RO system for sink and ice makers

[jff]

We put this RO system (two as it worked out, water comes from the incoming water, tank or shore, then passes through all the stages, UV lights and into one of these two secondary tanks) into our boat this week. This was something we did in our 48 with great results. This time in addition to adding a drinkable water tap at the kitchen sink we also had the system (required two systems in this case) feed the kitchen refrigerator ice maker and the second system feed the outside ice maker. Here's a picture of the implementation:

 

[Boat Guy]

Very nice....

 

[JimG]

Sweet... I like my RO water also! Never considered installing one on my boat, until now.:smt017

 

[Air O'Nautical]

Just wow, that is cool.
I hate buying bottled water!

Well done sir,

Mark.

 

[HUMPH]

I have been thinking about adding a filtration system but nothing this elaborate! Does not RO discharge a lot of the water containing all of the "bad stuff"? If so, where does it discharge and how much water does it burn through? With only 100 gallons of fresh water, I need to conserve when on the hook for 3 or 4 days at a time.

 

[JimG]

I have been thinking about adding a filtration system but nothing this elaborate! Does not RO discharge a lot of the water containing all of the "bad stuff"? If so, where does it discharge and how much water does it burn through? With only 100 gallons of fresh water, I need to conserve when on the hook for 3 or 4 days at a time.

Good point... is it actually "bad stuff" or just excess that it cant push through the filter? Could you just dump it back to the tank?

 

[jff]

I'm not certain about this but I *think* that the RO system uses more water than it makes, so for example 2 gallons from the boats fresh water tank make 1 gallon or RO water in the RO tank (that's just an example, not meant to be the actual figures). I'm thinking that extra 1-gallon goes out the side of the boat via the sump box. So yes, this isn't ideal when/where water is going to be in high demand. We also have water challenges on long weekends but for us, having fresh water and ice we feel good about using/drinking is worth it. Regards, Jason

 

[blaster]

Not only does RO have a lot of waste water, it requires high pressure. In some instances a pressure booster is required to get the advertised flow rate through the membrane. For $100 you can get a conductivity meter to check the effectiveness of your membranes. It gives a reading in microseimens to measure dissolved solids. Also keep in mind if you have chlorinated tap water it is vital to change the carbon block prefilters regularly to prevent damage to the membrane. (if thin film composit.) Cellulose triacetate membranes tolerate chlorine but are not as effective at purification as a TFC membrane.

Is it set up to fill the freshwater tank with RO water? Doesn't seem to make sense to make water using the freshwater tank as a supply. One thing is for sure, running RO water in the freshwater system will keep your strainers clean and prevent calcium and scale buildup.

Very nice setup, and the RO systems are cool too.

Oh, I also am curious what wattage germicidal lamps you are running? How fast is the flow rate?

 

[jff]

blaster - you know a lot more about RO/water systems than I do but my understanding was it just doesn't have the kind of output necessary to fill a fresh water tank in any reasonable amount of time (my fresh water tank is 120gal I believe). Also, the water kept in the fresh water tank isn't kept in a drinkable state as far as I know (not technically speaking). So we have the fresh water tank feed the RO which in turns stores it's drinkable water in the two tanks pictured which in turn feed the two ice makers and a drinkable water spicket we added at the kitchen sink.