Bperry said:

Maybe I’m confused, the poster above referenced the advertised “uses 15% of the water” but actual was closer to 25%. I was assuming that means 100 gallons went in and only 25 came back out clean. If it’s the other way around then that changes things around a it.

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Newdude said:

As said above, ROs for pools lose 15% to 25% of the water. A full drain and refill loses 100% of the water.

Water can never be wasted, only relocated, but that doesn't make getting new water easy or cheap. Some are more conscious of 'doing their part' in dry areas than others.

Half the time I think I'd defiantly do as i pleased as long as golf courses, MegaLoMarts, etc, were blowing through bazillions of gallons a year. The other half of the time I think that I don't look at them in the mirror, and 2 wrongs don't make a right. It's complicated.

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Russmd said:

Thank you all so much. I’m going to work on getting some good pictures but the pipes are so convoluted (there are spa pipes involved as well) they may be difficult to interpret. To answer some of the questions above:
-yes, there is a vacuum relief valve “glug glug” on the roof.
-yes, the t-valve is the ball valve shown.
-I have 2 panel arrays on separate areas of the roof and the drain spigots are on the bottom of each.
-I think my general plumbing is similar to the diagram with the addition of the spa pipes, I’ll get specifics and pictures.

I did not know that when the solar turns off and the panels drain, some comes down the supply side as well. Both my supply and return lines have ball valves installed that can isolate them. I did some experimenting that brought all of this up. With solar turned off, I closed the ball valves on both lines, opened the panel spigots and drained them completely. When I then open only the ball valve on the return line, I get small but steady water flow out of the roof panel spigots. The supply side is still shut off by ball valve (and solar valve). Common sense tells me it has to be going up the return side but the check valve installed in that line should prevent that. That’s the check valve I replaced the guts on.

I’ll send pics. Thanks.

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Bperry said:

If you are trying to use RO to avoid wasting water, it turns out that RO is just an expensive way to waste even more water than a drain and refill.

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zmclaren said:

We are new to owning a hot tub and my son has developed a rash with the chemicals we are using. I have the concentration levels right, based on the strip testing, however am looking for suggestions on a new product that is better for people with sensitive skin. I currently use Leisure time products. Appreciate the any insight.

Thanks!

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sl7vk said:

Here is a picture taken today of the 4 tiles that have popped. last year we had more pop in different places. The grout starts white like the rest of the pool but almost immediately gets dirty from the cover. I used to try to clean it but it is futile.
The water level never gets to that point, in fact the water level is pretty stable in the winter. Utah is pretty dry, we are all told to keep the level touching vertical tiles so as to not expose the plaster, the water never freezes. This is the only place we are having problems with tiles, ditto all our friends with pools (different builders).


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JoyfulNoise said:

The low pressure taps used under kitchen sinks have very low efficiency. Typically 8:1 waste:filtered ratio. That can be improved with a permeate pump attached to the unit and probably gets it up to 3:1.

For industrial applications, you use high pressure membranes with pressurizing pumps to boost efficiency and get to about a 15% waste water fraction. But those units operate well above 150psi. Some membranes have operating points at 250psi. Typically the higher the pressure on the membrane the more efficient the RO process is but then more complex plumbing is needed which drives up cost considerably.

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