R/O units

[Guest]

I know nothing about these things except its time I get one for sure,with a 3K 8 by 8 flower room and about 30 plants always in veg,what size would I need?I see them in GPD but I dont know if that gallons per day or what.Where's the besy place to order online is the biggest question

 

[NorCal]

i believe they are in gpd and theres two hoses a blue and yellow, you only use the blue one and the other one needs to be able to drain (no one told me this @ the store I bought it at). I would just get the bigger version which is like $250 and it does like 275 gpd which is still really slow. to fill up my 5 gallon using the blue hose it takes it about 45min,which means you should do it outside. I used to do it in the kitchen (this was when I stil didnt know not to use both tubes) but by the time i rolled up a fatty and smoked it I already forgot about the water and went to an overflowing kitchen!!! best to do it outside and let it drain all the water somewhere else.....

btw, if you keep the filter outside throw it in a black garbage bag as after prolonged exposure to sunlight the filters turn brown and get algae etc.....
realisticaly I barely use mine as its too much of a pain to have to wait for my water to be done and i think you still have to ph it anyways (i run soil so I just decided to use the tap water)

 

[Guest]

Yes, the rate is in gallons per day. I used to fill up my 55 gallon rez with a 250 GPD system. Boy you talking about painfull to have to babysit for 6+ hours. I finally got smart and started keeping 2 5 gallon jugs full to top off res.

 

[cadillachydro]

I need an RO unit as well. Trucking 40 gallons a week in the house is a hassle. Fortunately I live in a town where the tap water sucks and everybody drinks bottled.

My plan is to get an RO unit that filters around 80 to 100 gpd. I will hook it up to a 55 gallon drum with a float valve, that way I'll always have 55 gallons on tap. That relieves the need to buy an expensive RO unit... Those units that do a couple hundred a day aren't gonna be cheap.

My only problem is location. My idea was to hook it up to the water connections for the washer machine, however I'm gonna have to build some sort of heavy duty shelf above the dryer for there is little room in that area. There really isnt another place where i have a tap for water that isn't out in the open.

Any ideas?

Keep it easy ~caddy

 

[Ono Nadagin]

I use a 125gpd unit with the stock 5gallon container as well as 60 and a 40 gallon storage tanks I bought the storage tanks on close out at Lowes and Home Depot.. the 40gallon was $30 and the 60 gallon was $45




In these pics you see the 40 gallon and the stock 5 gallon my 60 gallon tank is being installed at my other grow on another ro unit

EDIT

You wont be able to use a 55 gallon drum as storage the RO unit requires a bladder tank to stop it from making more water... the bladder inside the tanks are pressurized and when the ro unit cant push more water into the tanks it stops making RO'd water


f you look at my pics you will see an air valve on the tanks, this is where you balance your storage tanks pressure to that of the home/building where you install the tank/ro unit

 

[cadillachydro]

You wont be able to use a 55 gallon drum as storage the RO unit requires a bladder tank to stop it from making more water... the bladder inside the tanks are pressurized and when the ro unit cant push more water into the tanks it stops making RO'd water

So your're saying i cant use a float valve at the top of the drum to stop the incoming water??? I dont see why not but I'm curious to know why. Looking forward to those pics ONO. Thanks.

 

[Ono Nadagin]

The way RO unit work is off of your homes water pressure ... it uses your water pressure to make the RO'd water... your city water pressure pushes the water through the filter and the tank is pressurized to just below(iirc) your cities water pressure so that the city water pressure can be used to push it into the tank and against the air bladder inside of the tank when the pressure equalizes in the tank it means the tank has filled and no longer provides a low pressure zone the RO unit can put water into

If you used a 55 drum and a float lvl you would have to figure out a way to cut off the city water pressure... You would have to buy a real float "vlave" not the switches you see ppl use in hydro... and true float valves get exspensive fast.. not much less than the price of a bladder tank

(valves actually cut the fluid off and on depending on valve position, switches simply trigger a pump that does the off/ons)


And I added the pics in my orig post

 

[Guest]

I use a 125 GPD RO unit... those small tanks are 2 1/2 gallon... not 5 gallon.

Ono... I run a T and split the line BEFORE it goes to the small 2 1/2 gallon tank.... thus the line flowing to the 55 gallon drum is always dripping... UNTIL my 55 gallon drum is full...at which point a float valve stops it.

cadillachydro... you got the right idea.

 

[Ono Nadagin]

what float valve do you use

 

[Guest]

So wheres a good place to get one online.Is 125 gpd a day enough to water 40 flowering plants and 30 vegging plants every 4 or 5 days?

 

[Ono Nadagin]

if you have a place to store teh RO'd water a 120-125gpday unit is fine... it will make 4-5 gallons an hour

I bought mine online from an Ebay company and it was cheap, it was 5 or so years ago but I paid about 125ish I think shipped

 

[Guest]

T splits the line... one going to 2 1/2 gallon pressurized tank and the other to a 55 gallon storage drum with float valve to prevent overflow.




Float valve inside 55 gallon drum.




I use the drum for water storage and dip a 5 gallon bucket in it to grab water for my various reservoirs.

Ono... it's nice that you have pressurized and contained storage for your H2O.

Anyhow... this works quite well.

Mais~

 

[Guest]

So wheres a good place to get one online.Is 125 gpd a day enough to water 40 flowering plants and 30 vegging plants every 4 or 5 days?

I got mine off of eBay... This unit with the 55 gallon storage is plenty of water for your op and to have plenty to drink as well!

 

[Guest]

check out this high flow rate r/o unit

30-GPH R/O UNIT

 

[Ono Nadagin]

hmm I have never seen a mechanical float valve that small... cool... do you remember where you got it, I would us a plastic drum and valve also and just raise the container to build pressure to send it out to the hydro rez

 

[marx2k]

http://cgi.ebay.com/IN-STOCK-GE-MER...4QQihZ004QQcategoryZ43015QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I think is the same style for cheaper.

This is the seller I purchased from:
http://stores.ebay.com/The-Aqua-Safe-Pure-Water-Shop

This seller's RO system brings my city's hard water from 275PPM to 12PPM

It has been working for a year now. The reverse osmosis tank broke (I think the bladded broke) and the seller replaced it for free. Easy hookup. Red line goes from cold water feed from the faucet, blue line goes from the unit to the storage tank, yellow line goes into the wastewater drain. Set up under the sink, no hassles at all. Perfect for hydroponics but we mainly use it for drinking water.

 

[Guest]

RO system was around $158 at Lowes last time I checked, about 2 weeks ago. I am definitely in the market for one.

 

[Guest]

I think my unit was around 125-135 delivered. It's been in operation about 2 years... I've never changed a filter and get PPMs around 10... this is from water that started around 600 PPMs.

Ono... I'm not sure where I got this thing... I'm thinking it was from the RO Vendor on eBay as an accessory item... it works great.

 

[Guest]

Float Valve: http://filterdirect.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=101

 

[MTF-Sandman]

RO system was around $158 at Lowes last time I checked, about 2 weeks ago. I am definitely in the market for one.

The units at Lowes are good quality, but make sure to check out the GPD ratings of them...most of them are rated for 10 GPD and are not adequate for providing multi KW grows with a steady supply of RO.

Ballastman - are you wanting to just top off your tank or build up a stockpile of fresh RO for res swaps?