RO Filters

[user 18729]

Mine came with a few connection options. I’m just getting my water ready for brew day now funny enough. Here’s mine just hooked up to the outdoor tap

View attachment 45611View attachment 45614

I have the same I think. I've added a couple of inline valves to keep water inside the filters (apparently this prolongs the life of the system)

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I've looked at RO filters for quite some time now and decided against them. Considering the initial cost, replacement membranes, cleaning and waste water, not to mention the time it takes to prepare the water. 9hrs to do 36L of water has been mentioned.
I now use Spotless water. Costs 4p/L, i can take as much as i want and only pay for what i take. They state it's good for window cleaners and aquariums but will not say it's good for drinking water because of the way it's stored. I'm in the opinion that the boil will take care of any bacteria and so far have had no problems with my brews. If it's good enough for fish, it's good enough for me!

Hmmmm, I think I paid about £30 for mine and from what I can gather the membranes/filters will deliver acceptable RO for years before they need to be changed.
The time taken to retrieve the water needed isn’t an issue either so long as you plan ahead. It’s not like you have to sit and watch it for 9 hours, it just happens, and you don’t have to travel anywhere to get it!
Regarding cost, I’m on a water meter and pay £3.08 per 1,000 litres of water so 0.003p per litre. So, even allowing for 2/3 waste my RO still costs me less than 1p per litre. The “waste” goes on the garden. 4p per litre of Aquarium water sounds good value until you compare it with home produced RO and see it costs over four times more.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Yep I've got the same one as you guys by the look of it (@Benfleet Brewery @Hopsteep); I use mine with an external de-ionisation (DI) vessel which gets the reading down to a big fat 0.000 on my TDS meter - completely over the top, but handy for other thing I use it for - like rinsing off after washing the car...

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Yep I've got the same one as you guys by the look of it (@Benfleet Brewery @Hopsteep); I use mine with an external de-ionisation (DI) vessel which gets the reading down to a big fat 0.000 on my TDS meter - completely over the top, but handy for other thing I use it for - like rinsing off after washing the car...

View attachment 48672

That’s the one. I have also added a DI resin filter to mine and am getting 0 TDS readings.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

What flow rate do you get from yours by the way? I reckon about 6L per hour from mine - although I do use a pressure reducing valve on the input because our mains pressure can go very high here sometimes

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Mine sounds similar. I fill a 5l bottle in about 45 minutes.

 

[JockyBrewer]

I've got the Vyair 3 stage cheap one. Works well aside from the time it takes to 'make' the water (about 4 litres per hour), but as long as I plan ahead that's not an issue.

4 stage is really only for making deionised water so overkill for brewing purposes.

 

[hughjamton]

What flow rate do you get from yours by the way? I reckon about 6L per hour from mine - although I do use a pressure reducing valve on the input because our mains pressure can go very high here sometimes

The higher the pressure and the warmer the water the more efficient the R O unit will perform, infact the better units have a pump to increase the pressure.

 

[scomet]

I’m considering one of these as I have very hard water. What is the ratio of waste water to RO water?

I get 1 to 1 at 56psi takes about 3 hrs to produce about 35 litres 4 YO and running at 2 ppm tds :-} never touched the membrane or filters.Your beer will luv it....

 

[Alastair70]

Try this guy, I've just bought an identical unit, except 75 gpd for £42 and some pennies, including postage, got it next day.
I've had several over the years (used to keep marines) and this is as good as any, apart from the 5 stage 150 gpd with a pressure pump that I got new for £20, but that's another story.
Aubrey Falls Ltd
John Riley
127A Main Road
Duston
Northampton,
Northamptonshire
NN5 6RA
Phone:01604947839
Email:[email protected]

He's on ebay as well under directwaterfilters.

Fantastic advice, thank you. The saving on postage for me brings this in under half the price of a similar Vyair unit. I’ve invested part of that in a TDS meter and I’m still quids in.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Am I right in thinking that the output rate scales directly with the 'GPD' rating of the membrane?
I got this three-stage aquarium unit a year ago (£40) which came with a 50 GPD membrane; it produces about 4 litres per hour which is fine but a little slow; so I'm wondering whether it might be worth getting a higher rated membrane like the one in the second pic.

 

[Pete9586]

GPD is gallons per day!

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

GPD is gallons per day!

Yes, I know that, thanks
I'm interested to know whether in the real world, doubling the GPD rating of the membrane will double the output rate of the filter.

 

[sidney]

I do use a pressure reducing valve on the input because our mains pressure can go very high here sometimes

How high is your waterpressure as mine has a booster pump and it keeps 120psi to the membrane and its fine, it atually seems to work better the more pressure i keep on it according to a tds meter.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

How high is your waterpressure as mine has a booster pump and it keeps 120psi to the membrane and its fine, it atually seems to work better the more pressure i keep on it according to a tds meter.

blimey - 120psi is mental!

 

[hughjamton]

blimey - 120psi is mental!

As I've said further up the post, the higher the pressure and the warmer the temperature the more efficient the filter will be.
If you can shorten the narrow water feed line as much as possible, preferably to a few inches, it will make a massive difference to the pressure going into the filter and improve the performance.

 

[Mash Monster]

FWIW I have just added a booster pump to my Vyair 50GPD Compact unit the RO output has quadrupled and the waste water halved
Wish I’d done it before it now only takes me a couple of hours to collect 30L instead of All day

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

FWIW I have just added a booster pump to my Vyair 50GPD Compact unit the RO output has quadrupled and the waste water halved
Wish I’d done it before it now only takes me a couple of hours to collect 30L instead of All day

Interesting that it’s halved the waste water. What pump did you buy and did you need any additional fittings/adapters?

 

[Mash Monster]

I bought the following from Vyair You don’t need anything else unless you want to add a low pressure switch FYI it’s cheaper to buy on the Vyair Ebay shop than direct

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I bought the following from Vyair You don’t need anything else unless you want to add a low pressure switch FYI it’s cheaper to buy on the Vyair Ebay shop than direct View attachment 51958

Based on your post I bought one of these and used it yesterday, it made a big difference. Thank you.

Without the pump I get just 4 litres per hour, with it I get 14. Yesterday I collected 24 litres in well under 2 hours rather than 6.