I am going to jump out my 6th floor window!

[davelin315]

I don't think your powerhead will reach 40 psi. If I'm thinking correctly, that's a lot of water pressure, and powerheads aren't designed for pressure applications, just water movement. There are a lot of pumps out there that are designed for pressure, but not for what you are looking to do. If you restrict the water flow to 10 to 20 gallons per day (example - average output of a decent R/O unit) you'll kill your pump in a day. There are a lot of pumps designed specifically for aiding pressure to R/O units, look for one of those. Also, instead of hooking it up to your tap, hook it up to the largest cold water pipe you can find in your apartment. If you have a water heater or a laundry in your apartment, check there, because you'll have more flow to those than you will to a sink since the sink uses very small diameter copper pipe, while the laundry and water heater (make sure you hook it up to the input!) will have larger pipes and therefore more water, and more pressure.

 

[Emperator]

You may want to look into a booster pump for your RO/DI unit.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, there is no cold water pipes that I can get to without tearing out a wall.

My RO/DI is a 100 GPD. Would a mag 2 or something that small still burn up?

Does anyone know where I can get a booster pump Other than Aqua FX?

TIA
b

 

[Anonymous]

No, Not really. But since I live on the 6th (top) floor of my building, I don't have enough water presure to run my RO/DI! I have hooked it up to all 3 faucets in my apartment and none have the pressure needed.

SO here is my Idea.

I buy a 20 gal rubbermaid bin, and put it in the bathtub. I fill it with water and add a powerhead. I hook the powerhead to the input of my ro, and wallah! 40PSI!.

The only question is which powerhead/pump to buy?

Any suggestions?

TIA
b

 

[davelin315]

I think you should try and trade in your R/O unit for a smaller one. Depending on where you bought it, they should take it back for advising you that it could work on your system. You really don't need more than a few gallons a day at most for your tank, and the rest is just bonus stuff. I use maybe a gallon a day average for topoff, bird, rabbit, dog, and people water.

 

[Anonymous]

I bought my unit form Premium Aquatics. It is an Aqua f/x barracuda 100 gpd. I have a 100 gal tank + 30 gal sump, and I don't see what trading it in would do-Other than taking a couple of days to fill my tank.? I still don't have enough pressure to permeate the membrane.

For the record, I was going to keep the water running in the rubbermaid tub.

B

 

[The Brain]

Bingo,
This is an interesting situation but none the less, not out of the ordinary..I have encountered this problem on more than one ocasion and have a couple suggestions that may work for you.
# 1- In this situation you are more than likely feeding your system with one line after it has split up and fed numerous other locations. Try tapping into your cold and hot lines and combining the two, not only will this increase your pressure but it will also bring the temp of your water up wich will make it easier for the water to permeate the membrane. often times when water is too cold it shrinks the poors in the membrane making it more dificult for the water to pass through. This is often confused with or aids in underpressuring a thin film composite membrane. Also how much hose is being run between the supply and the system. this can also cause problems. Ihope these things can help you. If these things dont work than there are other inexpensive options, this hobby is expensive enough without having to add a city pumphouse to your aquarium..lol. If you would like you can email me and tell me more about your setup.
Good luck
Bryan

 

[BReefCase]

Kent makes a small RO pressure boost pump rated for producing up to 50 gpd by boosting input water pressure up to 80 psi. They say it will work with even their 650 gpd systems, though obviously with a reduced output rate.

Pet Warehouse lists it as item #234910 for $175. Can't say if that's a good price or no -- you might look around at other MO places.

By the way -- unless you have some unusual sort of RO system, I believe that your RO unit uses several hundreds of gallons of input water to produce the 100 gpd rated output. There is a huge proportion of "bypass water" that goes directly down the drain, in comparison to what little passes through the membrane that you end up with as output. Your rubbermaid tub would not provide nearly enough input volume, no matter what the pressure, for useful output.

[ August 05, 2001: Message edited by: BReefCase ]

 

[Anonymous]

Brain: I live in an apartment, so tapping into pipes is not feasable. I would like to, but that would be one more thing I have to fix when I move out.

I may try putting adapters under the kitchen sink, splitting it before the sink. Although, I would have to put a valve on the hot, to control temperature. the hot comes out of the faucett at 140 degrees.--my whole building is heated with a boiler.

What are your other suggestions?
B

 

[davelin315]

I was thinking along the lines that a smaller unit would work better with less pressure (might be a waterlogged brain I'm using). However, as far as plumbing your cold water line, look at the wall under your sinks, my guess is they are dry wall. You can easily cut a hole in your dry wall and remove a plug (keep it for later if you think your landlord will actually look under your sink to see if you did any damage to the wall there, you can always put it back later and do a quick spackle job, and voila, like new). From there, your cold water and hot water will be plumbed off of a main line, and like I said before, the output to your sink will be very small, but the main line will be much bigger. Buy a saddle valve, and install it there. Make sure you get one that makes its own hole, and also make sure you have a copper pipe back there. The reason for this is you won't be able to drill the pipe because you probably don't have access to the shut off, and there aren't any saddle valves that will punch through an iron or steel pipe, but copper is much thinner, and you'll be able to tap into it with relatively little effort.

 

[The Brain]

He is correct Bingo Here are a couple things for you to consider. A self piercing valve will close itself up when you decide to move so repair will not be necessary. Also a self pierce valve does allow you to control the amount of water allowed to pass through it so now you have the best of bolth worlds you can increase your pressure, raise your temp and get back your security deposit. Here is a picture of a self pierce valve so you know what to look for
Bryan

http://www.aquaticreefsystems.com/attachmentphoto.htm

[ August 06, 2001: Message edited by: The Brain ]

 

[kjb]

Ask an expert to visit, call Culligan or some equivalent water treatment company to come out and evaluate the situation. If anyone can get RO to work for you they can. Shouldn't cost that much.

 

[Anonymous]

I looked and under the bathroom is tile, out of the question, and under the sink is Plaster and lath. I am guessing the Origional plaster and lath from the 60's. If I disconnect the cold water pipe going into the sink and connect it to the RO/DI, wouldn't it be the same as tapping into the pipe?

B

 

[Anonymous]

STOP THE PRESSES!

I just looked further up the wall behind the sink. There is a shutoff valve,a small threaded tube, a 90, then a reducing adapter to go into the fawcett. (just like farrah)

I have a place to tap into the line! Although it is iron/lead pipe, I should get away with it. I feel a trip to HD comming on.
B

 

[davelin315]

Nope, it is different. The pipe going to your tap is on a T connector with a valve on it to turn it on and off. It probably comes off of a 1/4" or 1/2" pipe or so, while the pipe to your tap is basically the diameter of airline tubing with a thinner wall. As far as the tile is concerned, you can always remove a large tile and put it back later if you think it's hollow behind it. Just chip out the grout (or use a ceramic bit on a drywall tool like a roto zip) and then pry the tile off. If it's cemented to plaster and lathe, though, which it might be, don't do it. That stuff is impossible to get back to being presentable (my house in college was made of that and we had a leak and my wall fell apart. All plaster and lathe, and it fell into my tank, too. What a mess!

By the way, be careful about calling the Culligan or a similar guy. They concentrate more on water treatment than water filtration, and often use a lot of softeners such as sodium which will kill off your tank. They also may not have as much knowledge over the areas that you think. Call a water filter company if you have questions and see what they think.

[ August 07, 2001: Message edited by: davelin315 ]