1 micron ro filter, really brown

[t gallo]

i would love to know what is causing or i should say what exact crud this is only after 100 gallons of ro water.

i just installed this one micron filter last week and it's brown already, my tds meter says 157 tds coming in and 0 going out , but im wondering if some is really entering the tank due to my brown small tuff hair algae on some of the rocks.

 

[Ben1]

That is pretty cruddy you might want to add a extra micron filter before the ro unit to catch some of this. I would run a 1 micron before and use a .5 micron in the main unit.

Has it always been like this?

 

[Anonymous]

Whats causing it is actually somewhat good. If I recall correctly it's caused by a form of bacteria that eats at iron.

That your RO is pulling it out (or that your prefilter is pulling it before it hits your RO membrane) is good. But I would probably heed Ben's advice and add another prefilter just to help extend the life of your membrane...

Norm

 

[t gallo]

well i was thinking the same thing, add another micron filter but im sure both of them would turn brown just as quick, but i see the point as far as saving the membrane.

i was thinking about adding another carbon block filter instead to ensure that the membrane would get better protection, whatya think .

also if the brown stuff is iron eating bacteria, and some of this gue make's it past the membrane and into my tank, it must be feuling the hair algae, 8O god i hope not.

 

[hillbilly]

Could it be rust itself from iron in the water?
It kinda looks like it in the photo.

 

[Anonymous]

It is just rust from pipe and/or sediment from the water supply. Sometimes you will have a clean canister for weeks, then suddenly, it turned brown overnight. This is due to movement/adjustment in the plumbling system and other action that cause the sediment to come out. Try to turn off the valve under the sink, then turn it back on. More often than not, the first few seconds of water will be dark colored.

Try to add another prefilter in front to get the coarse sediment. For my RO, I use 4 stages of prefilters, which is kind of overkill, but you get the idea.

 

[Anonymous]

I use 4 stages of prefilters, which is kind of overkill, but you get the idea.

Do you have a pressure gauge just in front of the membrane? I'm curious because I wonder if you have any problems getting enough pressure to the membrane because of the number of prefilters...?

Is it like series resistance or no? - I've never dug into fluid dynamics..

 

[Anonymous]

It does not, but I do have a RO pressure vessle with pressure gauge on it that used to be on the setup. My experience is that as long as the prefilters are not clogged, it is not an issue.

There is a difference between static pressure and dynamic pressure, and most people confused them.

 

[jonboy]

i have the same problem with the water supply .
i have had to install 2 prefilters to the system.
they turn chocolate brown every time the water co. shuts the water off/on. i believe that it is mud/sediment.
this weekend i installed a whole house water filter. the filters need to be replaced every 3 months. but i think it will extend the life of my ro filters.

Is there a good place to get replacement filters? i need to buy them by the case, it seems.

thanks for any help,
jonboy

 

[Anonymous]

It is actually rust. I get it too. It was worse a year ago before I had the water company come and change the pipe from the street. If your pipes are old they are made of iron. A simple way to test your water is to boil a gallon of water and let it sit from 24-48 hrs. At that time the bottom will have rust that has settled(cannot boil out rust). I still get some but far less.

Unfortunately you too will need to change your prefilters(as well as the RO membrane...less if you change the prefilters) more often. If everybody else changes their's at one year, you will need to change it at 6-8 months to avoid leaching. Metal and reefs do not mix.

 

[Unresistible Blue]

If you install another sediment filter (Not sure why people call this a micron filter. "Micron" is a unit of measure - and is used to describe the size of the particles a filter will trap.), make sure you use filters with successively smaller pore size.

For example, have the tap water hit a 10 micron sediment filter first, then a 5 micron sediment filter, then a 1 micron carbon block.

Blue

 

[Anonymous]

You are correct about the micron is a unit of length. However, it is just a description of the filter cartidge, and similar to someone telling you about a 50 Watt lightbulb, or 254 pages novel.