DIY Reverse Osmosis - For Scale Grower - Cheap, Portable, & Effective

[Guest]

Excellent job, Pipedream san.

Very intuitive of you to figure out that the kit contained a filter that was almost just as good as distilled or RO water.

And they say stoners lack intelligence.....all lies!!




~Ninja~

 

[Guest]

Nice idea.. I recently bought a RO unit off ebay for really cheap. It works great and all, but it does take awhile to filter the water which requires a lot forethought on my part. I imagine this thing filters the water very fast as well?

Thanks Pipedream -

I got two of them today. My water isn't awful, but it took it from it's usual 200 to 10 on the tds.

My question is about filter speed. I left the unit intact (w/o soap) to use the first time. It worked fine but the water came out very slowly. I don't know if it was because of the nozzle on the unit or the filters. How fast does your rig filter?

Thanks

PS - Used the second one and a good brush to do my home's exterior windows. WOW, what a product.

 

[Guest]

PH Issues

PH Issues

There is no question from any of us that this baby effectively lowers the tds drasticly.

I messed with it today for a while.

Like others, it raised my PH, from a 7.4 tap to a 9.7 post treatment.

If a person had a very high tap TDS, and a low PH problem (like I did when I used to use Tiger Bloom), it might be worth it.

But if you have a lower TDS like I do, and you're already adding PH down when neccesary, the last thing I need is my PH up two points.

For me, It will be used on the cars and the windows.

VERY imaginative thinking though.

The Kid

 

[f0urtwenty]

lol if its not bad water then you may be well to leave some minerals in.. other wise you'll have to get cal/mag or some product to put them back in anyway lol.

but for those of use with really bad quality water its better to go to some sort of cleaner baseline and build back up with what we need.. instead of having the solution all muddied up with other stuff already some of which we may not want at all.. that way we can use cal/mag and nutes and just have good ratios of what the plant needs.

I agree.

If you aren't using ferts with this water, it's possible to get a nute deficiency, most likely calcium. You'll know if you see orange spots. I've previously only used tap water that has sat out a couple days, but after 4 waterings with the Mr Clean Auto Dry I noticed a calcium deficiency.

In my case, I must have very poor water, but I base that on my water's default pH, 8.3+. The replacement filters only last about 10-15 gallons.

 

[f0urtwenty]

There is no question from any of us that this baby effectively lowers the tds drasticly.

I messed with it today for a while.

Like others, it raised my PH, from a 7.4 tap to a 9.7 post treatment.

If a person had a very high tap TDS, and a low PH problem (like I did when I used to use Tiger Bloom), it might be worth it.

But if you have a lower TDS like I do, and you're already adding PH down when neccesary, the last thing I need is my PH up two points.

For me, It will be used on the cars and the windows.

VERY imaginative thinking though.

The Kid

This dropped my pH from about 8.3 to in the 5.x range.

 

[Skunkface]

i guess i'll be washin my car with this thing

 

[_Dude]

Cool thread.

GOOD MAN!!!

I CAN'T CUT INTO MY PIPES FOR R.O.,
THIS COULD BE MY SOLUTION !!


BTW I PAY $1.89 PER GALLON AT THE CORNER STORE..SUCKS!!

Get the right fittings and you won't need to cut anything. My RO system came with a fitting that attaches to the pipe a shower head attaches to - just unscrew the head and attach the fitting.

 

[pumpkin2006]

I tried this out and the filter that first came with the unit "cleaned" only 50 gallons and the replacement filter only did 10 gallons; at 7-8 bucks a piece, this isn't worth it.

My RO unit does 100 gallons a day, which is slower, but it last a long time and is reliable.

At least I can wash my car with it.

 

[Pipedream]

Obviously something is missing here or in the projects application or testing.

I'm getting a lot of conflicting reports both as posts here in the thread, and as PM's as well.

Some claim that it raises the PH, while others have stated "no change" or even a drop as f0urtwenty stated above.

The initial filter is rated for three uses (washes) while the replacements are rated for ten. And yet, some folks claim to have gotten more run time on the initial sample filter.

I'm not really sure what all of this is telling us. However, I refuse to put the blame on poor manufacturing standards. The filters are made for Mr. Clean by PUR, and they are at the top of the filter game. I do know that those of us paying 7 or 8 dollars for a replacement filter are paying way too much. They can be had in small quantities for as low as three and change each. And if you are a decent "do-it your-selfer", you don't even need the Mr Clean unit, you can work out a way to just run the water thru the filter with other fittings. Although, the actual unit often goes on sale for about $14 US.

I'm not really trying to defend the idea here. I started this thread by saying that this is no real RO unit, and went on to say that it's not for everybody and has its limits. However, at about the cost of a Spicy Tuna Roll with Avacado and a bowl of Miso Soup for lunch, what have you got to loose by seeing if it works for you? If it doesn't, use it to wash your car, lord knows most stoners drive pretty ratty rides. (LOL)

 

[Sad247summer]

This is a fantastic idea, it droped my ppm from 250 @ the tap to an average of 35ppm when I use a new filter to fill up a 50gallon tub.
So I get 50 gallons of water for 4$ I can deal with that.
thx P-dream for making my grow possible again.

