Water pressure to RO/DI unit

[natman2]

I purchased a Aqua FX 4 stage RO/DI unit today and so far so good. Its a 50 GPD unit with a built in two way TDS meter. TDS in is 5 or 6 and out reads 0. Its producing about a gallon every 20 minutes so out put seems as advertised.

My only concern is I am only getting about 44 PSI off of a municipal water supply (not well water). I have been told by the Aqua people that the higher the PSI the more pure the water will be.

Is my 44 PSI reason for concern and if so what might be the least expensive way to boost the pressure to the system.

Thanks in advance

 

[fishfreek]

I belive the 44PSI you have is fine. The instructions state that water pressure below 40psi can affect output and if your pressure is below this to up the pressure to above 40. If your output is reading 0tds there isnt much more pure your gonna get.

 

[natman2]

Ok thanks.

I live in a condo complex and noticed that after hours my PSI went up to more like 48. I am assuming here that as water use throughout the complex goes down my PSI rises a bit.

Since the plan was to top off my storage running the system overnight I am beginning to feel a bit better about it. Just have to keep an eye on the TDS.

 

[seaham358]

As your unit gets older you will notice a difference in water output and quality. You will also burn through DI resin faster running a low pressure.
Check ebay for a booster pump, I got one for my unit and it has been great. I used to change out resin every couple months, now I have had the same resin for 10 months with no drop in water quality, still have 0 TDS and 0 PO4 and NO3. A great investment IMO.
Can you make water with low pressure, yes..

 

[robertfah]

I've got the same model (I'm almost possitive) and I've been told that 50-60 PSI is the recommended level. It's hard to get any more 'pressure' if you're running it straight from the tap, but what you can do is tap off the entry point into the house where the water pressure will be the greatest. I did this on my hot water heater(HWH), on the cold side. I simply shutoff my water coming from the street (there's a shut-off valve right on the cold pipe going into the HWH and then added a T with a threaded pipe fitting on the end for the RO unit to plug into. Right before the fitting, I put another shut-off valve so that way my main water can continue to run into the house, but when I need RO water, I simple turn the valve about 1/4 of the way open (PLENTY of pressure, trust me) and then it also feeds my RO unit at the same time.

It's kinda hard to explain the details of how I did it, but be sure to look out for a post on my new Stored Water Resolution. I made a unit to store water in my garage into 2, 55g plastic drums and ran my RO unit to it along with electricity. I'll be posting some pics real soon.

If you want to know more on how to do this, let me know and I can scan my diagram that I used to design it (nothing fancy, only in pencil).