Spot Free TDS Questions: Need schooling

[MDrost1]

So,

I have a GinSan Water Lovers 3600. My TDS is usually 12-15ppm. The other day I noticed it going up to 21-22ppm. I changed the 5 micron pre-filter, and put a little bit less than 1/2 cup of bleach in the holding tank. I did this because the "make water" at the holding tank hose was 13ppm and the tank water was at 22ppm. Contaminated tank?

TDS levels started to decrease after a few hours of use.

Then the next day, the plumber came over to re-dope some fittings on my water softener tanks. They were leaking. He had to shut the water off multiple times. That night, I noticed my TDS rising to 25-28ppm.

I noticed remnants pipe dope in my LW4000 rinse tank(not SFR). My question is, could the plumbers work on the main line into the water softener tanks have an adverse affect on my SFR TDS? Pipe dope, sediment etc.?? If so, what can I do to fix the issue? If not, what's going on?

As always,

Thank you!

 

[rph9168]

The chlorine in the bleach is the culprit. Cholorine damages the filter in a softener. Water into a softener should always go through a charcoal filter before it enters it to remove the chlorine.

 

[MDrost1]

The bleach was only put into the spot free rinse holding tank. Not in the water softener. The plumber upset the main line that feeds the water softener which feeds my spot free system. Sorry if I was unclear.

 

[chaz]

Did the plumber open any if the ball valves on the RO and unit? There is one valve bottom right area that is only opened to prime the unit. Once primed this valve stays closed or you will get waste water back into storage tank.

May also need to replace membrane

 

[Dan kamsickas]

When your RO did its backflush that bleach very well could have been pulled into the membranes, damaging them.

 

[2Biz]

If you don't have a fouled membrane, you could possibly have hp bay water feeding back into the sfr tank from a bad cv? This could contaminate the sfr tank.

 

[MEP001]

Yeah, don't put anything in the holding tank. If it's contaminated, it's because of a bad check valve. The Water Lover's system flushes the membrane with water from the holding tank, so it would have pulled chlorine through the membrane and ruined it.

 

[MDrost1]

Bummer. It is a 900 gallon tank. I poured less than 1/2 a cup in a full tank. I only did it because the "RO expert" I spoke to told me to. I should have checked with you guys first.

 

[MEP001]

The only reason you might want to bleach the RO tank would be if there's green algae in it, but if the RO is working it will never have algae because there's nothing for it to feed on.

 

[MDrost1]

We held at 25ppm today. I am hoping the damage is done.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[MEP001]

Just thought of something, if the water is green it's more likely tire cleaner. Had that happen once.

 

[mrfixit]

My question is, could the plumbers work on the main line into the water softener tanks have an adverse affect on my SFR TDS?

Depending on how hard your water is. If the main was left in bypass or in bypass while the RO was running.. Hard water would cause fouling if left long enough... But if they were fouling you would notice a reduction in the permeate/ output.

The problem started before anything was messed with so its unrelated, I believe, to the work he did, and it started before you put chlorine in the tank. 1/2 cup to 900g is about .009oz/g or .3ml of like 9% chlorine if you think about it.

You may want to check the chlorine level going to the membranes. Chlorine will damage them by eating away the membrane and can cause the tds to slowly rise. Check your carbon tank.

Another thing is if your pressure is too high on the membranes the ouput quality can be lower and they'll foul more. Confirm the correct pressure for your set-up or try to lower the operating pressure a little. If even to compensate for a weak membrane.

All this is barring feed back of course, as stated by mep001. If I needed to ck.. I would turn the s/f pump off, remove the bay lines and the run bays through options to see if anything comes back.

Rambled a little but hope it helps in some way.

 

[slash007]

What is an acceptable TDS range? Mine used to be lower than 10, but I had a check valve go bad and didn't find it for a while, so my sfr tank got contaminated. It is a huge tank, so I didn't drain it. This was over a year ago. I measured yesterday and it was at 41ppm. I haven't checked it in a while, so no idea if it's been getting slowly worse or staying around the same. Of course now I will check it more often, but wondering what range I can get away with.

 

[MDrost1]

I believe 50ppm is still considered spot free. I check mine every two days now.

 

[MEP001]

IMO 30 ppm is about as high as it can get before it starts leaving noticeable spots.

 

[MDrost1]

That makes sense.

 

[washnvac]

I replace my membranes when it goes above 15 ppm. I like it a 5 ppm or less really. Most of my systems are at 2 ppm.

 

[slash007]

I'll check the chlorine and if that's not an issue I will replace the membranes. They are 4.5 years old, so about due anyway. If the large SF tank was contaminated with regular hard water, how long should I expect before the TDS goes back down? Or will it never go low enough without me draining the tank and filling it with fresh?

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Don't bother draining your tank. Shut off production until it is nearly empty, then do your repairs.

 

[MEP001]

Check for chlorine in the RO reject - it's hard to detect, but it will be concentrated there. I'd recommend replacing the charcoal with new membranes. FWIW I'd recommend testing the TDS of the RO straight from the membrane and the tank on a routine basis.

Depending on the size of your tank and the amount of use it can take a while to clear out contaminated water. If it's bad enough that you see spots and you have a big tank with just SS bays drawing from it, I'd go ahead and drain it. If you have an auto with spot free it'll clear out pretty fast.