Manual, Counter-top RO Systems

[Ray]

As many of you know, watering orchids with pure water is a major step forward in most folks' culture. I've been distributing standard residential RO systems, and custom-building systems to individuals' needs (greater capacity, lower waste, etc.) for close to a decade.

I was recently approached by a small-scale grower who routinely purchased jugs of RO water from their local drug store, but was tired of lugging them home every week, and asked to devise a simple system that could be connected to the water supply, used to fill jugs with pure water, then put away again. After talking with my wholesale supplier, I was able to come up with a pretty good version, which I am now stocking:

It is not intended for drinking water.

 

[gonewild]

It is not intended for drinking water.

Is there a reason for this or just a liability disclaimer?

 

[Chicago Chad]

Ray- I currently purchase about 10-11 gallons of distilled water per week for my orchids. This is a huge pain, because I do not have a car right now and I max out at carrying four gallons on public transit.

This would be excellent for me. I have looked into other systems, but they will not fit under the sink with other crap down there. Plus, it is easy for me to put off the cost of an RO for $300, including installation, when I spend $40 a month on water.

Do you have prices set? I have not checked your site yet.
Thanks.

 

[bullsie]

Perfect for me! Good price for a compact counter top ro system. Definitely number one on my purchasing list!

 

[couscous74]

When I lived in an apartment a few years back, I used a countertop system. Worked great. Water was great for plants, and for drinking/cooking. Only downside is it's kind of slow if you want to fill up a jug.
The vendor I got it from sells it with a 2 gallon refrigerator bottle so you can store some ahead of time for use.

 

[Linus_Cello]

Is there a reason for this or just a liability disclaimer?

Any sense if the water would be ok for fish? Are a lot of the minerals (like Copper) taken out, so this would be ok for inverts?

 

[Ray]

Lance - Pure water tastes like crap. I do have "mineralizer" cartridges that pass the water through calcite, which improves the taste.

Chad - $125

Marcus - Yep - 1/2 cup per minute is anything but a "gusher". Fortunately, by using a low-pressure membrane, unless you water pressure is REALLY low, you will get most, if not all of that rated capacity (there are always some pressure losses as the water goes through the lines and filters before the membrane). By contrast, a standard-pressure membrane is only going to put out about 25% of its capacity at that pressure.

Linus - I cannot guarantee the applicability, but don't see why not, although you'd need to add whatever "electrolytes" the critters need, of course.

 

[abax]

Ray, you are a wonder! How do you have time to do all the things you do????????

 

[Ray]

I really don't, Angela.

While I was "retired", First Rays became a full-time job. Then last October, the old company hired me back on contract as a purchasing manager, so I now have two full-time jobs - one with a 100-mile commute.

AND...I'm changing web server shortly, so I've got to find a way to do all of the configuration stuff on top of it all over the next few days.

 

[SlipperFan]

Good luck, Ray!

 

[abax]

Ray, I'll trade with you (minus the commute)...you come work in the nursery fields for a vacation and I'll mess up whatever you're doing twice.
I'm gonna have to quit whining about the nursery fields after hearing your
schedule.