Recommend me an RO machine

[foxbat]

@foxbat did you buy a RO unit in the end and if so how did you get on?

I was going to ask the same thing but it looks like he was still using Ashbeck last month. foxbat's brewdays

PS. Not stalking or nothing, honest

Haven't bought one yet. I've decided it'll be my fallback option if Tesco ever discontinue Ashbeck!

 

[venkman100]

I used Ashbeck for ages and it worked fine for me. But the extra cost annoyed me. So I purchased this from Vyair. Great helpdesk, gave me loads of info over the phone re consumables and how long they should last etc. 5 brews in and really happy. I just leave it running the day before brewday to get 35L or so. This chap Jonny Apples Brewing does a great run through..

 

[Justin Dean]

Note also the ashbeck water profile is Tesco has changed? It is not the water that it was before?

 

[foxbat]

Note also the ashbeck water profile is Tesco has changed? It is not the water that it was before?

The last batch I bought a few weeks ago was the same as usual. Careful that you're actually looking at an Ashbeck bottle because recently they've been substituting in water from a different source using the exact same label colours and design so you do have to actually read the name on the front. I guess they do this when they have supply issues because they did it a few years ago and nearly caught me out then as well.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I used Ashbeck for ages and it worked fine for me. But the extra cost annoyed me. So I purchased this from Vyair. Great helpdesk, gave me loads of info over the phone re consumables and how long they should last etc. 5 brews in and really happy. I just leave it running the day before brewday to get 35L or so. This chap Jonny Apples Brewing does a great run through..

I use the same unit. Works well and at my water pressure I get 2.5 litres per hour.

 

[fury_tea]

Martin from the Homebrew challenge on YouTube uses an inline RV filter on his water. He just connects it directly to his tap. I'd love to find out which model and fittings he uses and the TDS readouts after it has been filtered. I'm sure I remember seeing it on an early video but can't remember which one.

Wouldn't mind something like that myself...

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Martin from the Homebrew challenge on YouTube uses an inline RV filter on his water. He just connects it directly to his tap. I'd love to find out which model and fittings he uses and the TDS readouts after it has been filtered. I'm sure I remember seeing it on an early video but can't remember which one.

Wouldn't mind something like that myself...

You sparked my curiosity so I have just done some testing looking at alkalinity, calcium, TDS, and pH of my tap water, filter water and RO water. Results are:

	Tap	Filter	RO
Alkalinity	281	281	0
Calcium	150	150	0
TDS	328	328	5
pH	7.7	7.8	7.0

Admittedly my water filter is a pretty cheap one but what this tells me is that it’s doing no good at all in respect of water adjustment for brewing. It is removing the insoluble rubbish (I hope!) but is no good for brewing water.

 

[foxbat]

You sparked my curiosity so I have just done some testing looking at alkalinity, calcium, TDS, and pH of my tap water, filter water and RO water. Results are:

	Tap	Filter	RO
Alkalinity	281	281	0
Calcium	150	150	0
TDS	328	328	5
pH	7.7	7.8	7.0

Admittedly my water filter is a pretty cheap one but what this tells me is that it’s doing no good at all in respect of water adjustment for brewing. It is removing the insoluble rubbish (I hope!) but is no good for brewing water.

How often are you changing the filters in your system? I've seen 'annually' quoted online but surely it's less if you only use the system when brewing, e.g. once a month. For reference our alkalinity is 415 which must be some kind of record for hardness and you can see why I won't ever brew with it!

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

You sparked my curiosity so I have just done some testing looking at alkalinity, calcium, TDS, and pH of my tap water, filter water and RO water. Results are:

	Tap	Filter	RO
Alkalinity	281	281	0
Calcium	150	150	0
TDS	328	328	5
pH	7.7	7.8	7.0

Admittedly my water filter is a pretty cheap one but what this tells me is that it’s doing no good at all in respect of water adjustment for brewing. It is removing the insoluble rubbish (I hope!) but is no good for brewing water.

Blimey, that’s interesting. Is that Alkalinity figure CaC03?
I’m waiting for my RO filter to arrive but realised having ordered it after a few pints one evening I’ve gone for one which doesn’t include the DI resin filter. I hope it will still do the trick.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

How often are you changing the filters in your system? I've seen 'annually' quoted online but surely it's less if you only use the system when brewing, e.g. once a month. For reference our alkalinity is 415 which must be some kind of record for hardness and you can see why I won't ever brew with it!

