[majorvices]

A group of guys and myself are building a 1.5 bbl system and I don't relish the idea of going to the store and buying 50 gallons of RO water so we want to invest in a system. I found http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E77I04/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000HM5RS6&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1H2WCEY38WW4Q3T8WDNZ which looks to suit our needs but I was SHOCKED  ( ) to find out that RO systems waste massive amounts of water (?). One review on this system I posted said it wasted friggin 6 gallons of water for ever 1 gallon RO water collected. WTF? It that right?

Anyone have a large capacity system that I could look at - something semi-reasonable. Something under 500 bucks would be ideal.

[boulderbrewer]

Remember the rating is for 24 hrs so thats about 2 gph under the best cicumstance. RO does waste water, some places like carwashes recycle their "waste" water and use it in other places during wash where mineral content is not an issue. You could collect and repressurize (not that difficult) and use this for cleaning, watering the grounds, flushing toilets...... you get the idea. Just be green with the waste water.

That one you posted is pricy for what you get, You should be able to find it about two thirds that price on the web. I know if I bought 25 of them I could get them for about $125.

[dbeechum]

RO systems are all inherently wasteful. Its a side effect of the design. Also, there's a pretty good maintenance cost involved if you're really trying to get zero mineral content.

Looking at the situation from a different angle - why do you need RO water? Aside from breweries specializing in pilsners and light lagers, most craft breweries use plain jane carbon filtered water. What about a carbon filter (or your local water supply) doesn't satisfy your needs?

[bluesman]

Wish I could help...I'm in the same boat your in...I'm looking to get away from bottled water. It's getting too expensive.

[beerocd]

Is the shock cost or eco related? Because when you're not brewing, it's not pumping water down the drain. So there's no cost and no waste. You could divert the waste water (which is still clean water) to use for cleanup.Put a "T" in there to fill up carboys or buckets for cleaning water.
And maybe you'll need to collect the RO water over a couple of days to get the required quantity; if the 50 gallon per day system turns out to be too expensive. Don't forget you'd need a 50 gallon bladder tank too if you were to wait right up until you needed it.

-OCD

[majorvices]

RO systems are all inherently wasteful. Its a side effect of the design. Also, there's a pretty good maintenance cost involved if you're really trying to get zero mineral content.

Looking at the situation from a different angle - why do you need RO water? Aside from breweries specializing in pilsners and light lagers, most craft breweries use plain jane carbon filtered water. What about a carbon filter (or your local water supply) doesn't satisfy your needs?

I need RO water for some styles as my water is high in CAC03. I brew a lot of Kolsch, too.

As far as the waste goes, 6 gallons waste per 1 gallon seems like a ridiculous waste to me. Yeah, for a 1.55 bbl batch that is going to be a lot of wasted water and I don't have the means to recirc it back into other house hold functions.

[dbeechum]

How often do you brew styles that need RO? Can you figure out a ratio of commercial RO/distilled water to your carbonate water to reduce the trucki n load?

I think the best ratio of waste/RO I've seen is still somewhere in the 4/1 range

[majorvices]

When I brew lighter styles I do cut my filtered tap water in 1/2 to get my CACO3 range under 50 (well, actually it is over 50 but close enough). As far as how often I brew lighter styles my wife likes kolsch a lot and I try to keep it on tap as much as possible. She only drinks about 1 pint a night but it disappears quicker than you'd think. I don't drink it in the winter as much but during warmer periods I go through a fair share myself. So it is brewed regularly.

However, I did not realize how wasteful the RO systems were. I might try contacting a company to see if I can have it delivered. I am sure they recycle the water better than I possibly could.

[dbeechum]

Probably.. since (if I remember my RO systems right) the waste water is carbon filtered already, they probably use it for sale as "drinking water"

[boulderbrewer]

Maybe look into another way to remove the carbonate fromyour water. A link to get you started.

http://www.tutorvista.com/content/chemistry/chemistry-iii/hydrogen/methods-hardness-water.php

[hamiltont]

We put one of these in at work (with a flush tank) and it's been working fine...

http://www.uswatersystems.com/commercial/products/GE-Infrastructure-Merlin-700-GPD-Light-Commercial-Tankless-Reverse-Osmosis-System.html

[Kaiser]

Maybe look into another way to remove the carbonate fromyour water. A link to get you started.

http://www.tutorvista.com/content/chemistry/chemistry-iii/hydrogen/methods-hardness-water.php

I was about to suggest something like this as well. Lime treatment to precipitate temporary hardness (which is mostly CaCO3) seems to me the most economical way of getting softer water on a larger scale. I have an RO system now, but If I were to brew substantially larger batches that 5 gal I'd look into integrating lime treatment into my brewing. You can use simple alkalinity and hardness tests they sell in aquarium stores to check the results.

Kai

[dan1076]

We put one of these in at work (with a flush tank) and it's been working fine...

http://www.uswatersystems.com/commercial/products/GE-Infrastructure-Merlin-700-GPD-Light-Commercial-Tankless-Reverse-Osmosis-System.html

]


I saw that this system treats 700 gallons a day and is a tankless system.. I am assuming it is an on demand system but only treats a half gallon per minute according to the link.  Seems like a decent system.  How often do you use it at work?

[hamiltont]

We put one of these in at work (with a flush tank) and it's been working fine...

http://www.uswatersystems.com/commercial/products/GE-Infrastructure-Merlin-700-GPD-Light-Commercial-Tankless-Reverse-Osmosis-System.html

]


I saw that this system treats 700 gallons a day and is a tankless system.. I am assuming it is an on demand system but only treats a half gallon per minute according to the link.  Seems like a decent system.  How often do you use it at work?

It runs continuously, feeding humidifiers in our Liebert AC units in our Data Center.  Ever since we put it in we haven't had to clean the  Lieberts once. We installed it about 8 months ago. Before that Maintenance had to clean them monthly, and they were a mess!

[Thirsty_Monk]

I know this is an old once but majorvices  I come across General Electric Merlin RO system.
It is thankless.
It has capacity of 720 gpd.
It is supposed to use 1:2 ration of water (for 1 gal of RO water you wasted 2 gal).
Here are a few videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqe-OhY-UKA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IFzPDp9ZuA

It looks interesting.
Cost on amazon is about $440.
http://www.amazon.com/Merlin-Reverse-Osmosis-Water-System/dp/B000G7KSO0

Would this fit what you want?