Rodi pressure question

[fishfry]

Ok so my rodi is barely producing water recently. I check my water pressure and its only at about 20psi (not nearly enough I know). Im not sure what has changed with the water in my house but shower sink etc seem to be fine. I was thinking about installing a self piercing saddle valve near the water source in the basement in hopes of finding the pressure there was better. (not sure if that would work though) I also was thinking about just getting a booster pump to increase output. Any thoughts, suggestions? Is there somthing I'm missing? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Ken

 

[PSU4ME]

I live in west rox and have seen a drop in water pressure as well. Not sure if something is going on but it is interesting that you're close in location.

 

[fishfry]

That is interesting. As I mentioned I used to make rodi with no problem. I dont know what my psi reading was before but i never needed to check. I gave my rodi unit the once over and everything looks ok. I'll keep you posted if I find some resolve.

 

[CaptainHook]

Where are you checking you water pressure? Maybe your filters need to be replaced.

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Assuming you have a brand name RODI system, the pressure gauge should be installed after the prefilters ("prefilters" = all the filters that touch the water before it reaches the RO membrane). The most common cause of reduced pressure is clogged prefilters.

If your prefilters are not clogged, and you just have low pressure in your plumbing (you would sure notice 20 psi when you opened a faucet), and you are going to make a new tap into your plumbing, I'd encourage you to think of a different approch rather than the self-piercing saddle. Is that what you're using now? If so, that may be the problem.

You should not feed a booster pump from a self-piercing saddle.

You'll be amazed at the difference going from 20 psi to ~80 psi makes in the system performance.

Russ

 

[PSU4ME]

I just got a call from BWSC today and they said they readings on my meter are weird and they want to replace it.........might want to check with them to make sure something is not going on before you start looking elsewhere.

 

[Mike A]

Bumping this up, I am having the same issue.

Up until the past month, the water pressure guage on my filter read 60+ and I
was able to fill my 55 gallon reservoir in about 8-12 hours with a 90gpd ro filter.
The guage is now reading a little over 40, the filter has all new filters, but I
seem to be wasting a lot of water.

The city DPW flushed the water pipes in my town over the last two months, wonder
if that had an effect.

Is anyone else experiencing water pressure issues in the Melrose area ??

 

[delta]

if you are using a saddle valve trying closing it and reopening it/ close it run water on the faucet them open it again.

 

[Mike A]

Water source for the ro/di filter is a spigot installed right above the filter.
I havent noticed a drop in water pressure throughout the house, only on the filter.

 

[Cherokee_Dude]

It was a clogged pre-filter cartridge. If it was making water before that could very well be the problem.

 

[Mike A]

Thanks for the replies.
I thought it was a clogged sediment filter, but replaced both the sediment and
carbon cartridges yesterday, didnt resolve the issue.
The membrane and flow restrictor are several weeks old.
Might be time to call the city.

 

[fishfry]

Mine was a clogged prefilter cartridge. Like new now.

 

[Mike A]

It was a faulty ball valve on the backflush side.
It wasnt closing all the way allowing water to bypass the flow restrictor.
Replaced it.

Back to normal now

 

[joelg]

For you guys using the saddle valves you may want to replace them with a proper valve
if I remember correctly they are not allowed in mass by code so if you have a leak related to one
you insurance co may not pay the claim if the leak is bad enough to have to call them

 

[Buckeye Hydro]

Yes - those self-piercing saddles are one of my least favorite pieces of hardware. There are amny better options available.

Russ