# Making RODI water question



## katakonik (Dec 7, 2016)

I have purchased the Aquatic Life 4 stage RODI system and have a few somewhat silly questions before I use it.

I plan to hook this up to the tub in the laundry room.

I've read that the amount of waste water produced is dependent on the water temperature and pressure. Once I turn the tap on, how many rotations do I need to turn? So that the pressure is good?

For water temperature, if the water is too cold, can't I turn up the warm side a bit to get it to reach 77f (supposed sweet spot)? 

Thanks


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## belmaskin1 (Nov 10, 2015)

Not sure about the temperature. I've only ever connected my R.O units to the cold water line. As far as pressure, the higher the better. High pressure is needed to force water through the membrane and reject the waste solids. If the pressure is too low the membrane will foul up with the solids in the water and fail prematurely. I think around 40 psi is the minimum pressure required to run efficiently. Just crank the tap wide open.


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## merlin416 (Jun 23, 2014)

katakonik said:


> I have purchased the Aquatic Life 4 stage RODI system and have a few somewhat silly questions before I use it.
> 
> I plan to hook this up to the tub in the laundry room.
> 
> ...


just open up the tap all the way, normal household water pressure should be around 60-75 psi, to me i would never turn on the hot water or warm water, it might ruin the membrane. if yourwater pressure is too low, might want to try at a different spot in the house or add a booster pump make it more efficient.


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## rayjay (Sep 6, 2014)

I would nix the warm water too as you COULD end up with bacteria expansion in the system. IMO, the cooler water helps to keep the bacteria at bay.


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## bruno129 (May 13, 2009)

Tap pressure is tap pressure, whether you just crack the tap open slightly or you open it all the way. As long as you allow more water to into the filter than water comes out, you will get full pressure.

As for mixing hot water? Not worth it. The flow through the pump is to slow.

Frankly, and not to be disparaging, I think you made a poor choice in the RO system that you bought. But whatever, it's done. There's a few things that in my opinion would massively improve the operation, reliability and lifespan your system and consumables. 

The biggest benefit to efficiency would be a booster pump. That'll up the pressure from whatever it is in the tap to a higher pressure that will allow your RO membrane to operate more efficiently. I would also get a pressure gauge to monitor the output pressure of the booster pump. 

A TDS meter is absolutely essential. Minimum, IMO would be a dual meter - you'll want to monitor the TDS coming out of you RO membrane and then out of the Resin as well. That will allow you at a glance to see if your resin needs changing and how your membrane is doing. A triple meter is nice because it allows you to see the quality of the tap water coming in. In Vaughan I'm getting 120-150ppm from the tap, 2ppm out of the membrane and 0ppm after the resin.

A flush kit is also really nice to have. It will flush the membrane every time you start producing water and every hour while producing. I will extend the life of the membrane and the resin. And an auto shut off is another thing you'll want to add if you don't have one already.

My honest suggestion is if you can afford it, sell that system and buy something better. I have the Vertex Puratek 100GPD - 4 Stage system with built in booster pump, auto shut off, auto flush, TDS meter and a controller that manages all the electronics. I bought this thing nearly a decade ago; way back from Oakville Reef Gallery and she's still making water for me every day - never had a problem with it.


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## Mido (Mar 5, 2018)

*hot water*

my two cents is I would never use hot water u will end up with a source of water with higher dissolved salts and potentially heavy metals ... so u might at least exhaust ur cartridges faster if not ending up with harmful metals in ur tank
I think about it this way: hot water sitting in a metal reservoir for a long time, the odds of metals leaching in the water is high ...


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