[Avo]

I was cleaning at 70 one morning without realising I had a system problem letting tap water into the tank. I had a complaint straight away from a customer.

[Spruce]

Amazing how opinions have changed over the years, 5 years back there were guys on this forum pulling their hair out in a panic when their tds reached 002  

I think you summed it up on a previous comment - it has much to do with the composition of the water in a particular area and that area's weather.

I won't let ours go above 2, period. We can get away with 6 just, but anything above that I can see fine spots on our test windows. We also live on the North East coastline so need the water to be as pure as possible. We have to spend more time washing and rinsing in bad weather, so why add to that time further with not so pure water.

When we first started Peter Fogwill told me that we could safetly get away with a TDS of 4 and that it what we have found in practice. I helped a cleaner with work a few years back when his van was in for engine repairs. He works inland and a noticed how much easier his daily work is away from the coast when compared to ours. So he could maybe get away with a higher TDS - but I wouldn't chance it.

I personally believe it's up to each of us to keep our standards high. After all, its our reputation that is at stake. I did a commercial clean yesterday and I have been told the boss checks the quality of the clean on random windows after we have been. We also clean the family home and he does the same.

[Ian101]

Used to change di as soon as it went to 001 but now get a few more ibc fills until it goes to 003 then it rapidly goes off so change it then... my 4040 about 4 years old now and produces at 016 ish.

I only have a little 6.5ltr dumpy DI but over Christmas break hoping to install a 3 x IBC rainwater harvester system ... new booster pump as one I have now isn't the best for the job plus double di 25ltr vessels.

My idea is the rainwater falls at about 15tds so 4040 will bring it down to about 003 / 002 and the di's should last for over 12 months if not longer (will run with 1 vessel until di tds creeps up then fit second vessel after 1st vessel) ... 4040 may seem over kill but prob wont get enough rainfall so will need to use mains water as well.

[Spruce]

Used to change di as soon as it went to 001 but now get a few more ibc fills until it goes to 003 then it rapidly goes off so change it then... my 4040 about 4 years old now and produces at 016 ish.

I only have a little 6.5ltr dumpy DI but over Christmas break hoping to install a 3 x IBC rainwater harvester system ... new booster pump as one I have now isn't the best for the job plus double di 25ltr vessels.

My idea is the rainwater falls at about 15tds so 4040 will bring it down to about 003 / 002 and the di's should last for over 12 months if not longer (will run with 1 vessel until di tds creeps up then fit second vessel after 1st vessel) ... 4040 may seem over kill but prob wont get enough rainfall so will need to use mains water as well.

I heard someone - not my own experience though - that once the water gets to a very low tds your r/o doesn't work anymore. I'm sure a poster was told that by June at GAPS Water.

You could put up a new topic on this directed at Doug Atkinson DAQUA. Their water TDS in Scotland is very low. I tested the water in the stream that supplied our rented cottage a few years ago and it was 25. So he should have first hand knowledge of that.

[Sean Dyer]

i was under the impression my tap water was 35 ish but just checked and its 64 

If i filled up every day which i dont at the moment, it would be about a bag a month id go through

quite expensive really , but putting ro in van would be winter nightmare and no room in the garden ... so i will have to put up with it i think ?

my waters back to 000 now anyway, just filling up with fresh resin

[Ian101]

Used to change di as soon as it went to 001 but now get a few more ibc fills until it goes to 003 then it rapidly goes off so change it then... my 4040 about 4 years old now and produces at 016 ish.

I only have a little 6.5ltr dumpy DI but over Christmas break hoping to install a 3 x IBC rainwater harvester system ... new booster pump as one I have now isn't the best for the job plus double di 25ltr vessels.

My idea is the rainwater falls at about 15tds so 4040 will bring it down to about 003 / 002 and the di's should last for over 12 months if not longer (will run with 1 vessel until di tds creeps up then fit second vessel after 1st vessel) ... 4040 may seem over kill but prob wont get enough rainfall so will need to use mains water as well.

I heard someone - not my own experience though - that once the water gets to a very low tds your r/o doesn't work anymore. I'm sure a poster was told that by June at GAPS Water.

You could put up a new topic on this directed at Doug Atkinson DAQUA. Their water TDS in Scotland is very low. I tested the water in the stream that supplied our rented cottage a few years ago and it was 25. So he should have first hand knowledge of that.

hmmmm sounds possible .... will pollute rainwater with tap water if this is correct 

[gary999]

i was under the impression my tap water was 35 ish but just checked and its 64 

If i filled up every day which i dont at the moment, it would be about a bag a month id go through

quite expensive really , but putting ro in van would be winter nightmare and no room in the garden ... so i will have to put up with it i think ?

my waters back to 000 now anyway, just filling up with fresh resin

Why dont you rainwater harvest and then Di it if you feel the need
would reduce the resin you are using.

[Sean Dyer]

ive nowhere to store it mate... certainly couldnt store more than  a couple of hundred litres... also id need a pump and etc to get it to my van wouldnt i ?

