New RO/DI system acting weird

The membrane is not seated all the way in the hosuing so water is bypassing it. That or the housing has hairline cracks inside which do the same thing and the water is not being treated. The other possibility is a defective or ruptured membrane again allowing wate rto bypass.
A TDS meter will confirm this. If the RO only TDS is not 90 to 98% lower than the tap water something is wrong. A TDS meter and pressure gauge are your best friends and you cannot own a RO/DI and know its condition without them. A good handheld TDS meter like the HM Digital TDS-3, TDS-4TM or new AP series is only $20-$25 and an inline pressure gauge is about $15 from most vendors.

 

I'll try to get a refund or sell this system, and get a better one. By the way, my water is incredibly weird, I'm sure it has a LOT of chlorine or chloramine in it... A tubful of water has a visibly greenish-blueish hue, and swimming pool odor.
What kind of system should I buy for this kind of tap water? Is it possible that the problem is caused by too much chlorine was escaping through the carbon prefilter, into the membrane?

 

Those small granular activated carbon filters are only good for about 300 total gallons of normally chlorinated water at 1 mg/L residual. If you have higher chlorine or chloramines than that then the carbon could very well be exhausted since both the treated and waste go through the carbon.

I would highly recommend the $130 Spectrapure system at the top of the page here:
FACTORY REFURBISHED

Don't let the Refurbished title discourage you, it is not a used system at all.

Another choice would be the BFS-161 system here:
http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/showproducts.asp?Category=168&Sub=166

Which also comes with a good handheld TDS meter and a DI bypass valve for $169

Or the Optima Vision here:
Optima Vision RO DI System

Its $129 and you can add the faucet adapter and other options very reasonable.

All these systems come with high quality sediment and carbon block filters good for 12,000 to 20,000 total gallons unlike the 300 gallons the portable is good for so end up costing you much less in the long run.

 

This seems cool, but will that carbon prefilter be enough to clear up this level of chlorine/chloramine? I really don't get it, I moved here to Jersey City a few weeks ago, and never in my life previously have I had pool water come from the taps... XD

 

Yes, any of the three I mentioned will take care of the chlorine or chloramines no problem at all. They are solid extruded carbon blocks either 0.5 microns or 1.0 microns in size and not a granular product.

 

Glad your getting things worked out. I use the 0.5 micron on mine ( THANKS AZ ) for a few yrs now and have very good results and I'm in NYC

 

Thanks. Hopefully it will work out. But still, I want to state for the record that NYC tap water is bloody Evian compared to the crap coming out of the taps here on the other side of the Hudson. I have the chance to sample both every day.

No, it really is. With all the rust and copper and bio waste from the plumbing in old NYC buildings, I'd take that any day over Jersey City water.
I'm not joking. It's POOL WATER over here, without any dramatic exaggeration.

 

Hey AZDesertRat, I'm still wavering a bit between these systems, esp. that the refurbished one says it doesn't come with standard warranties. (I couldn't fnd anything about what kind of warranties it comes with then, and since I burned myself with this defective portable, I'm a bit wary about that now.)

I opened a case with eBay, but I have doubts it will get resolved. The thing came with a slip from the company that if anything is wrong, I need to inform them on the very day of delivery, otherwise I can take the device to where I want.
Then, their page states I have 14 days to file claims, but only if the device is unused. I believe their definition of unused equals "hasn't seen water"...
Well just s everyone knows, we're talking of the Canadian gangster mob MaxWaterflow aka MaxAirflow, avoid them like the plague!

So anyway, if anyone in the New England area (or, well, anywhere if you pay for the shipping) wants this setup for parts (two GAC postfilters - yea they used that for prefilter -, an inline DI resin, plus housing plus frame, plus tubing, plus a potentially dead 75G Taiwanese membrane), drop me a line. ANY offer will be considered.

Returning to the "good" systems. What kind of flow restrictor does the 90 gallon refurbished come with? Do I need to get an adjustable one extra? What sort of customer support can I expect from them?

In comparison, which would you personally go with, the SpectraPure or the Vision? The Vision seems to have more options, plus it doesn't come with void warranty. What does SpectraPure have going for it?

Thanks!

 

Even without their normal warranty I would still go with Spectrapure. They are the only vendor who treats and tests their membranes to improve performance, use asbolute rated sediment filters and to blend their own DI resins for maximum performance and lifespan. They are only one of a few to use capillary tube flow restrictors, Buckeye is another who does too. Buckeye also offers a testing service for membranes for a nominal charge but not sure exactly what they guarantee from the testing.

PurelyH2o are good systems also but probably my third choice after Spectrapure then Buckeye.

I would rate the Customer Service from all three as top notch and you wil find them all as Sponsors and contributors on many reef forums where they will answer about anything in an open forum to help everyone.

 

Hey AZDesertRat,

Well I think I figured out the "problem", as I got my TDS meter and pressure gauge.

So even though I get a 1.5:1 of wasteroduct ratio, the TDS meter for the product after DI shows 0, and in the RO only water it's 7. The tap water is ~150, the waste is ~225.
Is 7 for the RO only water good, or is it bad in comparison?

The reason for the ratio must be my awesome water pressure. My cold water on the kitchen sink is ~90 PSI. I live in a highrise, and there are regulators under my sink... Unfortunately the cold one is rusted shut, so there is no chance of adjusting it.

Anyway, I'll get the Spectrapure, and try to sell this one by components. Turns out it works fine, so I can't really return it to the seller.
My main question now is, should I get a pressure regulator valve for the Spectrapure, or is 90 PSI perfectly okay?