Interested In Advertising? | Contact Us Here
Warning!

 

Welcome to Clean It Up; the UK`s largest cleaning forum with over 34,000 members

 

Please login or register to post and reply to topics.      

 

Forgot your password? Click here

dazmond

  • Posts: 24369
Flushing RO...do you bother?
« on: June 14, 2025, 12:49:26 pm »
I've read conflicting information on this....some so-called experts say don't flush at all it makes no difference(or even worse can affect your membrane negatively)and others swear by it at least once a week for 30 mins....

My tap tds has dropped to around 120-130 and my RO is getting it down to 004 before DI...im perfectly happy with this.

I've not flushed mine for 2 weeks but did yesterday  for 45 mins.

So what is your flushing regime? If you flush at all?

By the way my membrane is a HF5 4040 axeon membrane
price higher/work harder!

Scottish Cleaning Service

  • Posts: 698
Re: Flushing RO...do you bother?
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2025, 03:26:42 pm »
I have came into the habit of flushing for at least 5 minutes at end of fill and for at least 5 minutes before I fill. Many on the other forum did this and I just copied them. I think it means the membranes don't get a chance to clog up.

Spruce seems to be the guy because his membranes have been going for years.

NBwcs

  • Posts: 973
Re: Flushing RO...do you bother?
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2025, 03:28:45 pm »
I used to, but have got completely out of the habit, havn't done it for years, cant say ive noticed any difference to anything as a result.

edit.. mind you, my membranes are £35 plus vat, yours are a crazy price arnt they? Didnt you say your membranes are £500 or something ridiculous like that? or was it a typo?

Simon Trapani

  • Posts: 1648
Re: Flushing RO...do you bother?
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2025, 03:35:41 pm »
No need to flush. You’re just wasting your pre filters life.

You should have enough waste water flowing over your membrane to keep it clean. ie roughly 70/30 or 60/40. That should be your sweet spot for low tds out anyway.

I only flush for 5/10 minutes when I change the pre filters. And flush with no booster pump if you’ve got one. Just mains pressure. Full waste.

Splash and dash

  • Posts: 336
Re: Flushing RO...do you bother?
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2025, 07:25:49 pm »
We flush for 10 muinits before filling

dazmond

  • Posts: 24369
Re: Flushing RO...do you bother?
« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2025, 11:00:32 pm »
I used to, but have got completely out of the habit, havn't done it for years, cant say ive noticed any difference to anything as a result.

edit.. mind you, my membranes are £35 plus vat, yours are a crazy price arnt they? Didnt you say your membranes are £500 or something ridiculous like that? or was it a typo?

An axeon HF5 is currently £475 to replace
price higher/work harder!

NBwcs

  • Posts: 973
Re: Flushing RO...do you bother?
« Reply #6 on: Yesterday at 08:23:32 am »
I used to, but have got completely out of the habit, havn't done it for years, cant say ive noticed any difference to anything as a result.

edit.. mind you, my membranes are £35 plus vat, yours are a crazy price arnt they? Didnt you say your membranes are £500 or something ridiculous like that? or was it a typo?

An axeon HF5 is currently £475 to replace


Shocking price! At that price I wouldn't have even asked the question on here, just do exactly what the manufacturers tell you to do.

dazmond

  • Posts: 24369
Re: Flushing RO...do you bother?
« Reply #7 on: Yesterday at 09:34:25 am »
I used to, but have got completely out of the habit, havn't done it for years, cant say ive noticed any difference to anything as a result.

edit.. mind you, my membranes are £35 plus vat, yours are a crazy price arnt they? Didnt you say your membranes are £500 or something ridiculous like that? or was it a typo?

An axeon HF5 is currently £475 to replace


Shocking price! At that price I wouldn't have even asked the question on here, just do exactly what the manufacturers tell you to do.

Once a week flush for 30 mins is the recommendation

Spruce s HF5 is 13 years old if I remember correctly so not too expensive. I think it's more important that I change the pre filters 3 times a year to stop the membrane from getting damaged.🙂👍

It's cost Spruce £36 a year if his cost £475 when he bought his 13 years ago but I bet it was a lot cheaper back then.

These membranes are well worth it if they last that long. 

Buy cheap,buy twice
price higher/work harder!

Perfect Windows

  • Posts: 4297
Re: Flushing RO...do you bother?
« Reply #8 on: Yesterday at 01:12:50 pm »
I have a £180 4040 membrane. Two years old (I think, may be three) never been flushed. Flow rate unchanged, output TDS unchanged.

Vin

Simon Trapani

  • Posts: 1648
Re: Flushing RO...do you bother?
« Reply #9 on: Yesterday at 01:51:06 pm »
I bought cheap this time. Not paying £500 for a membrane if I can help it.

Bought one of these over a year ago off good old Amazon for £199:

Vontron ULP21-4040 Reverse Osmosis Membrane Element 2400GPD

Still working great.

Tds in 182ppm
Tds out 1ppm

Spruce

  • Posts: 8609
Re: Flushing RO...do you bother?
« Reply #10 on: Yesterday at 03:53:10 pm »
I used to, but have got completely out of the habit, havn't done it for years, cant say ive noticed any difference to anything as a result.

edit.. mind you, my membranes are £35 plus vat, yours are a crazy price arnt they? Didnt you say your membranes are £500 or something ridiculous like that? or was it a typo?

An axeon HF5 is currently £475 to replace


Shocking price! At that price I wouldn't have even asked the question on here, just do exactly what the manufacturers tell you to do.

Once a week flush for 30 mins is the recommendation

Spruce s HF5 is 13 years old if I remember correctly so not too expensive. I think it's more important that I change the pre filters 3 times a year to stop the membrane from getting damaged.🙂👍

It's cost Spruce £36 a year if his cost £475 when he bought his 13 years ago but I bet it was a lot cheaper back then.

These membranes are well worth it if they last that long. 

Buy cheap,buy twice

It was June from GAPS Water who said that it wasn't necessary to flush a membrane every time we use it.

I occasionally flush my 4040 membrane for a few minutes. I do this about once every couple of months or if I feel my pure tds is a bit higher than normal. But then our water is soft to medium hardness at 125ppm. I would think/hope I would be a little more conscientious with flushing if our water was harder.

I built my own 4040 with what I saw as necessary for me at the time. The cost of things 13 years ago was relative. Back then, 3 x 150gpd Filmtec membranes cost hardly anything when compared to the cost of an Axeon 4040 HF5 membrane. And yes, the price of this membrane is considerably more now than it was 13 years ago. For the first time I became paranoid about changing my carbon block filter to the manufacturer's specifications as I perceived the cost of this membrane to be astronomical back then.
Success is 1% inspiration, 98% perspiration and 2% attention to detail!

The older I get, the better I was ;)