How small is too small for RO?

[Birdland Sugarbush]

I’m considering getting an RO unit. Maybe one of the Aro in a bucket models.

Currently I’m at about 40 to 45 taps all on buckets.

Is this too small for an RO? I seem to be running out of wood and energy at about midway during the season.

This seems like a good way to save time energy and Wood

Chris


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[Sugarmaker]

No right or wrong answer about what equipment to have. But I always recommend that you try to balance the whole operation so that your comfortable. Not too many taps for the rig your boiling on. Add equipment as you can afford and to allow you to process at your pace, And each of us has a comfort zone. The R.O is the work horse of the industry. I personally don't have one. Some larger runs and longer boils made me stop and consider a R.O.! Sounds like it would be a good addition to your maple equipment family!
Good luck and keep boiling.
I am still boiling raw sap and may stay that way??? Now I need to go out and round up some more wood if I am going to try to go through this next run!
Regards,
Chris

[CaptT820]

We went RO when we couldnt handle the sap volume anymore. That equation will be different for everyone. Once we started getting more sap than we could store, we went to RO. I built it with the phenomenal plans on this site for less than $500. The amount of time that it saves us makes back that money in one season or less. We went from 12 hr boils to 3-4 hour boils.

[DRoseum]

I would DEFINITELY recommend building an RO. I tap 35 trees and found it very useful. You can build one for around $200 and honestly it's the best $200 I ever spent on maple syrup equipment. Video on it is below. It uses an aquatec 8800 and filter and membranes available on Amazon. Feel free to contact me if you want any more details or help.
https://youtu.be/s106bSrcfno
https://www.sugartree.run/p/sugaring-diy.html

[bawplank]

what plans did you use?

[DRoseum]

Loosely modeled after the RO bucket, but I am an engineer so I speced out the parts and made sure pressures and flow rates were all compatible.

3/8 in and 1/4 out since cross sectional area of inlet has to equal cross sectional areas of combined outlets.

You want the membrane and filter (and housings) to match pressure (100 -110 psi of the pump) and to be able to handle flow rate of the pump.

[claystroup]

This was my first year with an RO and it was a game changer. I tapped 110 trees and have a 2 x 5 flat pan that will evaporate 15-16 gph. I bought a Next Generation RO rated at 45 gph. On some days we would get 200 gallons of sap. I would start the RO at 7am then start the evaporator at 9am after the RO had a head start. Would be done boiling around 4pm. The RO would process out 100 gallons of pure water (permeate) that I didn't have to evaporate which would save me about 6-7 hours of boiling time. it was nice to eat supper at 6pm with my wife instead of boiling till 10pm.

[Birdland Sugarbush]

That’s kind of my thought. Getting enough wood and making enough time is getting challenging. I want to keep it enjoyable! Hoping reducing the boiling time will make that difference for me.


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[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Look at the ro buckets for that size. Start there on the cheap and build up as needed like others suggested. We have a 2x6 oil evaporator and need more sap before an RO. Hoping to start adding vacuum first then maybe an ro. It’s always best to try and balance it all.

[wobbletop]

I have 20 taps and use a home made RO with 1 150gpd membrane and 1 400gpd membrane in series. It goes from about 2.6% to about 5-6% sugar.

The small operations like me also have small evaporators. I have a barrel evaporator that does about 3 gallon per hour on a good day. Without the RO it would take me at least 24 hours to boil that I do in 12 hours now.

I wouldn't think of not using it.