 

[ShroomDr]

your getting 50Gal off of one cartridge?

Im getting somewhere between 12Gal and 15Gal. My ec is only .280, and it drops to .001 after the filter, so i dont think my water is exceptionally hard on the filter. The cheapest i can find cartridges for is $5.30.


Still cheaper than buying distilled water

 

[vavwl]

My RO unit is cheaper, this this thing is much more convenient.. its much faster. Water on demand.

This time of year I can use my AC water, so I don't have to pay for any during the summer months.

 

[Cyclonite]

FYI....I said before this runs on resin

All resin is either + or - charged therefore attracting the opposite charges ( anions and cations) PH is just a count of electrons vs protons....now accounting for that the PH swing wouldn't be that strange....im sure the resin in the gun takes out Cal Mag and other ions but not having the proper anion and cation mixture of resin beads will result in a large PH swing....with a reduced TDS.

Sounds solid anyways.

 

[Guest]

For those experiencing a pH swing with these filters...

If they are anything like R/O filters they need to be run for a while when they are brand new. If you're pulling them out of the box, slapping em in there and trying to use that water it's probably why you're seeing a swing.

I think the problem is going to be - how can you run this thing long enough to 'prep' the filter and balance pH, without using up the filter.

 

[blynx]

I tested it pretty quick out of the box without running it for very long (couple minutes). The initial test brought the water from 172 ppm down to 22 ppm, but I didn't test the pH. I filled a couple gallons and then tested it again and it brought the tap water down to 1 ppm. I also tested the pH and found that it didn't really affect it at all. It went from 7.23 down to 7.17. The meter used is a cheapo Hanna Checker pH meter. It isn't the best but it didn't show any drastic swings in the pH either.

 

[Pipedream]

Cyclonite & Klutter - Good info, Thanks.

blynx - I'm using the same PH meter, and my results are right where your's are. I too noticed a slight drop in the TDS after using it a bit. However, after a while, as you approach the end of its useful life, the rise does happen fairly quickly.

Regards everyone, PD

 

[ShroomDr]

bump.

I finally took the thing apart. I recommend everyone do this. The only pieces you need to keep are the initial hose adapter, the on/off switch, and the filter cartridge bracket/holder. You dont need the on/off switch, but it makes fitting all the pieces together simpler.

Before you take it all the way apart, mark which side of the cartridge-holder is the input, and which is the output.

I used gorilla glue to fasten the the three pieces together. The water pressure needed for the filter is too great, and you must use some sort of waterproof adhesive. I also glued some flexible plastic tubing to the output side of the filter cartridge holder, so i can easily direct the filtered water. The only down side to this mod is without the plastic 'gun' casing, there is nothing to hold the filter cartridge inside the holder. I used electrical ties, they are easy to get snug, hold firmly, and easily removed.

I think the output side of the cartridge is actually a little faster than leaving it unmodded. Im not sure if it has to do with the plastic restrictor-plate/ioniser-nozzle, or not, but it seemed almost 2x as fast.

AND

If you take the outer wrapper off the cartridge, you can see the filter, as it progresses though its life. once the darker part is almost gone, the filter loses its effectiveness. I still cant get more than 12Gal out of one of these things. at least not down at <.008ec.




Im paying about $5 per cartridge, so its its about $0.50/Gallon for me.

 

[Purplestuffed]

Pretty great idea Pipedream, i think i will just get water down the street from my house for $1 for every 5 gallons.... But great innovation..

 

[reefa cheefa]

great man i think ill be making one some time soon

 

[ShroomDr]

bump.

I finally took the thing apart. I recommend everyone do this. The only pieces you need to keep are the initial hose adapter, the on/off switch, and the filter cartridge bracket/holder. You dont need the on/off switch, but it makes fitting all the pieces together simpler.

Before you take it all the way apart, mark which side of the cartridge-holder is the input, and which is the output.

I used gorilla glue to fasten the the three pieces together. The water pressure needed for the filter is too great, and you must use some sort of waterproof adhesive. I also glued some flexible plastic tubing to the output side of the filter cartridge holder, so i can easily direct the filtered water. The only down side to this mod is without the plastic 'gun' casing, there is nothing to hold the filter cartridge inside the holder. I used electrical ties, they are easy to get snug, hold firmly, and easily removed.

I think the output side of the cartridge is actually a little faster than leaving it unmodded. Im not sure if it has to do with the plastic restrictor-plate/ioniser-nozzle, or not, but it seemed almost 2x as fast.

AND

If you take the outer wrapper off the cartridge, you can see the filter, as it progresses though its life. once the darker part is almost gone, the filter loses its effectiveness. I still cant get more than 12Gal out of one of these things. at least not down at <.008ec.




Im paying about $5 per cartridge, so its its about $0.50/Gallon for me.

On the left is a spent cartridge
Next is the filter mod, with an almost spent cartridge
One more over is a new filter with the wrapper removed
and on the far right is the cartridge as is.

I use zip ties to hold the cartridge in the harness; the water pressure would push the filter off without them.