Ways To Reduce Waste With Ro Systems

[Zante]

I have found a way to reduce the waste of water when using an RO unit to almost zero. Has anyone thought of similar systems?

 

[OldMan47]

If you do not allow the waste side of your RO to waste water, you will quickly stop producing good RO water. Using that waste water is another matter. If you have tanks where high mineral content is well tolerated, you could collect your waste water and use it in those tanks. You might even have waste water suitable for things like watering plants.

 

[Zante]

What I've done is put both the inlet and the waste in the reservoir for the toilet flush.

The reservoir is automatically refilled when the water gets below a certain level, and any waste water goes back into the reservoir.

To avoid the reservoir water to become too rich in minerals I have timed the booster pump to run only when there's people in the house, so that the toilet is regularly used, and the water regularly renewed by flushing.

Needs a bit of attention for non-routine periods, like weekends out, or holidays, but it's working a treat!

If I need more RO water, then I run it out of the programmed times, and regularly flush the toilet. It is a bit of a waste in THAT case, but MUCH less than normal.

 

[OldMan47]

Any way that you make good use of waste water is always welcome. Since a typical RO wastes between 5 and 10 times as much water as it produces, any use of that waste water is very welcome.