Anyone have pictures of their dual 4" 40 post RO setups?

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Im trying to start planning an upgrade to my RO for next season and want to add a 2nd membrane housing to run them in series.

Currently from my ProCon pump to the bottom of the 1st vessel is a steel braided hose. At the top of my vessel I have 1 hose for concentrate and a 2nd for my permeate, I assume I will need to take that concentrate hose and plumb it to the bottom of my new 2nd membrane housing. I will put my pressure gauge and needle valve on to the 2nd housing. Would I need to use steel braided hose to go from my port on the 1st vessel to the bottom of the 2nd or would Nylon braided hose be ok and handle that pressure? I was told my Procon will have no problem running 2 membranes, but I just dont know about the pressure impact on those new connections and what I should be using for materials.

Thanks in advance!
-Scott

[Mead Maple]

Scott,
I do not know enough about RO and they’re running pressure to answer this but I would recommend matching everything based on manufacturers recommended PSI ratings. Or in this case, have your hoses exceed your Procon pumps ability so you know leaks and bursts from those parts will not be an issue.

I appreciate you posting this, I am planning a home built RO using either a single post or 2 post 4”x40” over the summer for next so I’m trying to take in all the information I can about those who have already done so!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MT Pockets Producer]

2002120022

I’m not sure what pressure you run at but we run anywhere from 180 to 200 psi. We use the clear braided 1/2 inch hose and have not had any issues after 3 seasons. We have run it up to 250 to see what would happen and there were no issues. The brand is Souix Chief that is carried by Home Depot and it is rated for 200 psi at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The burst pressure is about 3 times higher than that. Just be sure to check the specs on whatever brand you choose as they are not all the same. We use the Kynar fittings sold by US Plastics suggested by others on here. They are rated for 250 psi. Ours is plumbed as you described. Concentrate from first membrane into feed port of second and concentrate from second to needle valve. We used a y to join our permeates before the flow meter but some use seperate flow meters for each membrane.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Thanks MT....I have my plan in place, just will start working on it once I finish all my cleanup and storage from this season.

I'll post pictures as I get going.

[Mead Maple]

Thanks MT....I have my plan in place, just will start working on it once I finish all my cleanup and storage from this season.

I'll post pictures as I get going.

Look forward to seeing this NH. I will get mine going over the summer once I have some spending g change coming in. Trying to greatly reduce my boil time and fuel consumption as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cjf12]

What is your procon pump that you are using?

[maple flats]

When plumbing 2 housings the high pressure hose from the top of #1 can just loop over to #2 and go in the top. Then from the bottom of #2, go up to the main needle valve and flow meter. The HP gauge goes in ahead of the needle valve, the flow meter goes after it. Just a reminder, the HP hose connects at the outer fitting on the housings, the permeate connects to the center fitting. No need for HP hose on the permeate, it should always be open discharge.

[Mead Maple]

Great info Flats. One thing I picked up quickly is that the larger RO setups are a larger scale version of the little homemade rigs. At least from a homemade standpoint. Adding an HP pump is one of the few differences minus the gauges and meters


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

I have a Series 4 pump



What is your procon pump that you are using?

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Great info Flats. One thing I picked up quickly is that the larger RO setups are a larger scale version of the little homemade rigs. At least from a homemade standpoint. Adding an HP pump is one of the few differences minus the gauges and meters


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

True except the commercially made units sometimes have a re-circulation pump to keep fluid moving across the membrane while under pressure. It's a feature I wish I had. But, I do have a recirculation line with its own needle valve that goes back to the procon. It makes a big difference and it's easier to set up your flows. So, you'd have your concentrate coming out of the second membrane and tee'ing to a concentrate needle valve, then to the flow meter. Then the other side goes to a needle valve and from there to a tee into your Procon feed.

The re-circ needle pretty much controls the system pressure and the concentrate needle does fine adjustment on your concentrate flow. On mine I have to crank down both to get close to my desired flows and then make fine adjustments. Definitely worth the few extra bucks.

[Mead Maple]

True except the commercially made units sometimes have a re-circulation pump to keep fluid moving across the membrane while under pressure. It's a feature I wish I had. But, I do have a recirculation line with its own needle valve that goes back to the procon. It makes a big difference and it's easier to set up your flows. So, you'd have your concentrate coming out of the second membrane and tee'ing to a concentrate needle valve, then to the flow meter. Then the other side goes to a needle valve and from there to a tee into your Procon feed.

The re-circ needle pretty much controls the system pressure and the concentrate needle does fine adjustment on your concentrate flow. On mine I have to crank down both to get close to my desired flows and then make fine adjustments. Definitely worth the few extra bucks.

Oh brother. I am definitely going to ya e to read even more the before I build. Sounds pretty reasonable just takes a few times reading the info for me to grasp it well. It would seem to me you could retro something on your rig, couldn’t you Urban? May not look pretty but I would think could accomplish the same end goal?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mol1jb]

Oh brother. I am definitely going to ya e to read even more the before I build. Sounds pretty reasonable just takes a few times reading the info for me to grasp it well. It would seem to me you could retro something on your rig, couldn’t you Urban? May not look pretty but I would think could accomplish the same end goal?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Might be easier to look at some RO units in person. In VT I'm sure there would be plenty of suppliers or sugar makers that you could visit.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Oh brother. I am definitely going to ya e to read even more the before I build. Sounds pretty reasonable just takes a few times reading the info for me to grasp it well. It would seem to me you could retro something on your rig, couldn’t you Urban? May not look pretty but I would think could accomplish the same end goal?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It sounds more complicated than it is. You are just splitting the concentrate flow to discharge and recirculation. I am adding a membrane to mine and undecided about another pump. Easy enough to add a pump but probably not cheap.

[Mead Maple]

Might be easier to look at some RO units in person. In VT I'm sure there would be plenty of suppliers or sugar makers that you could visit.

I think you are right. I have plenty of buddies who sugar so I’ll check in with them.

So quick question on recirculating, the point is to get longer runs and better flow/performance out of your membranes to reduce flushing and such?

[Urban Sugarmaker]

So quick question on recirculating, the point is to get longer runs and better flow/performance out of your membranes to reduce flushing and such?

When you close down needle valves to increase pressure in the membrane, the flow across the membrane slows down and hence your concentrate flow decreases and permeate increases. However, the slow flow allows sugar molecules and other particles to build up faster and "plug" up the membrane. A recirculation line and/or pump increases the velocity of the flow while under pressure and allows sugar to keep tumbling along across the membrane. So the result is a lot longer concentration time before needing to clean. Better performance overall.