Beer Forum

All,

I’m pricing home RO systems. I can get one with a two gallon tank that goes under my sink for about $180. I’m hoping to learn from all of you, based upon how much you brew, how often do you have to replace the filters? The literature suggests every six months, but I’m assuming that is based upon normal drinking water, not pulling 20 gallons out every few weeks for a brew day (plus normal drinking water).

I brew ten gallon batches about two to three times per month. I presently buy my RO water at the local grocery store for .29 per gallon to use in my water cooler and in my brewing process. I’m just trying to decide if the initial investment is worth it considering the cost of all of the filters (especially if I will have to replace them at a faster passed based upon the number of gallons of water I plan to use).

Thanks in advance!

I have on Omni RO 2000 undersink unit.
http://www.omnifilter.com/undersink.htm
I paid around $160 at Menards 8 or so years ago.
How long the filters last depends on your well water. I've only replaced the RO membrane filter once in the 6 or 8years We've had the unit. The guy in the store said to replace it when the water doesn't taste good and the rest of the filters are good. The RO cartridge was about $50. Sometimes the rest of the filters last 6 mos. and sometimes they don't. I brew about once a month 17 gal used per brew. We use the water in our aquarium 10-20 gallons per month. We keep a gallon of water for drinking on the counter for drinking 15-20 gal per month. We use the water for cooking, coffee, tea etc, 10 gal per month.
Let me qualify my filter life by saying my well water has a lot of sulfer and iron in it (smells like rotton eggs). I clorinate my well 3 time a year when. You can do this yourself with a product called Saniwell. The water is filtered through two whole house filters. Once for sediment and once for rust/taste/odor. Then it goes through a water softener. All this makes the tap water pretty decent. I found the RO filters lasted a lot longer when the system was connected to the soft water lineas opposed to one pre softening. I bought a few of those 5 gallon water bottles that the grocery stores sell to bring in and refill because they have a screw on top not like the bottled water company jugs. When the undersink tank is full you get about 1 1/2 gallons out of it. The filtering process is verly slow. I put my water jug in a tub (in case I overfill it) and use some racking hose from the faucet to the jug and leave the faucet on. It probably take 6 to 8 hours to fill the 5 gal jug.
The system has paid for itself as opposed to going to the store for bottled water.

I bought a Whirlpool RO filter at Lowe's a few years ago. I used some scrapwood and casters to build a cart to house it. It works great. I had my water tested a few times after getting it and the tds usually come in around 25-50ppm, which is about as pure as you need for brewing purposes. It basically reduces each major ion (Ca, Mg, HCO3, etc...) by 80-90%. Once the filters get "broken in," it'll crank out about 18 gallons in 24 hours. I spent a total of about $150 on everything. It paid for itself pretty quickly.

Here's what I have: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=p ... lpage=none

You should check out Ebay for RO systems. They are generally cheaper and have much faster RO membranes. Something like this might work well for you:

http://cgi.ebay.com/100-GPD-RO-Reverse- ... 5ad5ab213d

I have heard great things about the Watts units although they may be more expensive. I have two Kinetico RO units at home. I love my units but I feed them with softened water and (at AJ's suggestion) I have been buying my water from the water n ice store. If I reject 80-90% of my Sodium (perhaps 300ppm to start) then it leaves 30-60ppm of Na in my brewing water and I really don't like adding Na to my beer.
If you feed with hard water then your NaCl content will be much much lower and you will come out with a better balance of water. Remember, ppm/tds meters aren't terribly accurate when you are trying to figure out the total ion concentration. I think they do an electrical conductivity test and compare to a reference of pure salt water.
Anyway, what I would be most concerned about at this point is this: are you feeding your RO with chlorinated water? If so, you want to have activated carbon as a prefilter for a thin film membrane unit (TFM/TFC). If you have a cellulose membrane, the carbon goes after the membrane since the chlorine keeps the cellulose membrane cleaner. ...or so I have gathered. I am no expert, just have a slightly higher than average knowledge of these things.
I still use my water here and there to make up a gallon or two on a huge batch but I am concerned about my water profile in the end and reducing sodium ions.

I love my systems at home though. I feed my ice maker with RO water and use it to water my plants (soft water will kill them). I also do all my cooking with it. Get a water analysis of your local source...you may find things like nitrate fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, chloramines, etc. These are things you really don't want in your final beer.

11amas wrote:I love my units but I feed them with softened water and (at AJ's suggestion) I have been buying my water from the water n ice store.

How does the water n ice store treat the water they sell?

I have seen a workup of the water of one of the local stores. I have been meaning to send some in from my local store. The TDS is low and they have a huge system. I am making an assumption that it works a little better than mine.