Such a great point about being the user's choice to 'waste' it.

Spot on explanation. I don’t live in a metered property so I think my water costs are less than the ones you stated. Also a point to consider is that here in the uk all our waste water is recycled, cleaned, treated and put back into the system so the ecological argument is doubtful. Cheers it’s helped me produce some fantastic beers over the last 3 years and hopefully many more to come.

@DaftCatBrewing

4 жыл бұрын

A very good point about the recycling of waste water.

Like most people the main reason I decided to go with RO water was to start my beers off with a blank water profile and then add the salts I needed to build a water profile for the beer I'm brewing. Another reason was also that this is a fun hobby for me and having that control over my water is also fun. If I just wanted beer and didn't enjoy the brewing process I'd just buy beer at the store. :D I just got my RO system delivered today via Amazon, it was only $50 (US) which was a really small investment. I priced how much it would cost to buy 7 or 8 gallons of distilled water from the story and that would be about $8-$10 each time I brewed. That's not considering the time and cost of driving to the story each time I brewed. Plus, I'm too lazy to go to the store each time I want to brew. :D It seems like a very small up front expense which will pay for itself rather quickly so why not brew with the best possible water that I can?

I've had the same "argument" with those that say the same about immersion chillers. They cost pennies to cool a batch and then you can still use the warm water you collect to wash up with... 🤷‍♂️

Very good article I’ve made and used RO water for several years for brewing worth every penny buying a system madness going out to purchase it I use all the waste water on the garden no problem

Excellent informative video, some very interesting points made. I've never calculated the amount of water 'wasted' or the cost of brewing water, so good to hear it's a very small amount. Cheers

A very interesting take, I'll be having another look at an RO system on the back of this.

Some very interesting points. I didn't know much about these systems bit now I do, thanks for the video

We just put the hose outside and it dripps into the garden. I don't know if I should UT it back in to the well.

So glad you made this vid, the ‘waste’ argument never convinced me. I’ve recently purchased an RO filter and I’m so glad I did. I feed the waste tube straight into the rainwater collector which is used in the garden.Also my pale ales have gone up a notch. You suggested RO water isn’t good for drinking, could you expand on this? I haven’t heard this before. Stay safe.🍺🍺

@DaftCatBrewing

4 жыл бұрын

Whilst I've not done a study of any papers on the matter, there are a lot of article and posts suggesting drinking water totally devoid of minerals may not be the best for you, however how accurate that is and how much research went into those articles, I do not know.

Top video again. As you said I always wash up with the left over and do the flowers. Cheers

@DaftCatBrewing

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks :)

I'm hankering to get me on the RO soon...nice video Sarah!

Just curious, but what are you using RO for? Also, just a bit of a funny thing. Those of us who detail cars, spend loads of money on RO+DI systems to get 0PPM water. Would be quite the thing to usd 500-600 PPM water for that. Wash a car with that, and it will be a nightmare to clean and dry after.

@DaftCatBrewing

Жыл бұрын

I use it for brewing beer as it allows me to change the mineral profile to match whatever style of beer I'm brewing.

Thanks Sarah your talking sense again.

I've been considering getting a RO filter for my sensitive plants and coffee machine. I found this video very helpful and it reminded me that in my city, all the waste water is collected and refiltered before going back out to the homes so even if I let mine go down the drain I'm still not wasting any. My question is, and I'm sorry if I missed it, did you factor the system maintenance into the cost of use? Meaning replacing the bladder and filter cartridges? Also, how fast does your system filter? Can you provide the name of your system again please? I'd like to consider it as an option for my own system. Thanks for the content!!

@DaftCatBrewing

2 жыл бұрын

Hi there, It's hard to factor that cost in as how frequently you need to replace filters is mainly dependant on how much you use it. If you are producing lots of water you will need to replace the filters more frequently due to volume, if you are producing less you will have to replace them due to a suggested time limit. Mine is an unbranded 4 stage pumped system with a 150GPD membrane

Another good video Sarah and one that has certainly now got me interested in an RO system. Have you ever done a video on additions needed in RO water for a beer, I know it depends on the beer style but would good to see what we need to consider adding back into the water.

@DaftCatBrewing

4 жыл бұрын

Hi Dan, thanks. No I haven't done anything like that. I've left that to other folks who are far more knowledgable on the topic than me. Tony Yates has some great videos on the topic

@MalvernDan

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks Sarah, will look him up.

