Uses for RO waste water?

[nsreefer]

Does anyone use their RO wastewater for anything? I water plants with it, Is there anythign else it can be used for?

[mdrumm]

i run the tube out to my lawn. use it to water grass.

[Bebo77]

yeah i have it attached to a soaker hose... works great..

[DJChesnutRabbit]

Mine runs to my front flower bed. The plants closest to it look like mutants. They are huge in compairison.

[chujai]

does the water become unsafe for other uses ? cooking, drinking?

[virginiadiver69]

Your "waste water" is most likely better than your tap water.

[Harold Edwards]

I fill my boys small pool, and I fill the washing machine with it.

[motlot77]

drink it. tastes better than tap water.

[jmait769]

I run it into the washing machine!

Jay

[slant77]

I run it into the washing machine also.

[kraftyforu]

i use it to fill the tank on the toilet

[edwing206]

Is it better for the toilet than tap water kraftyforu? lol

[kraftyforu]

lol i just dont have anywhere else in the area to use it for, i live in an apt and the closest thing is the toilet

[HBtank]

I fill up water ballons with it and throw them at kids.

[nsreefer]

You can drink it?? I've never bothered to test the tds....

[AZDesertRat]

The TDS will be approximately 20 to 25% higher than your tap water TDS. Since it has been passed through a particulate or sediment filter and a carbon filter it is pretty good though for most any use you can imagine.

[nsreefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9825453#post9825453 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AZDesertRat
The TDS will be approximately 20 to 25% higher than your tap water TDS. Since it has been passed through a particulate or sediment filter and a carbon filter it is pretty good though for most any use you can imagine.

I never really thought of that.

[ubas]

How does everyone store and feed the waste water? Pressurized tank? Pump? Gravity?

[andyjd]

If I had a choice, I'd store it for watering the garden, flushing the toilets etc.

[jsshark1]

how often are you guys flushing your RO filter ? and for how long ?

I just got one this week and I am still messing with it,
can some one please tell me if when you first open the valve you get a nice stream for about a 1/8 cup of water and then it dies to a slow trickle. is that how they work and that is why they sell them with those holding tank? my plan is to make my mixing tank this weekend with it and it will take at least a day to fill a 55 gal can with the slow stream of water coming out.

it is all because of that small check valve, I remove the check valve from the system and I get a good stream of water, why does the check valve have only a small hole

[LobsterOfJustice]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9819484#post9819484 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by virginiadiver69
Your "waste water" is most likely better than your tap water.

This is not true. Your waste water has higher TDS than your tap water. All the TDS that is "taken out" of your RO water is in your waste water. I have "taken out" in quotes because the membrane does not take TDS out of water... it takes water out of tap water with TDS.

The RO membrane does not work like a sediment filter. It is a semi-permiable membrane, that only water molecules can cross. When under high pressure, the H20 molecules are pushed through the RO membrane, but other molecules do not pass through. They are left behind, and washed away in the waste water.

Mine goes down the drain for now, but I am moving in a few months and plan on filling my washing machine with it.

jsshark1, I flush my membrane for 3-5 minutes before and after every use.

[AZDesertRat]

A flush valve is only effective if you have a manual system that you can flush each and every time you make water. If you have a pressure tank you never know when the RO is working or when to flush so they are useless. To be effective you must use it at the end of your water making every time. The usefullness of a flush valve is still up in the air and I have seen no conclusive evidence that they actually do anything at all. I don't own one and have never owned one in the 11 years I have been using RO/DI and get maximum life out of my membranes by ensuring I keep my waste ratio in the 4:1 range. With TDS in the 800 to 1000 range here in Phoenix we have one of the worst so if they were going to fail it would be here. I made 15 gallons of DI last night with a tap water TDS of 953, RO only of 6.6 and RO/DI of 0 and thats now 605+ gallons of DI through my first MaxCap cartridge and still going strong.

The waste is still better than tap even though the TDS may be 20 to 25% higher. By passing water through a carbon filter you have removed any volatile organic chemicals which for humans are the worst of what tap water may contain. Remember there are no health related effects from TDS but there are from SOCs,VOCs and chlorinated byproducts. TDS has no maximum contaminant level as its not a health concern, the others do and at very low levels, sometimes in the parts per billion.

[Pmolan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9819693#post9819693 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmait769
I run it into the washing machine!


Mine goes down the drain for now, but I am moving in a few months and plan on filling my washing machine with it.

I don't get it.

[[17]shawn[17]]

im going to be filling rain barles with it and use it to water the lawn and garden

[jmait769]

I don't get it.
I run the waste water hose into the washing machine. It fills up and then I wash cloths with the waste water. You would be surprised at how much you are throwing away when you start collecting it!!

AZDesertRat – What would be the side effects of using the waste water to fill or topoff a freshwater tank?

Jay

[AZDesertRat]

Lots of freshwater species like brackish or hard water. I don't keep freshwater myself but it seems to me hardier species like that might get along just fine.

One thing to keep in mind. However you use the flush or waste stream, always observe any plumbing codes and use plain common sense by providing an air gap so there is no possibility of non potable water entering your homes plumbing. By keeping hoses out of tree wells, sinks, basins or whatever you eliminate the chance of a backsiphonage or backflow incident. I have seen my share of horror stories where someone throws a garden hose in a tree well or horse trough and then something down the road breaks and contaminated water siphons back into the pipes. Its a real possibility and can be life threatening.

[jsshark1]

i dont have one of those tank, just wandering if that is how you get a glass of water out of those filter with out waiting 15 min.


so it is normal that the water comes out in a small very slow steam from the filter.

how do you know it has to be flushed. the only slower stream of water would be off :(

[AZDesertRat]

Yes, a drinking water kit has a small 3.3 gallon or larger pressure tank. faucet and usually an autoshutoff valve if you don't already have one.
Without it water comes out anywhere from a slow drip to a small stream depending on which size membrane you have and what your water pressure and temperature are.
RO membranes are constantly flushe any time they are producing water. Thats the sole function of the flow restrictor on the waste line. Some people add manual flush valves but they are of little or no benefit if you have a pressure tank.

[navipro1]

I save it by the barrows to feed it to my future inlaws.

[mwwhite]

Ditto on running waste water in to washing machine. Anything left over goes to the plants.

[Randall_James]

I have mine running to a trickle hose feeding the hanging flower pots this year. Last year it was the flower bed only.