RO / Tap Water question

I have a MES Dolly 300 for maple. We have a sudden demand for RO water where I work to use to make hand sanitizer. The permeate flow level of my Dolly is pretty near perfect for our needs. But I don't have enough knowledge about membrane types, etc to know if this is a good idea or not.

Biggest question: It is my understanding that I don't want chlorine to touch my membranes. The water we would be treating is municipal tap water so it has chroline in it. I am thinking that if I put a carbon filter in place of the filters that I normally use, then that would protect my membranes. Can anyone confirm this?

If anyone thinks this is a terrible idea, please let me know. Appreciate the great knowledge on here!

Wonder if you called MES if they could better answer that Question 603-428-3336. I have also been told that about the chlorine.

You would need to find out if it is chlorine or chloramine (less volatile and harder to remove).

Also, a single pass through a carbon filter wouldn’t be enough to remove enough chlorine for long term use. You would need to run a couple in series and slow the flow rate down so you get a longer contact time. Some activated carbon filters are better than others, research the different types and make sure you get something suitable. It can certainly be done.


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You are right about the carbon filter. I use filtered city water for my beginning of the the year rinse/wash. I use something like this:
https://www.isopurewater.com/Water-S...hoCRUkQAvD_BwE

You can get something a lot cheaper if you shop around.

Here's the thread with the background on it. Be sure to use food grade/safe hose for potable water. Usually RV hose is good for that. I don't remember the gph, but it's slow or at least way slower than your RO. I think it's 1 gpm. You'll want to fill a tank and then RO it into another tank. I've no idea what pressure to run water through. It's not like you are squeezing sugar out.

http://mapletrader.com/community/sho...light=flush+RO

Would it make more sense to use untreated water to avoid chlorine?

If untreated water is an option, hands down it would be the better one.


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Untreated water is not an option. All we have available is town water. I just looked and it has chloramines. ****.

We have a Deionized water system here but it is expensive and it is overkill for hand sanitizer. So I thought RO would be good. Maybe I'll just call the guy that does our DI system and see if we can lease an RO unit for a few months. That's probably as long as we'll need it. Might be better to do that then to potentially screw up my maple RO.

Thanks for you input everyone!!

Maybe research membrane types and find some that can handle the chloramine. If there is such a thing and the price is reasonable it's another option.

I agree with Red Roof. Get a specific membrane for the sanitizer use, save your maple membrane for what it is intended for. Cost of doing business.