Tell them girl! Yes some of the bottled water from huge brand names can be worse that you make! We use so little water overall that our r/o backwash goes into the drain. I was going to use it to fill the cistern of the loo but since flushing might create aerosols the only use I can see is to give it to the garden. Membranes are so cheap nowadays. I have 2 cases just to be able to have redundancy. But now we need magnesium supplements the only mineral that is pretty much essential.

Thanks Sarah. I'm just waiting for my "carbon block" pre-filter elements to arrive to commission my aliexpress version. Have you ordered any membranes/filter elements from aliexpress? If so have they been satisfactory? I have a very slight baseless cynical concern that the far east TDS meter manufacturers are in cahoots with the membrane manufacturers. Can't wait to be done with crappy midlands crazy hard water.

@DaftCatBrewing

4 жыл бұрын

Hi there, I haven't bought from them directly, although it is highly likely that the original source used by companies that I have bought from is the same as those on AliExpress.

To be honest, There is a NUMBER of configurations in these systems. The good ones can use a combination of multiple membranes and also a "CONCENTRATE RECYCLE" circuit. Most of the time, a person can approach this with 1 membrane generates concentrate water and it sends it to the INLET port of the NEXT membrane vessel and a considerable reduction of waste will occur.

@DaftCatBrewing

3 жыл бұрын

Mine uses a single membrane.

What membrane do you use? I have RO system for 15 year now, and I never saw 1:1. For me is 3:1, and I always use DOW membrane 75 gpd. I think that your system have bad membrane, and that is why you get 1:1. I have 3.5 bar pressure and get about 1 liter per 5 min. and about 3 liter of waste. I use BW60-1812-75. If I lower the pressure I got better ratio, but with higher EC.

@DaftCatBrewing

3 жыл бұрын

I use a 150gpd membrane which is not bad. Pumped systems tend to get a much better ratio using high pressure than unpumped ones which use lower pressure.

Don’t forget the plastic jugs !!

How much water gets flushed down the toilet? How much water goes down the drain while washing your hands, washing dishes, or taking a shower? Why is it a problem to have some water go down the drain to clean the water you put in your body?

@DaftCatBrewing

3 жыл бұрын

Unfortunately many folk suddenly only start to worry about it when RO systems are mentioned and forget about everything else that uses water

yes they waste lots and lots of water!!

@DaftCatBrewing

2 жыл бұрын

It's very obvious when commenters haven't bothered to watch before proudly proclaiming their ignorance in the comments.

Can I ask which RO system you would recommend for maximum efficiency (minimal ‘waste’ water). Thanks!

@DaftCatBrewing

3 жыл бұрын

I only have experience with a couple of systems and so far, the one in the thumbnail which is a no name one has been best for me.

@sko1beer

3 жыл бұрын

Hi all RO are similar it’s down to what RO membrane you use some do 1-1 some membranes I have seen are 1-2 but when the filter is dirty it will be less efficient. I’m not a brewer I use it on my fish tanks 👍

Am just wondering what do you use for drinking? If its not good to use the RO water

@DaftCatBrewing

4 жыл бұрын

Normal tap water

@tizben

3 жыл бұрын

Then what is ro water for?

Busted I'd say

5:30 At the 600ml level of the clean you have 1500ml waste which is more than double the amount, that's more than 2:1 waste:clean. Am I missing something? It's not about the cost it's about wasting resources. All that "waste" water has been collected and treated at the water treatment plant, then pumped down pipes, at great expense.

@DaftCatBrewing

2 жыл бұрын

At 3:59 I had emptied a litre of clean water out of the full 1 litre flask, so that was actually 1600 ml of clean water not 600ml

@michaelbirchall2247

2 жыл бұрын

@@DaftCatBrewing My apologies, that's what I missed!

Nice video Sarah. Looking and sounding good, these new purchases you have made making your videos look very professional!

@DaftCatBrewing

4 жыл бұрын

It's been keeping me out of trouble during lockdown :)

@rhysd8262

4 жыл бұрын

@@DaftCatBrewing Even though I did a last min order with The Malt Miller before lockdown, I have not done any homebrewing since Jan. Party busy on the house, partly feeling out of sorts and happy to be buying my beer from Pop n Hops or a couple of direct brewery orders. I have a few recipes in mind though, that I will get to soon enough.

