RO & Water Softener

[9supratt4]

I know I asked this many many years ago when I first started, but I don't remember the answer.

Should an RO Unit be setup before or after a water softener?

I'm thinking after as the resin in the softener takes out most of the heavy metals and contaminants and then the RO will do the rest for nice pure water.....

Opinions and suggestions are appreciated!

 

[myrjon]

good question . i have my ro-di after a whole house filter . seems to work well @ 0 tds

 

[downbeach]

After

 

[redfishbluefish]

+1...after....your membrane will thank you!

 

[Hawkeye]

AFTER! also total highjack - i took that def. driving course online - interestingly they insert random facts in there to make sure you are actually reading it LOL.

 

[9supratt4]

Thanks everyone....that's what I thought.

AFTER! also total highjack - i took that def. driving course online - interestingly they insert random facts in there to make sure you are actually reading it LOL.

They sure do! Haha

 

[trivan]

I'll be the odd one out. Before. I had it after and I was constant added salt to my softener. I'd rather replace the membrane once every 6 months or so then adding salt every 2 weeks.

 

[Ocelaris]

After, salt's cheap! Membranes and resin are expensive! I believe it also hurts your rejection rate over the long run, so what you spend in salt you'll be paying for extra water down the drain.

 

[Ls2Goat]

I'll be the odd one out. Before. I had it after and I was constant added salt to my softener. I'd rather replace the membrane once every 6 months or so then adding salt every 2 weeks.

The rodi should have Zero affect on your salt consumption, the salt only gets used to wash the Softner and that should only be done at X-amount of gallons used or a set time. Added bonus the rodi only filters out the tiny bit of sodium in the water being passed directly through the unit.

So unless you are using hundreds of gallons of rodi a week it won't make a difference!

With that being said my Whole home Softner has a sediment filter and large canister of carbon so it basically turns my 5 stage unit into a 5 stage unit.
Before the Softner my sediment filters needed changed ever 4 months on the dot, now they last 8-8 months before becoming noticeable dirty. My carbon blocks also last significantly longer.

 

[trivan]

the salt only gets used to wash the Softner and that should only be done at X-amount of gallons used or a set time. .

That is exactly my point, my softener recharges after x amount of gallons, I made about 60 gallons a week when I was really aggressive on water changes eg algae, so assuming a 2:1 ratio, that is 120 gallons going through the softener which accelerates the recharge rate.

As I said, I know I'd be the odd one out and to me its not about the cost of the filter (I haven't done the detail breakdown), its the having to carry the salt from the garage to the softener every 2 weeks verse every 4 weeks. Which was my general timing give or take a few days. Just call me lazy....

Btw, all is really moot for me as I don't do water changes much any more since moving to the Natureef reactor.

 

[Ls2Goat]

Understandable, that seems kinda low for your cycle.

My softener is set at 2000g for the wash period, I never noticed an increase in usage.
I do open the bypass valves when I run the water sprinklers though!