NYfan78 January 7, 2013 Share January 7, 2013 (edited) I just got a BRS 4 stage rodi system this past friday. I let it run for an hour pouring the good and bad water down the drain like they said to do. Already made 5 gallons of good water today and making my 2nd 5 gallons. I noticed the far left filter is brown now. Whats this mean? I am on a well that is prefiltered. Also i tested the good water with a portable tds meter i got from awi. It reads 41. But the inline tds meter reads 0 for the output. Help! Edited January 7, 2013 by NYfan78 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad January 7, 2013 Share January 7, 2013 How's the iron in your water? I expect the left-most filter is probably the first prefilter, which gets mucked up the fastest and it's just showing a little use. Now, it doesn't mean that you need to run out and replace it now, but you may need to replace it more often than usually recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYfan78 January 7, 2013 Author Share January 7, 2013 Ok how do i know when to replace it? Also what about the tds readings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef January 7, 2013 Share January 7, 2013 (edited) can you check your water straight out of your tap with the portable TDS meter, and your waste water too... see what the difference is... Also... was the bucket you were using for the RODI water clean or have you used it to make saltwater in the past? use a fresh clean glass to check the RODI water, not in the bucket... Edited January 7, 2013 by smallreef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad January 7, 2013 Share January 7, 2013 Here's what I do (for reference, my TDS is relatively low at ~90): Once every year I replace my pre filters. Once every two years I replace the RO membrane. Whenever the TDS reaches 5 I replace the DI resin. If your input TDS is high (say greater than 150), I would increase what I do to every 9 months for filters and 18 months for the membrane. If super high (say 250+) I'd go 6 months for filters and 12 months for the membrane. Whatever the incoming TDS, I still wait for TDS to reach 5 before replacing DI resin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYfan78 January 7, 2013 Author Share January 7, 2013 (edited) Smallreef-- Tap water - 85 Dirty ro water - 51 Clean ro water - 0 Must have a little salt residue left over in the bucket because i do use that bucket to mix saltwater. Is this ok to keep using this bucket? Thanks so much!!! Edited January 7, 2013 by NYfan78 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYfan78 January 7, 2013 Author Share January 7, 2013 So is that pre filter normal being tannish colored? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djplus1 January 7, 2013 Share January 7, 2013 Smallreef-- Tap water - 85 Dirty ro water - 51 Clean ro water - 0 Must have a little salt residue left over in the bucket because i do use that bucket to mix saltwater. Is this ok to keep using this bucket? Thanks so much!!! How is your reading higher on the tap vs dirty? I would assume that your waste water is going to be the highest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integral9 January 7, 2013 Share January 7, 2013 How is your reading higher on the tap vs dirty? I would assume that your waste water is going to be the highest. Sediment filters and chloromine filters should knock the TDS down. What I think you are thinking of is input water to the RO vs the waste water from the RO. If so then yes, the waste from the RO should be higher than the input water (after the sediment filters). But the waste water from the RO will probably not be higher than the tap water before it goes through the sediment and chloromine filters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djplus1 January 7, 2013 Share January 7, 2013 Sediment filters and chloromine filters should knock the TDS down. What I think you are thinking of is input water to the RO vs the waste water from the RO. If so then yes, the waste from the RO should be higher than the input water (after the sediment filters). But the waste water from the RO will probably not be higher than the tap water before it goes through the sediment and chloromine filters. I never really thought of it that way. I guess I'll go home and test myself to see what kind of numbers I get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve175 January 7, 2013 Share January 7, 2013 I am on a well as well (pun intended). My feed water is also low in TDS (low 40s) but very high in organics which is pretty typical of well water. Also my head pressure from the tap is low and so I had to add a booster pump to get the appropriate pressure to the RO filter. I was blowing through prefilters as well and so I added a 2nd separate (single cannister) prefilter: 1st one is standard, 2nd is low porous size. I change the 1st one frequently (~ every other month) with the others only when TDS begins to rise (every 6-12 months). But I make about 250G of water weekly. Yours seems to be working fine (as long as it's reading 0 TDS out and making water at a reasonable rate you're good to go). U might want to buy some extra pre-filters and change them every 2-3 months to avoid needing to change the others more quickly). HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYfan78 January 7, 2013 Author Share January 7, 2013 oK I WILL DO THAT. HOW DO I KNOW WHEN TO REPLACE THE PREFILTERS.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integral9 January 7, 2013 Share January 7, 2013 oK I WILL DO THAT. HOW DO I KNOW WHEN TO REPLACE THE PREFILTERS.? Some people use a schedule, but I go by when the pressure drops on the RO unit. That means that water is not moving through the sediment filters readily and it's time to replace the sediment filters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffG93 January 7, 2013 Share January 7, 2013 Some people use a schedule, but I go by when the pressure drops on the RO unit. That means that water is not moving through the sediment filters readily and it's time to replace the sediment filters. This. Get a baseline pressure when you're unit is still new. When the Pressure drops 5 or 10 PSI, replace the first (sediment) filter. Replace the other pre-filters on a schedule as suggested above. Replace the RO membrane on a schedule as suggested above. (I go 1 year on pre, 3 or membrane.) For the DI Resin - I wait until I'm seeing 2 or 3 TDS personally. Do NOT replace the pre-filter when it's tan. They get tan/brown pretty quick. I wait until I see a pressure drop - or it gets so brown I know it can't be clean anymore. The DI resin will change color too (if that's the kind you got.) There is a lot of info, and videos, on this on bulkreefsupply.com. Good Luck - Jeff Gardiner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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