Quote Originally Posted by carls47807 View Post
Great info hags. Indeed, the membranes are getting worked in parallel.

It is important to remember that a 400gpd tfw membrane is only rated at 25% capacity at 32f. A 400gpd membrane should flow 100gpd of water, or .07gpm. 3 should give .21gpm. If you produce 12 gallons of water per hour that comes out to .2 gallons per minute which gives you 100% recovery.

Membrane fouling from sugar solutions has been found to be easily removed by frequent permeate rinses. It isn't ionic, and doesn't stick to the membranes very well.

The aquatec 8855 pairs well with 2 400gpd membranes (it lies somewhere between a 300 and 400gpd pump).

Carl
How would I know if my membranes are fouled?
I made a bad batch of syrup yesterday and I think possibly my RO is to blame. We had a warm spell and the trees stopped flowing sap for about 10 days. I ran the RO once during those 10 days to flush it. I thought my season was over but the sap started flowing again. Yesterday's batch went through the RO and while boiling it smelled off. It tastes weird too. I don't know how to describe it.

Today I'm boiling again except not using the RO. So far during the boil I don't smell anything funky. It seems pretty normal to me.

So....how do I clean my RO? I did notice yesterday that when I ran it, it stayed at 60psi for the first 5-10 gallons of sap. Then it went up to 100psi which is where it usually is.