Wanted to share a way to conserve water waste

[bcavalli]

First I want to say thank you to all the members I have met over the past 9 months. ARC is amazing and I couldn't have learned all I know now without this forum and its members.


With that being said I wanted to share a way I found to save a lot of money off your water bill.

The biggest issue I have with our hobby is the amount of water we waste through our RO systems. The wife just about pulled the plug on my tank after the first few months when our water bills skyrocketed.

After researching and researching some more, I ran across BRS's answer to lowering your waste. They have added a 2nd membrane to your setup and the waste water is reprocessed from the 1st membrane to the 2nd membrane.

With my setup i have a 75 gpd 5 stage RO/DI, 2 membranes, and a booster pump (running at 65 psi) after the first three stages and before the first membrane.

After running my new setup for a month I have seen my RO water output increase to over 175 gallons per day with 0 TDS. I haven't bothered to check waste water output volume as it is reduced dramatically.

Anyhow here is a link to the BRS add on membrane kit. It runs 60 bucks.



http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-150-gpd-water-saver-upgrade-kit.html">http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-150-gpd-water-saver-upgrade-kit.html</a>

And a picture of my first 4 stages with water saver kit installed.

[IMG]http://s59.photobucket.com/user/bcavalli/media/imagejpg1-9.jpg.html">[IMG]http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g286/bcavalli/imagejpg1-9.jpg alt="" /></a>

 

[thanhreef]

What is the ratio?
I have used

 

[bcavalli]

I havent calculated the flow rate on the waste but its prob 3 to 1. With 1 being waste.

 

[acroholic]

Had one of these on my setup for about 3 years as well. Works in low TDS tap water areas of the country like Atlanta, hard water areas not so well.

 

[bcavalli]

Yea I read that as well. Disclaimer: this was just experience with it and there maybe drawbacks I'm unaware of. Im just a rookie in this game and still learning.

 

[tonymission]

My water bill is on auto pay and I just got an alert that I paid a $663 bill for last month. That's insane!

Looks like a I need a sewage meter ?? Do I need two of them (or three?) if I have front and back sprinkler zones and then my water mixing station?

Are you guys paying these crazy amounts for your water bill?

 

[thanhreef]

That's insane! You have a very big yards. Sprinkler uses a lot of water. Every time I turn on sprinkler and my water's bill jumps up a lot but it's not crazy amount like yours

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

tonymission;977591 wrote: My water bill is on auto pay and I just got an alert that I paid a $663 bill for last month. That's insane!

Looks like a I need a sewage meter ?? Do I need two of them (or three?) if I have front and back sprinkler zones and then my water mixing station?

Are you guys paying these crazy amounts for your water bill?

I think it's more the sprinkler system than the RO/DI that's killing you! My water bill doesn't come anywhere close to that amount but I don't have lawn sprinklers either. I don't wash my vehicles at home much as well. Car washes have recycling systems so it only takes about 3 gallons of water to wash and rinse a car.

 

[bcavalli]

tonymission;977591 wrote: My water bill is on auto pay and I just got an alert that I paid a $663 bill for last month. That's insane!

Looks like a I need a sewage meter ?? Do I need two of them (or three?) if I have front and back sprinkler zones and then my water mixing station?

Are you guys paying these crazy amounts for your water bill?

Tony, first - the SRO skimmer is amazing so thank you for the great deal!

With my total net water volume of 200 gallons I do a weekly to biweekly water change of 20%. I don't have a sprinkling system so its not really apples to apples. But, before I added a second membrane my water bill was running around $180 to $200 a month. Once I added the water saver kit for something like $50 or $60, I was able to drop it down to about $110 to $120 a month. Not a huge drop but with more water it sure adds up over time. Plus, its really nice to be able to start the water for a water change and its done in just a few hrs.

 

[tonymission]

Thanks guys and you're welcome Brett! Glad it's rocking for you.

I just shut down the sprinkler system. I mean what's greener than green? All it's doing is making me mow the lawn more often. I had zoysia installed in the back yard so had that going hard to make sure it came in well but that was like 6 months ago or so. Just had them add the sprinklers to the front since it was so cheap / already digging up the front yard. I really don't care about it that much and I **** sure don't care about it enough to pay $650+ a month!! That's two sick frag packs!! Haha

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

Our Sponsor...Air, Water & Ice has a similar add on kit for $30

 

[maelstrom79]

Tony, it sounds like your sprinkler system is connected to your home drinking water..... That's why the bill is so high! You can have your county/city hook up a dedicated sprinkler line and they don't charge you sewer on it. That is what most people do - it is expensive to setup at first but much cheaper than paying for sewer you aren't using! E.g, a dedicated sprinkler line in dekalb county runs $1,000 for the install and then you have to connect your sprinkler to it.

 

[marquiseo]

I pay $15 for water..... I guess you guys have large tank problems.

Note: I am in an apartment by myself until I go home to Augusta, to my wife, every now and then.

 

[ringo®]

Maelstrom79;977606 wrote: You can have your county/city hook up a dedicated sprinkler line and they don't charge you sewer on it.

I could be wrong, but I think the area he is in is mostly septic.....not sewer.

 

[tonymission]

I have a sewer line.
Really to need to figure out what I can do to reduce this bill. Just ridiculous.
Thanks for everyone's hekp

 

[mcphock]

My water bill runs $60-80 monthly, and I'm on sewer. I get 1 TDS out of RO and 0 out of DI. I dont even bother with "waste" water anymore. It all goes in the tank.