I’ve not been using it long but think I remember the advice is annually or every 8,000 litres. I will probably change them as advised because they’re not expensive - the entire system new was less than £50.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Blimey, that’s interesting. Is that Alkalinity figure CaC03?

Yes, that’s right - why I’m using RO water!

 

[fury_tea]

I’ve not been using it long but think I remember the advice is annually or every 8,000 litres. I will probably change them as advised because they’re not expensive - the entire system new was less than £50.

https://www.vyair.com/reverse-osmos...CdK4iDK32ALxYvnoiA_V27xhN0SDsVhhoC90IQAvD_BwE
Is this the one you have? I saw it was on sale so just bought it, with postage it's 45 quid so pays for itself in around 9 brews (although I only ever use Ashbeck for lagers, so not really).

Any idea what connectors I need for hooking it up? I have a standard hose connector on my garage tap. Eventually I'll probably install it under the sink as a permanent water source.

Cheers

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

https://www.vyair.com/reverse-osmos...CdK4iDK32ALxYvnoiA_V27xhN0SDsVhhoC90IQAvD_BwE
Is this the one you have? I saw it was on sale so just bought it, with postage it's 45 quid so pays for itself in around 9 brews (although I only ever use Ashbeck for lagers, so not really).

Any idea what connectors I need for hooking it up? I have a standard hose connector on my garage tap. Eventually I'll probably install it under the sink as a permanent water source.

Cheers

Yes it is.

The unit has three pipes, all 6mm OD. I think they were all about 1m long. One for the feed (white), one for waste water (red), and one for RO out (blue).

It comes with a standard adapter for a washing machine feed which I think is the same as outside taps so you may be in luck. Fit this to the white pipe. I just push the red pipe down the plug hole and hang the blue pipe in my collection bucket, secured with a bulldog clip.

This is the kit, you can see the white adapter top-left.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Yes, that’s right - why I’m using RO water!

I thought mine was bad at 177ppm

 

[Horners]

Yes it is.

The unit has three pipes, all 6mm OD. I think they were all about 1m long. One for the feed (white), one for waste water (red), and one for RO out (blue).

It comes with a standard adapter for a washing machine feed which I think is the same as outside taps so you may be in luck. Fit this to the white pipe. I just push the red pipe down the plug hole and hang the blue pipe in my collection bucket, secured with a bulldog clip.

This is the kit, you can see the white adapter top-left.

View attachment 38965

Flipping heck, going to have to stop browsing this part of the forum - end up buying something every time.

 

[chrisb8]

You sparked my curiosity so I have just done some testing looking at alkalinity, calcium, TDS, and pH of my tap water, filter water and RO water. Results are:

	Tap	Filter	RO
Alkalinity	281	281	0
Calcium	150	150	0
TDS	328	328	5
pH	7.7	7.8	7.0

Admittedly my water filter is a pretty cheap one but what this tells me is that it’s doing no good at all in respect of water adjustment for brewing. It is removing the insoluble rubbish (I hope!) but is no good for brewing water.

My tap water is also 280 alkalinity! Probably comes from the same source (Bewl I guess). Think I may have to invest in one of these...

 

[An Ankoù]

Don't miss the elephant in the room.
It's winter. It's raining. Rainwater is even softer than RO.
And it's free.
Is it beyond our wit to catch 10 gallons or so of it for a batch?

Gordon Strong "Modern Homebrew Recipes" uses RO in all his recipes and builds up the mineral profile accordingly. As he's the principle author of BJCP, he probably knows what he;s talking about. Worth a checking out in my opinion.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

It's winter. It's raining. Rainwater is even softer than RO. Worth a checking out in my opinion.

I think I might collect some and test it

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I think I might collect some and test it

It might be pure when it leaves the cloud but I wonder how pure it is just before it hits the ground after travelling thousands of feet through the sky’s over south east England?

 

[An Ankoù]

It might be pure when it leaves the cloud but I wonder how pure it is just before it hits the ground after travelling thousands of feet through the sky’s over south east England?

Good point. I never started collecting until it had rained a good half hour so that it would wash the roof, gutter, etc. I imagine in that time it would wash the sky, too.
In fact, when I was in Poole, I made all my lagers, year after year from rainwater.