RO shed question

[Alty78]

We are looking to expand our operations and planning on getting a 600 gph ro. Our woods are located about ten miles away from where we have our evaporator set up. We were thinking about putting a small building out by our woods to house the ro and were wondering what things we would all want to have room for in the shed and keep in mind during the building process?
Thanks guys!

[Thad Blaisdell]

All you need is room for the RO and 600+ gallons of water. If you put the water outside it may freeze. But you can put it anywhere you want. Then maybe a cabinet for the soap to wash it with.

[markct]

how big of a tank is needed with an ro? i know one local guy has a 500 gph ro and only a 65 gal tank inside his ro room, is that all thats needed? he has a bunch of sap tanks in back of the sugarhouse but maybe one of them is ro water im not sure

[collinsmapleman2012]

usually the wash tank should hold at least as much water as the ro is rated for in GPH

[tuckermtn]

clarifying collinsmaple's comment- you need a tank to store the permeate in for rinsing- sized for one hour of rinsing (i.e. 500gph RO needs a 500 gal permeate tank), but the WASH tank (where you add soap for soap wash) does not need to be very big- it recirculates through the machine. My wash tank is less than 40 gallons.

I have my permeate and raw sap tank that feed the RO outside behind my barn. They are older insulated milk bulk tanks and I have not had freezing problems with either tank.

[brookledge]

I know you probably want to save on time to haul the raw sap but I would recommend having the RO at the sugarhouse. That way you can be doing other things while the ro is running and start boiling while it is still running. I know you don't necessarily need to be watching the ro all the time but I wouldn't want to be miles away from it for along time. It's not the best for it to shut off and sit without beginning the wash cycle.
Keith

[markct]

thanks tucker! i wasnt sure how that worked! i will dedicate a tank to go behind the sugarhouse for the wash water and put a smaller tank inside for the soap wash part!

[wiam]

I know you probably want to save on time to haul the raw sap but I would recommend having the RO at the sugarhouse. That way you can be doing other things while the ro is running and start boiling while it is still running. I know you don't necessarily need to be watching the ro all the time but I wouldn't want to be miles away from it for along time. It's not the best for it to shut off and sit without beginning the wash cycle.
Keith

Ditto

When concentrating is done do you want to go back and spend at least a couple of hrs waiting for it to wash? Last year mine was 300' away from sugarhouse in the barn. This year it was 30 feet away in a shed built into the ground. Much easier to watch/check on washing/rinsing/ro-ing. And when boiling is done ro is done.

William

[tuckermtn]

I would also be concerned about transporting concentrate. Just a hunch you would get some degredation in quality if you trucked 10% ten miles.

RO at the sugarhouse gets my vote. Like wiam, I had my RO 200+ feel away in my barn the last two seasons. Next year, my barn becomes my sugarhouse and RO will be 12-15 feet away from the evaporator.