Starting Out With Ro Unit And Water

HI all,

After all the brilliant advice on the benefits of using RO water, I've now got my little 50GPD unit which arrived yesterday.
I'm hoping that I've ordered everything else that I'll need-
*SaltyShrimp remineraliser
*Containers for storing the water
*I even got some minI digital scales to weight the SaltyShrimp as I'll only be making small amounts.

So, to my questions....!

Firstly, I'm going to be attaching it when I need it to the Washing Machine inlet which has its own isolator tap. Will I need to firmly secure it to the side of the cupboard under the sink or could I just hang it on a hook?
I'm wondering if the pressure makes it move around and need to be secured or could it just hang there?

Looking through the instructions, there doesn't seem to be an on/off switch, are they just controlled by turning on the isolator tap?

The instructions say to flush it with 10 litres of water before using it, is this just the first time, or every time before using it?

This leads to my next question, is it better to make a 'batch' of water and then just remineralise what I need each week?

And finally (!) is it OK to store the water in the sealed containers for a couple of weeks or is it best used fresh?

SORRY for so many questions, they probably seem really silly, but, I want to make sure that I get everything right!

Thanks so much for any help, advice or imput!

 

hI emma first off give us a picture to see what you'v got and if it could be made any easier for you to use, you can free stand the unit where convenient it won't vibrate, you can attach to the source when needed so you can put it away or you can fix it to a wall choice is yours, with any new filter cartridge you should discard the first 10 litrsltr, like to see the unit to see if there is a flush system which most have then we can go back to usage. storage! I never keep my water over a week on saying that there's no reason why not if the water is in a sealed container, it's worth pointing out here that water in a container can alter so a little experiment should be done, as for storing the unit leave the cartridge full of water ill explain more on that later, when first produced the TDS will be o but over time that will creep up I change my filters when the TDS is 5, you could go 9 months before that happens although they recommend changing every 6 months but i'v found that not to be the case my last lot of filters and DI resin lasted 14 months. lets leave it at that until we have a picture and may be model number, as there are other factors to consider IE flow rate,water temperature, pump or no pump determined by water pressure, also is there a DI resin cartridge in line, this is not going to get complicated but we need to see what we are playing with to give you the best advise, hope this is a bit of a start for you and for the shrimp who are going to benefit immensely

 

HI Richie-Thanks, as ever, for the initial answers and advice!
I've attached a pic of my new unit, just out of the box and also here's a link to Finer Filters where I bought it so you might find a bit more technical info (all I know is that it's a 50GPD 3 Stage one!)
https://www.finerfilters.co.uk/fine...t-for-tropical-fish-marine-discus-50-gpd.html

What you said about not really storing the water makes sense, I think I was just a bit worried in case I had to do a big 'flush' every time I used it and wasted even more water on top of making the RO.

And it's good to know that I don't have to fix it to the inside of the cupboard, that's where it's going to 'live' but it's a pretty tight space and I'll definitely need to move it out of the way to get things from the back of the cupboard.

Hope the pic & link help-it all still looks VERY complicated to me!

 

That's a pretty simple unit and has a flush system, you can add to it as well in the future if needs must, you should have had a length of pipe and instructions on how to set it up, the blue membrane is going to sit inside the largest canister(the middle one) make sure when you put it in it pushes tight into the bottom, before you screw the cap on put a smear of Vaseline on the rubber gasket this will aid the removal when you change the membrane, when you tighten the cap take it hand tight first then use what looks like a big bottle opener to do the last bit, but don't over tighten, that then should last a few years if used properly, basically there's an inlet and two outlets, one RO water one waste water, if they have supplied one colour pipe make sure you mark which is which. you have colour coded ends telling you what goes where with the pipe work stuck in the top and bottom of filters, blue black and red, black is normally waste blue is RO out and red is supply, check these to make sure that's what they have done, familiarise your self with the flush tap this will already be plumbed in with a blue knob twist on off, when you commission the unit it needs to be in the flush position turn on your supply the unit then becomes pressurised so make sure the pipes are held down,its not nasty pressure but you may get wet, run for 30 minutes or 10ltrs once that's done turn the flush knob and start to produce RO water, monitor how fast the RO is coming out hold the pipe over a measuring jug and see how long it takes to fill one ltr, I can then determine if a pump is required or whether your tap pressure is ok, at this point you can use your TDS meter to see what's happening, once you'v done a ltr you can turn the unit off at its source and disconnect. don't dismantle all the pipes just the one at your washing machine the rest stay in situ. after this things become simple, you connect pipe to supply,make sure flush system is open, turn on supply,leave to flush 10 minutes, then turn flush off and start to produce ROwater, once you've produced what you want you then open the flush for 5 to 10 minutes then close supply disconnect and get a whisky as you've earned one, one final thing on the blanking plate at the end or the filter there will be little blue clip you need to remove these to take out the blanking plate but replace them when you connect the pipes these will stop the pipes coming out, and make sure you push the pipes in until you meet a wall that tells you they are all the way in, right iv'e done my bit its up to you to put it together and note down what your not sure of and get back, I haven't written anything as long as this since my exams so its whisky time, have a happy putting together.

 

Richie, that is absolutely FANTASTIC! ☺
The instructions that came with it didn't say anything about how to do half of that. I hate to think what my water would've come out like, probably worse than my tap water if I'd tried to do it without your advice.
I'm not sure if I'll have time to connect it up today, but, I'll be back, no doubt for more advice as soon as I do!

 

Iam glad you said about the instructions as people think there are instructions in the box why isn't she using them, but ive found them to be very vague if any at all, I know it's long and may look complicated but it's not, just follow take you time you'll be fine.

 

Yes indeed, it's very strange, the instructions are very much to do with the initial installation. Then you're on your own...only fortunately for me, and any others here, we've got you to walk us through actually using it!☺