Im in the UK and have just set up a 7 stage unit but have difficulty in sourcing single bed anion so have to make do with 2 MB400ind resins after the cation.
Are you throwing away perfectly good DI Resin?
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I likely would have purchased it on BRS. Not 100% sure off the top of my head. It is a work horse though!@ihavecrabs I'm curious as to what membrane you run? Awesome idea on saving resin, might be worth it to recharge some of the super saturated resin after it's gone through all your stages to save even more
OP
OP
I've considered it. Up until recently I only had 2 stages.. Maybe that is a follow up article once I need to reorder!
Only downside is unless I am going to attempt to regenerate resin, I'm not still only using it till it registers 1ppm.
Great article, I have many of the same issues. I'm on a well with iron filters and softener. I'm going through a mixed bed about once a month making 1o gallons a week for water changes and about 5 for ATO. I haven't measured my raw TDS, but get about 2 after my RO going into a 2 stage mixed bed set-up. Just spent like $5K on new well pump, pressure tank and carbon filters (just completed this week) and wondering how it will affect my resin consumption. I'll have to consider something different before long since I'm adding another 200 Gallon tank in addition to the 75G setup I'm running now. That will blow through a canister a week at the rate I'm going now!!!
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I did the well pump and line to the house last year. Rough!
Well, at least we can run 2 showers at the same time now, just in time now that the kids are out of the house
. It's one of the prices we pay for living in paradise, don't worry about chlorine or monochloramines chewing up my membranes though!!
Good article. This is an interesting issue.
Since the R/O membrane is the most effective and most cost-effective method of reducing the TDS, it seems to me that doubling up R/O membranes to reduce the TDS of the water prior to the DI would be a more satisfactory approach. Having two R/O membranes in series, even if the incoming supply water has a TDS of 1000, should get the water to 2 TDS before the DI section(s).
Of course, you would need to set up some kind of water reservoir after the first membrane, and have a pump to feed the second R/O membrane, so it's not as simple as it might sound. And if the high TDS is caused by CO2 or some other factor that the R/O can't remove, then this all goes out the window.
Has anybody tried anything like this?
Since the R/O membrane is the most effective and most cost-effective method of reducing the TDS, it seems to me that doubling up R/O membranes to reduce the TDS of the water prior to the DI would be a more satisfactory approach. Having two R/O membranes in series, even if the incoming supply water has a TDS of 1000, should get the water to 2 TDS before the DI section(s).
Of course, you would need to set up some kind of water reservoir after the first membrane, and have a pump to feed the second R/O membrane, so it's not as simple as it might sound. And if the high TDS is caused by CO2 or some other factor that the R/O can't remove, then this all goes out the window.
Has anybody tried anything like this?
Nice article. And sympathies on your tap water. But - I don't understand the take home message. How would (I) know if im throwing away perfectly good DI resin. I mean - I change it when the color changes - or if there is a difference in TDS from the meter (tap is 75-80, end is 0). I have only 1 DI resin container. So - I'm assuming that if I add another canister - it will be 2x as expensive and last 2x as long?
. But - I don't understand the take home message. How would (I) know if im throwing away perfectly good DI resin. I mean - I change it when the color changes - or if there is a difference in TDS from the meter (tap is 75-80, end is 0). I have only 1 DI resin container. So - I'm assuming that if I add another canister - it will be 2x as expensive and last 2x as long?
OP
OP
My take home message is if you have only one stage of DI and you toss it after seeing 1 TDS, you are throwing away perfectly good resin. The reason being is, many people have an output from their RO membrane of 2 TDS or higher. Given that a DI resin that is letting 1 TDS squeak through, that doesn't mean it is completely spent.Nice article. And sympathies on your tap water
For instance, I continue using that resin by moving that canister one step closer to the RO membrane to take my 12-16 TDS down to 4, and from 4 to 1 before it hits the next stage of DI. Where as most people would swap it out for a new canister and immediately hit it with 12-16 TDS.
I'll edit the article to make this point more known [emoji4]
Let me know when you need to replace your membrane and I'll send you a spectrapure. I'm really curious on how there plus membranes perform at higher TDS rates. My TDS tops out at 242 or I'd test it myself.
