of a concern if you're sending softened water to your RO unit (which you should be doing anyway) as most of the minerals in the waste water will be sodium and not calcium/magnesium (less scaling). ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: February 02 2009 at 9:44am
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Thanks for you post Jon. With as many new people cruzing our board all of the time it is good to have correct information available to them.
I appreciate your thoughts Jerry but it really isn't necessary to react in that manner when a issue is pointed out. We all make mistakes and when one might be of harm to someone else I would think you would want it corrected.... But to each his own. ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
Posted By: chastings
Date Posted: February 02 2009 at 4:26pm
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Thanks for the diagram Jon. What is scaling? |
Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: February 02 2009 at 5:29pm
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Hard water deposits. The stuff that clogs up water lines and water heaters.
------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: Jake Pehrson
Date Posted: February 02 2009 at 7:38pm
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Jon, Thanks for the info. I once cleaned out my grandmothers hot water heater. It was filled with scale almost 3/4 to the top.------------- Jake Pehrson Murray http://coralplanet.com" rel="nofollow - coralplanet.com http://utahbeeranch.com" rel="nofollow - :) |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: February 03 2009 at 9:25am
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I used to really push the Kold-steril units which create zero waste and partially clean the water of heavy metals. But since most people are just not that excited about conserving water and because many had doubts about how clean the Kold-steril water was, I don't worry anymore about it. I even double checked when I heard our tour guide tell us about how the process of sewage treatment requires 1000's of gallons of additional city water per batch. So I figured if they had to add it anyway, then the waste from my RO unit was actually reducing the amount of water that has to be cleaned by the city water department and then pumped into the sewage treatment process. If I give you a few of my extra apples that would have gone to waste, then you don't have to buy those apples, and that saves apples. Last night I was reading the latest issue of Reef Hobbyist Magazine (the one with the Porcelain "Lobster" on the front cover ). To my surprise, on the back cover is an advertisement for an RO unit that has a 1:1.5 ratio of pure to waste water. It uses a pump setup possibly similar to the setup that Jon posted above. It's sold by http://www.aquaticlife.com - http://www.aquaticlife.com ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: February 10 2009 at 2:31pm
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Sorry for the delay. I finally spoke with Dal Wayment from the South Davis Sewer District (Manager).
1) He says they never have to add water during the treatment. He clearly stated we should be looking to save water, as it really is wasted once it goes down the drain. So running your RO line out to the garden is a good use for it.
2) For the water that does go down the drain, it is surely insignificant compared to the tens of thousands of gallons they get per day. He wasn't at all concerned.
3) The real water they don't want is your salt water. In order for them to process the waste they must filter the water to a certain level of TDS. Our salt water going down the drain just makes their job more difficult. Then again he didn't have any good alternatives on what to do with our old salt water.
Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: February 10 2009 at 4:37pm
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Great info Adam! I hope this helps us act resposibly with respect to wasted water. I know it has made me think more about it.
Mike ------------- |
Posted By: Ryan Thompson
Date Posted: February 10 2009 at 8:16pm
| There is a new RO unit out that makes 2 gallons of RO water to 1 gallon of waste. It is terribly expensive however. It was like 900 bucks last time I looked. |
Posted By: ecfarr
Date Posted: February 15 2009 at 11:21pm
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what is wrong with feeding it into the toilet's water tank? I have stored my waste water in water containers and after doing my dirty work, I remove the top from the back of the toilet, flush and after the water drains all the way i pour in waste ro water fast before it fills up with water from the house line. i know that this is cumbersome and after a couple hundred gallons i am not faithful at reusing all my waste ro water. one suggestion would be to store the waste water in a garbage bin in the garage or outside and pump the water to the toilet. if you have a toilet in the basement it could be gravity fed. you could attach the line to the metal tubing that comes off the toilet and taps into the house water line. if you did that, you can make use of the toilets auto-topoff mechanism and it would be hassle free. any failure to the toilets auto-topoff only sends water down the drain. |
Posted By: tazman1982
Date Posted: April 06 2009 at 6:25pm
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Here is another Question on the Wase water, (I am new to the RO/DI stuff.)
Is the "waste" water safe to drink? I know it has been through 3 stages (on mine) then dumped off after the membrain. or is it just pure crap? ------------- 75 Reef 55 Reef |
Posted By: snoyce
Date Posted: April 07 2009 at 7:50am
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The waste water has a higher TDS than what you get out of the tap but the RO does not add anything so the waste water is as safe to drink as the tap water. I believe the system Ryan is talking about is the SpectraPure Ultra High efficency, yah it is $900, you can read more about it here:
http://www.spectrapure.com/low_waste_systems.htm - http://www.spectrapure.com/low_waste_systems.htm ------------- Scott Noyce 90G reef ready AGA display basment 20G sump, 29G fuge 4x54 watt T5 retro SLR Octopus NW150 |