[Fin Clearview]

Hi folks,

Today I ordered a booster pump for my ro, as my water into my ibc was coming out at a trickle basically. Ive also bought a timer plug for the pump so it can switch off, but as the water will keep coming into the ibc after the pump cuts out what do you guys use to turn off the tap if your not around to - I was thinking of putting a hose lock timer at the tap, is this right? Cheers

[Smudger]

i have a soleniod fitted to the tank when full shuts everything down or if your confident that your timings are correct fit a simple toilet float valve this will stop the tank overflowing on mains pressure   


Darran

[Spruce]

Vin posted an brilliant 'mod' to the ball valve about a month ago

[GB Window Cleaning]

ive got a cut off, (ballcock type) valve at the top of the tank

[Fin Clearview]

Cheers chaps is the ballcock easy to fit and will it cut out a low pressure as I will set the pump to cut out on the timer which will leave the 45psi going into the ibc tank for the ball cock to stop?

[SPE]

What pump did you go for in the end Fin ?
Simon

[Fin Clearview]

@ Simon - I just went for the aquatec from pure freedom, they said its the right booster for that ro, the Clarke could be too much for the pre filters - apparently.

@ Paul - thanks for the help I think I'll go for two timers for pump and mains and the ballcock.

[Ian101]

I dont bother with a timer as you can get to know how long it takes to fill your tank.

I have a 4040 with booster to an 1000 litre IBC ... turn it on at 4pm and by 7am next morning it will be full to brim of luvly 000 tds pure 

[Ian Sheppard]

As a alternative to buying a pump and timer separately. This is a link to a unit that will do it all in one + control the water flow. Solenoids can also be fitted and controlled.

http://www.springltd.co/node/116

another alternative is the Liquid logic S2

[Window Washers]

I dont bother with a timer as you can get to know how long it takes to fill your tank.

I have a 4040 with booster to an 1000 litre IBC ... turn it on at 4pm and by 7am next morning it will be full to brim of luvly 000 tds pure 

thats very bad advice Ian, I used to think this way till I got stuck in traffic and I pumped 300 litres of water an hour into my unit, soaking the filling bay and the office, I did have a nice clean floor though after. either a shut off or an overflow is a must, because there will always be that one time you will flood something

[Ian101]

mines in a garage with concrete floor so not too bad if it overflows but see your point 

[best]

i use a break tank first, then a timer on my booster pump. when the timer goes off the water stops also.

 

[Window Washers]

i use a break tank first, then a timer on my booster pump. when the timer goes off the water stops also.

 

[Spruce]

We use an 8 amp float switch available from machine mart. They are designed for submersible pumps but have the feature of being able to work the other way round. ie switch off when full rather than switch on when full when used with a submersible pump.

It is secured from the top if the IBC tank with a piece of conduit about 200mm in length. We heated the bottom of the conduit and folded it out over on itself to provide a radius for the cable to pivot on. (The reason why we put in this length of conduit is that we wanted to empty a third of the tank before the r/o kicks in. An r/o works more efficiently once it gets going, so this was a way of keeping it filtering for longer periods and save on resin.)

We have wired this into a 230v normally off solenoid valve which switches the water off to the ro once the tank is full. As this float switch is rated for 8 amps, it will also run most booster pumps. We don't run a booster pump though. The Clarke pump is 1000 watt which is a little less than 4.5amps. This is within the float switches capacity, even when considering a little more current required on startup.
So once the float switch activates the solenoid valve to switch the water flow on for the r/o it will also switch on the booster pump. Once the float valve switches the water off when the tanks full, it will also switch the pump off at the same time.

We also have a overflow pipe fitted onto the side of the IBC tank with some hose to a drain incase the solenoid valve fails. We have had this setup working for about 5 years now with no maintenance needed.

As is the case with all installations, 230v and water aren't good bedfellows. It is essential that any electrical installations use an RCD to protect against shock should any electrical problem occur.

[Fin Clearview]

Cheers Spruce! If your down Sussex way anytime feel free to pop round and show me how to do that, sounds like a science degree to a newbie like me!

Btw Simon, the aquatec is up and running, got my tds down from 20 to 8 and producing 600l in just over 12 hrs, im happy with that for the mo.

[Spruce]

Hi Paul,

I noticed that Pure Freedom put the solenoid valve after the sediment filter on a friends 4040 setup. I couldn't understand why until I read your post. Now it makes sense.

Spruce

[chrismyrie]

Fin, do you have to go thru the pre-filters?. I was told to fit the booster pump after the filters and before the RO membrane. If I'm wrongcan someone say why, thanks

[Fin Clearview]

Fin, do you have to go thru the pre-filters?. I was told to fit the booster pump after the filters and before the RO membrane. If I'm wrongcan someone say why, thanks

No your right, after pre filers > pump > ro

[Ian101]

I've had my booster pump before pre filters for 2 years - is this wrong then ?

[Fin Clearview]

I've had my booster pump before pre filters for 2 years - is this wrong then ?

Well mine is fitted from the pipe from the left pre filter (300 ro) into the pump then into the top ro membrane. Tds down from 20 - 8 so looks like I've done it right.