DIY CO2 Degassing

[JetJumper]

Anyone here on a well and go through DI resin extremely fast?  If so you might want to tag a long for this one.

Went to Home Depot today and picked up some parts to make a DIY degassing "filter" to go between my RO and DI.  I will have some pictures up shortly. 

[RossW]

Tagging... TDS into my sediment filter is 520'sh and out of RO at about 8-13.

[JetJumper]

Quick history run down.

Currently I have 2 DI canisters on my RODI unit.  Out of these 2 DI's I probably get about 200gallons of water made before it starts to climb from 0 TDS to 1-2 and then quickly up from there.  My TDS coming into the RODI unit is roughly the same.  450-550 depending on the time of year and whats going on with the wells.

Almonte is on well water and from lots of reading around several sites well water can be high in CO2.  CO2 decreases the PH of your tap water and will cause the DI resin to deplete rather quickly.  Like I said, 2 canisters of DI takes about 200g's then is done.  Very unacceptable in my opinion.

Further research showed a simple way to add in a Degassing chamber to the RO/Degassing/DI mix.  I will run my RO into PVC pipe setup that is very simple.  Its actually almost built, just need to cut a few holes here and there.

As the RO goes into this chamber, it will have an airstone to aerate the water and then proceed to a holding tank.  From this holding tank there will be a pump to pump water through the DI and into a 55G holding tank.  From there I can take all the water I need at 0 TDS.

The interesting parts will be getting this setup so its automated with out flooding the floor.  Stay tuned for more.

[RossW]

What is your TDS coming out of your RO?

BRS once told me that a DI resin canister should last approx. 5000 TDS gallons.  Thus, for me with my TDS coming out of my RO at 8-13, my TDS should last approx. 5000/8 to 5000/13 gallons => 625g to 384g.

I have never measured but this seems about what I am getting.

I run my resin till I get a solid 2 TDS coming out of my DI.

Ross

[JetJumper]

Coming out of the RO is around 4-5

There is a calculator to find out how much CO2 is using up as well.
http://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/CO2DIDepletion.php

[RossW]

Very interesting calculator... I would need to do some readings though.

What did your estimated loss to CO2 come out at?

[JetJumper]

I have not done the calculations as of yet.  I did an experiment however.  I took the DI once it was producing a TDS of 2 out of the container and let it dry out in a bucket.  After about a week the DI reverted back to a coloured state and has a charge to it still indicating that its not completely used up.  I got some DI from someone else that was depleted and I did the same thing. It did not revert back to a coloured state and stayed that nasty golden brown colour. 

[JetJumper]

Well, I think I finally got the system up and running.  Although its not pretty, so far its functional.  It does take a bit longer to get to 0 TDS, however it will save lots in DI costs!

And for the pictures.

4" PVC Pipe into a U Channel.  The water from the RO will flow into one side of the U channel passing past an air curtain.  It will then flow out the other side into a 55G barrel.




The U Channel sits in the barrel nicely.  There is a pump inside the barrel that cycles the water through an DI Filter.  Takes a little bit to get to 0, but it does get there.  Now to see how long a canister lasts for.  Hopefully longer then 200g.  haha!

[JetJumper]

I just wanted to post an update on this since I have been running it for a while now.

So far I have made a good 250 Gallons of water with this method and thus far I am still on the first DI canister where as before I would have made 200g MAX before I had to replace it with a TDS of 2.  The TDS is 0 still at the 250g mark.

Also, the DI I am using was actually dried out as I kept all the DI I was burning through before.  Upon drying out it reverted back to a charged resin because the gases I presume finally leeched out.

So far I call this a success to beat the Almonte water battle!

[brotherluv]

Crazy set up...

[JetJumper]

I have made over 8 barrels of 0 TDS

[brotherluv]

Seems to have already almost paid for itself!  Great work!