Tds

[TimH07]

i have a 4ish month old Air Water and Ice 5 stage RO/DI unit. i do not have my own TDS meter so i took some water to my LFS today (whom i know the owner pretty well).. the results are 22 TDS. should i get a new RO membrane or replace the 3 pre filters ( 10-5-1 micron filters i belive)
??

[metalhead]

You should be fine with just the RO membrane after 4 months I would think. You can try that first and then measure TDS again, just make sure you run the first 50 gallons or so down the drain after you change the membrane.

I think 22 on TDS is probably "acceptable" anyway though... seems like I read on here one time that 100 or less was OK but someone will need to check me on this.

One more thing to consider... Have you ever added anything like ALK buffer or KALK to your top-off reservoir? If so, and you took the test water out of the res instead of straight out of the unit, that could be causing the reading of 22, which isn't much.

[Ninong]

Check out the FAQ section on Air, Water & Ice's website.

[Ninong]

There is no way that your membrane is in need of replacement after just four months unless there was something wrong with it from the beginning.

Read through the FAQ section on Air, Water & Ice's website and/or call Walter for help or simply shoot them an email.

[Ninong]

...just make sure you run the first 50 gallons or so down the drain after you change the membrane.

That's really, really excessive. I have never heard of any manufacturer telling you that you have to waste the first 50 gallons of production. Air, Water & Ice recommends wasting the first hour of production. If it's a 60 or 75 gpd unit, then that amounts to approximately 3 gallons.

[metalhead]

That's really, really excessive. I have never heard of any manufacturer telling you that you have to waste the first 50 gallons of production. Air, Water & Ice recommends wasting the first hour of production. If it's a 60 or 75 gpd unit, then that amounts to approximately 3 gallons.

I meant to say 5 gallons... My bad.

[metalhead]

Check out the FAQ section on Air, Water & Ice's website.

Thanks for the link btw, very informative.