Flushing RO membrane

WhiskeyCoffee said:

Flush kits are a waste of your hard earned money. In theory they sould like they would work but in reality bypassing the flow restrictor does not provide the pressure, volume or velocity needed to scour the membrane. They also do absolutely nothing at the beginning as all they do is flush the waste side of the membrane, TDS creep resides on the treated side of the membrane so it does not help save your DI resin.

If you want something that really does something get a DI bypass valve which installs between the RO membrane and DI filter so you can flush the TDS creep out before it hits your resin and wears it out prematurely.

Most long time knowledgeable vendors don't waste your money with so called flush kits since all it does is give you a warm fuzzy feeling. There is no documented proof they do anything other than lighten your wallet.

I'm going to quote @AZDesertRat on another forum:Flush kits are a waste of your hard earned money. In theory they sould like they would work but in reality bypassing the flow restrictor does not provide the pressure, volume or velocity needed to scour the membrane. They also do absolutely nothing at the beginning as all they do is flush the waste side of the membrane, TDS creep resides on the treated side of the membrane so it does not help save your DI resin.If you want something that really does something get a DI bypass valve which installs between the RO membrane and DI filter so you can flush the TDS creep out before it hits your resin and wears it out prematurely.Most long time knowledgeable vendors don't waste your money with so called flush kits since all it does is give you a warm fuzzy feeling. There is no documented proof they do anything other than lighten your wallet.

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With the 20% recovery rate most of us are running on our ROs, you have great cross flow across your membrane that will more than likely keep everything from attaching. A flush kit shouldn't be more than $10( a valve, small section of tubing, and 2 tees.) With a flush kit, your going to allow more water to pass through the element(compared to normal operation) which will create more velocity and "hopefully" pull some more things up. I can only speak from experience and knowledge. I would have to run an antiscalant balance to tell you for sure if a flush kit is worth it for you. The only time you will have TDS creep is when first starting up the RO after it has sat, so a DI bypass valve would work fine and recommended. I have a drinking water tap before my DI that i flush with before pushing it through my DI resin. So yeah you are paying for a fuzzy feeling, but from my experience, it was money well spent for me and only cost a few bucks. Up to you, but i would make my final decision on, what kind of tap water you have and make sure your pre-treatment is up to spec and in good working order.

With the 20% recovery rate most of us are running on our ROs, you have great cross flow across your membrane that will more than likely keep everything from attaching. A flush kit shouldn't be more than $10( a valve, small section of tubing, and 2 tees.) With a flush kit, your going to allow more water to pass through the element(compared to normal operation) which will create more velocity and "hopefully" pull some more things up. I can only speak from experience and knowledge. I would have to run an antiscalant balance to tell you for sure if a flush kit is worth it for you. The only time you will have TDS creep is when first starting up the RO after it has sat, so a DI bypass valve would work fine and recommended. I have a drinking water tap before my DI that i flush with before pushing it through my DI resin. So yeah you are paying for a fuzzy feeling, but from my experience, it was money well spent for me and only cost a few bucks. Up to you, but i would make my final decision on, what kind of tap water you have and make sure your pre-treatment is up to spec and in good working order.