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Mike 108

  • Posts: 650
Hard water/Soft water
« on: March 24, 2009, 02:23:01 pm »
I supposedly live in a 'soft' water area and (even though the tds out of the tap is 120-150 ppm) I still operate using a 'Di only' van mounted system.

I don't want to have a RO unit, but I have considered storing rainwater as an alternative way of saving on resin.

Not having a Ro unit, I have never researched them 'fully'.

Just out of curiosity - If a person does live in a 'HARD' water area, have they GOT to have a RO unit.

What is a typical tds reading in a HARD water area?

Thanks

Mike

Re: Hard water/Soft water
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2009, 03:08:28 pm »
as far as I know in hard water areas, the di only wont be enough to purify the water and you will leave spots, so need to run it through an RO kit.

Re: Hard water/Soft water
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2009, 03:12:00 pm »
I live in a 'very' hard water area in Kent my TDS pre-treatment is about 400 ppm.

I need to have RO, without it I use resin at a very high rate.
I think even with 120-150ppm you would save money if you used an RO, I know it means storage etc. But with an RO i use a bag of resin every 6 months if that.


mingram123

  • Posts: 33
Re: Hard water/Soft water
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2009, 03:25:58 pm »
Hi Mike , Southport is hard water area and 230 ppm , most cleaners use r/o of some sort .

Mike 108

  • Posts: 650
Re: Hard water/Soft water
« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2009, 07:19:43 pm »
Thanks, guys.

Ewan.

The classifications and tds figures that you mention - are they official figures?

Cheers.

Mike

Mike 108

  • Posts: 650
Re: Hard water/Soft water
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2009, 07:41:08 pm »
Ewan

I've just 'googled' and they are official figures of United Utilities (Water Board).

However, they are for 'ppm of Calcium' only - not including other contaminants.

Therefore, you could have a TDS of over 100 but the water could still be classed as 'soft' if less than 17 of those dissolved solids were Calcium (I think ?).

Cheers for the info, and for getting me researching/thinking.

Mike

EZclean

  • Posts: 857
Re: Hard water/Soft water
« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2009, 10:31:33 pm »
my TDS is 98-100. just ordered an RO. i get through about 1200ltrs p/wk of pure. currently costing around 24quid a week in resin, Tulsion.
if the RO gets it down to 5-6, then the resin will be doing less work, it may last 90 times longer. pay for itself in just a few months.
EZclean - Cleaner Than Water

craig21t

  • Posts: 132
Re: Hard water/Soft water
« Reply #7 on: March 24, 2009, 10:46:53 pm »
as far as I know in hard water areas, the di only wont be enough to purify the water and you will leave spots, so need to run it through an RO kit.

not quite correct mate, di only will purify any water, just wont last as long.

Re: Hard water/Soft water
« Reply #8 on: March 25, 2009, 06:02:51 am »
as far as I know in hard water areas, the di only wont be enough to purify the water and you will leave spots, so need to run it through an RO kit.

not quite correct mate, di only will purify any water, just wont last as long.

I know, that’s what I thought  :-[  :-[  :-[ know now.

Mike 108

  • Posts: 650
Re: Hard water/Soft water
« Reply #9 on: March 25, 2009, 10:34:48 am »
my TDS is 98-100. just ordered an RO. i get through about 1200ltrs p/wk of pure. currently costing around 24quid a week in resin, Tulsion.
if the RO gets it down to 5-6, then the resin will be doing less work, it may last 90 times longer. pay for itself in just a few months.


Wow! that's 2p per litre!

I normally use 15 - 20 litres for a large 3 bed semi, which would work out at 30 - 40 pence each.

I've been under the assumption that my actual costs for resin are 15p per litre of pure water (half of what you are saying it costs you).

I'll have to double check my 'workings out'.

Out of interest - I use 2 Di bottles 'in series' and change the resin in 'the first' when the TDS reading out of 'the second' reaches 4 ppm.

How do you do it?

Thanks

Mike

dd

  • Posts: 2566
Re: Hard water/Soft water
« Reply #10 on: March 25, 2009, 11:07:33 am »
Hard water anything over 100ppm!

Soft   0 - 17
Slightly hard 17 – 60
Moderately hard 60 -120
Hard   120 – 180
Very Hard   180 – & over

tds as measured in ppm as far as I know has little to do with hardness of water. I live in a hard water area and use a water softener.

tds into softener 188
tds out of softener 184
Softeners operate by means of ion exchange, calcium ions are exhanged for sodium ions (I think)

Main benefit of a softener is to prolong life of RO membranes. If you live in a soft water area you obviously won't need a softener and should get a long life from your RO membranes, provided you protect them by regularly flushing and changing pre-filters when due.

With a tds of 120 to 150 would think an RO would save you money on resin.

Mike 108

  • Posts: 650
Re: Hard water/Soft water
« Reply #11 on: March 25, 2009, 11:31:40 am »
That's interesting and good to know.

Mike

doak

  • Posts: 74
Re: Hard water/Soft water
« Reply #12 on: March 25, 2009, 04:07:59 pm »
i live in suffolk and my tap water is 350 ish       :o :o :o
i wanna work
i wanna be a millionare
i wanna clean windows

Mr Formby

Re: Hard water/Soft water
« Reply #13 on: March 26, 2009, 03:29:07 pm »