[MisterC]

My system is just over 12 months old and have noticed I am having to change resin about once every three weeks to keep TDS under 5, I am gradually doing more work as I build up my round but when I first got my system I went for 6 months before needing to change resin. I am flushing system once a week but not for the hour that the manufacturer recommends as it seems over the top. Does this mean I need to change my membrane, the system is from Brodex (yes I know) they want £285 for a new membrane, can they be got cheaper from another supplier.
Thanks for any advice guys.

[Window Lickers]

Have you changed your prefilters?

[SeanK]

What's the TDS from the R.O. alone that's what you need to know.
What's the TDS from your tap water.
To be honest I think there is something wrong with your system if that's the kind of lifespan
your getting from both membrane and resin.
It just shows how bad a company Brodex really are when they are not pointing this out to you.
Going by the price of the membrane I would say its a 4040 and you can get them cheaper than that.

If the TDS is high coming from the R.O. then you need to firstly check if your water pressure is high enough.
Is your water hard (do your get scale in your kettle and teapot) this can ruin a R.O. so you will need a water
softener.

[MisterC]

Water from the tap is about 350 TDS, pressure is good but I am in a hard water area.
I have not changed the prefilters, is that a good place to start ?

[soapsudtw]

350 is high.
You really need a water softening vessel before the system with that kind of tds.
12 months is about right for the conditions it's had to work in
As said check the tds from the RO first, if its over 35 then it's knackered

What do you call good pressure? do you have a value?
Less than 40 psi and it won't work very efficiently at all

[MisterC]

Thanks for your advice guys

[Ian Lancaster]

Water from the tap is about 350 TDS, pressure is good but I am in a hard water area.
I have not changed the prefilters, is that a good place to start ?

That could be the problem.  Prefilters should have the expected life printed on them, usually something like 'Every six months or xxxxxxthousand litres' 

It would be helpful if you told us how much water you are producing, what your water pressure is (just because it looks good, doesn't mean it is) and what size DI vessel you have.

[SeanK]

Yes change the pre filters but I doubt that's the problem, you still need to know what the tds from the
R.O. is.
This will tell you if your problems the membrane or the resin.

[Ian101]

at what level tap tds would a water softener be appropriate ??

[MisterC]

Producing about 250litres each weekday, DI vessel is 10 litres, don't know what water pressure is, don't have anything to measure it. Will check TDS from RO, if it is knackered where would you advise buying new one from. Thanks

[chez]

I agree you should find out what the TDS is coming out of the RO but before the resin. Mine comes out about 14 with a tap tds at 280. If it is in the 30's then you really do have to get a new RO. But the main problem I see for you is that the prefilters aren't doing their job or not changing them enough which is knackering your RO too soon. I have a Brodex system which is simply superb. However when I bought it they only have one prefilter fitted which was either a sediment or a carbon. It's not sufficient and reported back to them. So I swapped over to the fibredine which does protect the RO much better and you don't have to change them so much either,  hence the RO should last 1 and a half to 2 years. I go through about 1500 to 2000 litres per week.
Hope it helps!
Cheers Chez

[chez]

Ps..... I flush the RO for about 10 to 15 mins after each tank full rather than once a week. Better to keep the RO in top condition as it will last longer that way.

[MisterC]

Thanks for all your advice guys, will check TDS at RO and change pre filters.

[Jonny 87]

Glad to see brodex are letting their customers know how to maintain the systems.

 

[martin hulstone]

Dont buy a water softener, it will cost you more in salt than replacing a membrane every couple of years, it also drops your pressure as it is yet another vessel for the water to pass through.

[Window Lickers]

What about an electronic water softener?

[SeanK]

I agree you should find out what the TDS is coming out of the RO but before the resin. Mine comes out about 14 with a tap tds at 280. If it is in the 30's then you really do have to get a new RO. But the main problem I see for you is that the prefilters aren't doing their job or not changing them enough which is knackering your RO too soon. I have a Brodex system which is simply superb. However when I bought it they only have one prefilter fitted which was either a sediment or a carbon. It's not sufficient and reported back to them. So I swapped over to the fibredine which does protect the RO much better and you don't have to change them so much either,  hence the RO should last 1 and a half to 2 years. I go through about 1500 to 2000 litres per week.
Hope it helps!
Cheers Chez

That's the problem Chez you think the Brodex is simply superb but at a tap tds of 280ppm there's no reason why you shouldn't get
your tds down to 3ppm.
Also a membrane should easily last 5 years before breaking down especially with such a low tap tds.
I certainly wouldn't class them as a superb system by any means.

 

[SeanK]

Flush the R.O. for 5 to 10mins before making pure and then slowly close of the waste tap until the R.O. starts
to make pure this stops what is known as R.O. shock.
I honestly believe that R.O. shock is the biggest reason for premature R.O. failure.
This is how the industrial guys run their systems cant see why we shouldn't do the same as we just purify the
water on a smaller scale.

[Avo]

My system is just over 12 months old and have noticed I am having to change resin about once every three weeks to keep TDS under 5, I am gradually doing more work as I build up my round but when I first got my system I went for 6 months before needing to change resin. I am flushing system once a week but not for the hour that the manufacturer recommends as it seems over the top. Does this mean I need to change my membrane, the system is from Brodex (yes I know) they want £285 for a new membrane, can they be got cheaper from another supplier.
Thanks for any advice guys.

which brodex system you got?

There's a number of problems here misterc.
X1 sediment filter is not enough protection for your membrane because u only have one 10" filter housing you need to start putting in CFB-PLUS Sediment/Carbon filters to help protect your system.
Unplug your di on the inlet side and plug a hose into the female connection then run your RO system into a bucket taking readings from the membrane, keep closing your waste until you get the lowest reading from your RO brodex will tell the to run your system at 1.5 litres pure WRONG this simply is rubbish it will run higher Tds like this hence killing your resin.

[chez]

I agree you should find out what the TDS is coming out of the RO but before the resin. Mine comes out about 14 with a tap tds at 280. If it is in the 30's then you really do have to get a new RO. But the main problem I see for you is that the prefilters aren't doing their job or not changing them enough which is knackering your RO too soon. I have a Brodex system which is simply superb. However when I bought it they only have one prefilter fitted which was either a sediment or a carbon. It's not sufficient and reported back to them. So I swapped over to the fibredine which does protect the RO much better and you don't have to change them so much either,  hence the RO should last 1 and a half to 2 years. I go through about 1500 to 2000 litres per week.
Hope it helps!
Cheers Chez

That's the problem Chez you think the Brodex is simply superb but at a tap tds of 280ppm there's no reason why you shouldn't get
your tds down to 3ppm.
Also a membrane should easily last 5 years before breaking down especially with such a low tap tds.
I certainly wouldn't class them as a superb system by any means.

 

Thanks for your opinion, which is all it is an opinion. I just gave mine that I'm am very happy with my system. ROs normally operate with a 5% margin, so as my tds tends to fluctuate between 280 and 320, and taking in to consideration water quality and water pressure, mine isn't particularly good, and as long as I get between 10 and 14 it's great. I've noticed many on here struggle to get the basic 5% efficiency, but mine consistently has from the day I bought it 5 years ago......happy days!