[SeanK]

i was under the impression my tap water was 35 ish but just checked and its 64 

If i filled up every day which i dont at the moment, it would be about a bag a month id go through

quite expensive really , but putting ro in van would be winter nightmare and no room in the garden ... so i will have to put up with it i think ?

my waters back to 000 now anyway, just filling up with fresh resin

Sean putting your R.O. in your van wont be a problem in winter, mines been in my van at minus eighteen with nothing
more than a couple of sleeping bags to cover it.

[Sean Dyer]

might do that ?

gonna look at rainwater first ... as i empty my van a few times a year for biking trips and stuff so ro as well might be a bit much

[DaveG]

i was under the impression my tap water was 35 ish but just checked and its 64 

If i filled up every day which i dont at the moment, it would be about a bag a month id go through

quite expensive really , but putting ro in van would be winter nightmare and no room in the garden ... so i will have to put up with it i think ?

my waters back to 000 now anyway, just filling up with fresh resin

Sean putting your R.O. in your van wont be a problem in winter, mines been in my van at minus eighteen with nothing
more than a couple of sleeping bags to cover it.

Interesting you say that Sean. I was always told to protect the RO from freezing , because they can shatter...??

Every winter I've always been almost paranoid about keeping it covered AND having a 300w tube heater under it on really cold nights, maybe I should relax a bit!

[SeanK]

Your right Dave mines even got a protect from frost sticker on it, but I can honestly say that I have never
used a heater in the van to protect the R.O. from frost and that year of the bad frost there was about two inches
of ice in the top of tank so there must have been ice in the R.O.
It was minus 18 non stop for over a week so just left it until the thaw.
What I will say is that I always open up the tap at the end of a fill to release the pressure, so this would mean that the R.O. would only be a third full.
But certainly now I don't worry about minus 5 or 6 a couple of heavy sleeping bags does the job.

[Steven Biggs]

i was under the impression my tap water was 35 ish but just checked and its 64 

If i filled up every day which i dont at the moment, it would be about a bag a month id go through

quite expensive really , but putting ro in van would be winter nightmare and no room in the garden ... so i will have to put up with it i think ?

my waters back to 000 now anyway, just filling up with fresh resin

sean have you got your calculations right . You may want to reconsider sticking to di only with a tap tds of 64 . Use mine as a comparison .                                Tap tds of 90                                                                                                             7 litre twin di vessels                                                                                                  I produce 2000 litres a week . Never goes above 2 tds                                                  One sack of tulsion lasts 2 months .  Every time for the last 5 years .                             Costs me a tenner a week mabe a bit less . To have on demand pure water , no ro needed . Reading your posts , your tap tds is lower than mine , I'm assuming you use less water than me cos you say you don't fill up every day . So if I was in your position I would defo stick with twin di . Also easy to remove from the van when needed . Hope that helps .      Barry

[Steven Biggs]

Forgot , if you have access to a hot tap . I have one outside . You can fill up with hot water when needed . Nice n simple .

[Dave Willis]

I've binned a tankful of 007 before. Highest I work with is 002.
Daft I know but I have standards.

[AuRavelling79]

I used to be paranoid about this but although I'm happiest at 000 I let it creep up to 010.

In fact when my membranes are new and bedded in I get about 010 from the R/O (Ro-Man type with 3 x 100gpd chambers) - I sometimes wonder about not using resin but as it takes about a year to get through a bag I'll carry on using it.

[gary999]

I've binned a tankful of 007 before. Highest I work with is 002.
Daft I know but I have standards.

If 007 gave you the same results as 002 seems like waste to chuck away
and not higher standards.

[Arnold Palmer]

I've binned a tankful of 007 before. Highest I work with is 002.
Daft I know but I have standards.

If 007 gave you the same results as 002 seems like waste to chuck away
and not higher standards.

Or use tap water..

[gary999]

I've binned a tankful of 007 before. Highest I work with is 002.
Daft I know but I have standards.

If 007 gave you the same results as 002 seems like waste to chuck away
and not higher standards.

Or use tap water..

Only if have a real low tds,unlikely to have problems on hydrophyllic
glass can be problematic with hydrophobic glass.

Soupy please dont recomend this please, you arenot talented or
imformed enough..no offence intended

[Sean Dyer]

i was under the impression my tap water was 35 ish but just checked and its 64 

If i filled up every day which i dont at the moment, it would be about a bag a month id go through

quite expensive really , but putting ro in van would be winter nightmare and no room in the garden ... so i will have to put up with it i think ?

my waters back to 000 now anyway, just filling up with fresh resin

sean have you got your calculations right . You may want to reconsider sticking to di only with a tap tds of 64 . Use mine as a comparison .                                Tap tds of 90                                                                                                             7 litre twin di vessels                                                                                                  I produce 2000 litres a week . Never goes above 2 tds                                                  One sack of tulsion lasts 2 months .  Every time for the last 5 years .                             Costs me a tenner a week mabe a bit less . To have on demand pure water , no ro needed . Reading your posts , your tap tds is lower than mine , I'm assuming you use less water than me cos you say you don't fill up every day . So if I was in your position I would defo stick with twin di . Also easy to remove from the van when needed . Hope that helps .      Barry

i was using the calculator from gardiners which says if i used 2500 litres a week , ie filled my tank everyday id go through a bag a month

i currently get about 2 months, i only use one vessel though

I do have a hot tap fitted yes , and fill from it when its too cold to use cold