Membrane Storage Question

[lastwoodsman]

Ok did a little research and found that the chemical that is used for storage is sodium Metabisulfite.
It is used in the food industry as a preservative and also when making beer and wine.

My question is how much to use? This seems to be the same stuff that Leader sells but I can not find anywhere the amounts to use.




The place that I found that has it and will ship it is Duda Diesel, 1lb package is $7.95 and shipping is free.

Than

Thanks Dennis, I ordered a lb. Using a tablespoon a year it looks like I need to give half to Isle Harbor Maple.

[Russell Lampron]

I have a 250 deer run 1st year . for storeage
END OF YEAR CLEANING
1. Do a soap wash,
2. Do a acid wash,
3. Do a soap wash
4. Do a rinse.
5. Fill wash tank with clean water. Then add preserue to wash tank. Let recirulate for 5 min. Follow directions on jar. Store R.O. With this preserve in the membranes. Never let membrane dry out. Store in a cool dry place in summer. Do not let freeze in winter. It is best to store membranes in machine.

Then I moved it down the stair into my basement to store where heated. Never again!!! Anyone have a 250 deer run and what are you doing?

If you have a membrane storage container remove the membrane from the RO and store it in the container. If you don't have a storage container you can make one out of 4" pvc pipe and fittings to cap the ends. Put the membrane in and fill the container with the preservative solution and store the membrane in a place where it won't freeze. Drain the RO so that it won't freeze.

[Dennis H.]

Russell, I tried the 4" pvc pipe thing. The 4" will not fit???
I got a 10' length pf sch 40 pvc pipe and end fittings to make two storage vessels.
Luckily I measured before I cut but the 4" membranes will not fit into the pipe.

I had a spar SS membrane vessel end cap and tried to fit that into the end of the pipe first, no good. then to be sure I removed one of the SS vessel end caps and measured the plastic end on the membrane and they come up being about 1/8" to large in dia to fit.
Maybe it is the brand of pipe I got but I have to figure out how I am going to store them.
I read that that you should not store them in the RO as the preservative tends to eat away at the O-rings over time. Not sure if this is true just info that I dug up when searching for info on how to store the membranes.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Dennis,

Might try SDR as it is half the wall thickness of schedule 40.

[Dennis H.]

Brandon, yeah I thought about sewer and drain it was just after I got home after returning the sch 40 stuff that I got.

I would hate to have to get 6" stuff, that can be very $$$$$$.
I may look into getting a plastic tub of some sort, it would not have to be very deep just deep enough to hold enough liquid to cover the membranes and also have a tight lid.

Heck it might just be easier and in the long run cheaper to buy another set of SS vessels and just plug the openings on the ends.

[maple flats]

In pressure type pipe I didn't know there were so many different ones. I made my storage containers from 4" Charlotte Pipe, foam core. This is a "for pressure" pipe. The I glued a cap on one end and an adapter (female slip x 4" female pipe thread). The membranes have about 1/8" room to spare. I bought that pipe from Lowes. This is a SCH 40 pipe, with further identifiers PLPA 4400 and "true fit system".

[Russell Lampron]

Dennis it looks like Brandon and Dave got the pipe figured out like I did. You have to use a thin wall 4" and it works.

I don't use membrane preservative, I only use permeate and store mine in my machine. After I am done with the after season washes I do 3 warm permeate rinses and then flush out the machine with the permeate that I have left. I leave the membrane in the RO and don't drain the RO. My RO room is heated and I have a propane back up heater if we lose power for an extended period of time.

[Dennis H.]

I'll have to check around.
I had all the fittings just as you mentioned Dave. They were even from Lowe's, but I do remember seeing "not" for pressure on it.
I just can't remember the manufacturer name that was on it.
I guess later this week I will to home depot to see if they have anything different.

Like I said there was someone on here that told me they would fit and I had no reason to not to believe them. I am thinking that maybe with some cheaper pipe that the OD is correct but to keep the strength up they have to increase the wall thickness a little.

[lastwoodsman]

Or to save time and hassle, I think I saw in the CDL catalog, Roths sells one for around 80.00. Seems cheap to me.

[Moshers Maples]

Can you add glycol to the preservative mix and not worry about it freezing in an unheated room? I only heat the RO room during the season, at the end of last season I moved my RO to the basement. I was hoping to get around that this year.