Booster Pumps

[dhracer]

Hi,

I'm looking into buying a booster pump for my RO unit as the output is fairly poor and the waste/production ratio is bad. I just wanted to know if it is worth spending the extra on a self regulating pump or if I may as well just get a standard one?

Currently between:

http/www.osmotics.co.uk/ro-system-booster-pump-p-70.html?cPath=29_107 unregulated £50
http/www.osmotics.co.uk/selfregulating-booster-pump-p-185.html?cPath=29_107 regulated £75

Thanks

 

[OldMan47]

Check your water pressure before you buy that booster. Your RO is only rated for so much pressure and a typical residential water supply is already close to the limit. A booster can cause real damage. If you are not seeing the capacity advertised, join the club. My 25 GPD RO can actually produce 10 to 15 GPD on a summer day and less when the supply water temperature is low. The RO rating system is based on zero back pressure, perfect inlet temperature and perfect inlet pressure. None of those factors reflect the real world we live in. Water temperature from the supply is always far enough from perfect to reduce the flow significantly. The storage tank does present a back pressure so the capacity is further reduced and finally the supply pressure is never at the optimum point, another flow dropping factor.
If you actually know the capacity that you would routinely use, I would suggest you get an RO rated at least twice that amount or even more.

 

[dhracer]

Thanks for the reply, my RO unit has a pressure gauge built in. I have a 75GPD unit In the USA you might have good water pressure in general but here in the UK it's pretty poor - around 35psi is fairly normal and most RO units work best at at least 60psi as far as I'm aware.

 

[OldMan47]

As I started out suggesting, check the water pressure and the RO rating. If and only if you have enough room for the booster would I try it. My own water pressure is only around 45 to 50 PSI on a typical day, but if I used a booster it would be close to 90 psi and would ruin my RO which is only rated at 60 psi. Boosters here are sold with warnings about the pressure they can attain because most municipal systems provide too much to use with a booster although not enough for really good RO performance. The real use for booster in the US is for a home on a well, not one on a municipal supply system.

 

[dhracer]

My RO unit is tested to 100psi and the membrane is rated to 125 so I shouldn't be anywhere near maxing it out I'll keep an eye on the pressure anyhow but that seems like plenty of headroom to me.

I've gone for the unregulated unit as it seemed pointless going for the more expensive, larger one - hopefully it works out ok and I can actually produce more than a couple of buckets a day