Lol, send me one PLEASE! My well water is 500 TDS. I use a booster pump that takes the pressure to 95 PSI, through my BRS membrane. I get 9 TDS after it, so about 98% rejections. It absolutely RIPS though my resin, even after talking to BRS and buying the additional canisters to do anion/cation/mixed. Normal C02 levels. If the membrane performs better than the DOW filmtec sold by BRS, it would be a godsend. Both in time changing canisters AND reef funds.
I have a nice unit, between the three stage TDS monitor and booster pump. Pick me, pick me!
OP
OP
Yeah the 98% rejection rates kills you if you have high initial TDS.
I think there are people with a lot worse out there though. I hear NM has 1000+ so I guess that is something to be thankful for haha
I've been saying this to other reefers and they think I'm crazy. I haven't recharged a DI Resin in over 15 years though so I completely forgot how to do it.
Last time I reefed I ran DI only and recharged the resins
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Google is your friend.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-09/nftt/index.php
At this point, I have only had to recharge my anion resin. This is super easy to do when you have cation and anion separated. I have cation, anion, and mixed bed in three separate canisters.
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I’ve been thinking about calling BRS. On this question. The above numbers mean nothing to me to be honest.
I know what the numbers on my TDS mean and I know what to watch for with the DI RESIN. I have the BRS six stage unit.
With two di cartridges. I change the first cartridge with the second one when the first one changes color and reaches approx one in to the top of the cartridge ( according to the utube video put out by BRS) because of the possibility of it creating ammonia.
I go through a cartridge in about sixty gallons or less as well and yes I am also on a well.
This seem to be a common theme on here.
Am I wasting resin? Should I pay more attention to the TDS meter rather than the color
Thanks
I know what the numbers on my TDS mean and I know what to watch for with the DI RESIN. I have the BRS six stage unit.
With two di cartridges. I change the first cartridge with the second one when the first one changes color and reaches approx one in to the top of the cartridge ( according to the utube video put out by BRS) because of the possibility of it creating ammonia.
I go through a cartridge in about sixty gallons or less as well and yes I am also on a well.
This seem to be a common theme on here.
Am I wasting resin? Should I pay more attention to the TDS meter rather than the color
Thanks
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With the 6 stage, you are doing the right thing. I am assuming that the two resin cartridges that you are using are the mixed bed. I use three cartridges as this is a more efficient and economical use of the resins. With the mixed bed showing exhaustion, you still have a large amount of unused cation resin. I utilize three cartridges with cation, anion, and mixed bed in that order. I only have had to change the anion resin cartridge 5 x with more than 300 gal through the cartridges. I yet to have had the need to change the cation or the mixed bed resin cartridges. With that, it is silly easy to recharge the anion resin. I have saved exponentially on resin, even if I were to throw away the anion resin, over the cost of replacing the mixed bed or the cost of adding the additional cartridge, Additionally, with the mixed bed in the final chamber, I have the security knowing that all TDS are removed. Also, with the money saved on resin by recharging only the anion resin, I can afford to throw away the cation and mixed bed resins when they are exhausted and still be ahead of the monetary curve on money spent. It's just an option and not for everyone.
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This is what I am using and buying. I’m not refilling mine anymore I would rather be comfortable than wrong
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-pre-packed-deionization-resin-color-changing.html
Which one are you using and how do you recharge I just may buy a third one
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I am using BRS as well. I hade the same 6-stage filter you have. I just purchased this... https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/single-deionization-canister.html and now have three DI canisters. One for cation, anion and mixed bed each.
As for recharging the resins... http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-09/nftt/index.php
Just do the necessary steps for each type of resin you have or the whole process for mixed bed resins. Additionally, as you are separating the resins in the mixed bed process anyway, you can keep them separate and use as such. The only issue in doing that is that generally, only one of the two resins in the mixed bed contains the color changing dye. If you separate and use individually in each respective canister, one will not indicate when exhausted. This is why I will recharge all the resins and leave them as they are implemented in y system. Lye is used for recharging anion, acid for the cation, and both for the mixed bed.
As for recharging the resins... http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-09/nftt/index.php
Just do the necessary steps for each type of resin you have or the whole process for mixed bed resins. Additionally, as you are separating the resins in the mixed bed process anyway, you can keep them separate and use as such. The only issue in doing that is that generally, only one of the two resins in the mixed bed contains the color changing dye. If you separate and use individually in each respective canister, one will not indicate when exhausted. This is why I will recharge all the resins and leave them as they are implemented in y system. Lye is used for recharging anion, acid for the cation, and both for the mixed bed.
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