@DaftCatBrewing

4 жыл бұрын

@@rhysd8262 Hope you start to feel more like yourself soon. I did the Vienna lager and the Harlequin pale. in the past couple of months and I think I only brewed 3 or 4 times all last year so things are picking back up again slowly here. I think it lost some of that excitement for me that it used to have in the early days so getting to try new things like new hop varieties etc has helped pick that back up again

@rhysd8262

4 жыл бұрын

Daft Cat Brewing I have some Mystic I mean to do a pale with. Glad you liked the Harlequin- I didn’t like the beer Deya did with that, so glad it’s got potential

@DaftCatBrewing

4 жыл бұрын

@@rhysd8262 Cool :) I've got the stuff for a mystic pale here as well

Is the TDS of the waste water lower than the source water (tap)? I wanted a lower TDS for my hydroponics system

@DaftCatBrewing

2 жыл бұрын

Yes. I get 0 TDS out of my system and varies between 180 - 360 going into the system depending on time of year

You said you don't recommend pure RO water for drinking, how do you drink it?

@DaftCatBrewing

3 жыл бұрын

I drink normal tap water and only use the RO system for brewing

Do you use a DI/ Ion exchange post filter in your setup Sarah?

@DaftCatBrewing

4 жыл бұрын

Yes, the final stage (in the clear filter cartridge) is a DI resin stage. It isn't necessary for brewing, but it does mean I end up with 0 TDS on the output and it was what came with the original system.

So yeah it does waste a shit ton of water. You did no explanation as to it not... Just a justification. Good points to it though. I appreciate your insight

@DaftCatBrewing

3 жыл бұрын

I can see you must have misinterpreted what I said. Users may choose to waste water but the system itself doesn't waste any. It also doesn't use a shit ton of water at all, in this case it uses 1 litre of flush water for every 1 litre produced which is far less than the 10+ litres BS many folk keep spouting that it uses to produce a single litre of RO water. If you watched this and your take away was that it uses a shit ton of water than I suggest you watch it again but actually bother to watch it this time round.

Mine is definitely broke or something

For a homebrewer maybe the "flush" water is not wasted but for anyone else, it is wasted water....period. I can't cook with it....I can't use it in the garden. Wasted water.

@DaftCatBrewing

3 жыл бұрын

Anyone else can still use it in other ways unless they choose to waste it. Do you never clean? Do you never wash?

Your jars should be the same size to make more sense in my mind

@DaftCatBrewing

3 жыл бұрын

Going out and buying new matching flasks just for the video instead of using what was already here, would have certainly been wasteful

Yes... I can see that in your video that it appears to be a 1 to 1 ratio of RO vs waste water. However, your experiment is flawed. He's why. You have the water draining into open beakers. In an RO system the water goes into a holding tank. This holding tank has pressure inside it. This pressure serves the purpose of forcing the water up to your tap for on demand use. Open beakers have only atmospheric pressure applied to them, a very big difference from the average of around 15 to 20 lbs in an RO tank. That tank pressure is what causes the added waste in water usage. This waste is greatly increased as the tank gets to its maximum fill capacity. Try starting with an empty tank and measure the waste water you get when it fills. You will see a much greater volume of unused waste water. You can also try starting with a full tank drain out a measured amount of water say to fill a kettle. Then see how much is wasted to replenish that same amount of water. Your other comments regarding what you do with the unused water are great and can reduce the wasted water.

@DaftCatBrewing

3 жыл бұрын

If this was a home building channel then your assumptions may have some merit, however, in home brewing we don't use pressurised holding tanks at all. Secondly even if we did, the pressure supplied by the pump in this system far exceeds any internal pressure that would be in that tank, but thanks for your comment.

@codeinehq

2 жыл бұрын

Interesting... I had one for drinking and my water bill increased 100%. The quality was amazing but the costs was way too high.. I still have it but don't use it.. I'm currently exploring a new system or do I need to as I have a system albeit unused? I'm totally lost as to where to look as the market is saturated.. I've even been checking the virgin pure one. I'm thinking to reinstall my RO outside. I'm wondering if I can turn it on for a while, fill up lots of bottles and turning it off. Any feedback would be appreciated

Such a pain hearing u explain so slow

@DaftCatBrewing

3 жыл бұрын

Not rushing and making sure you don't speak too fast is one of the core tenets of public presentation. You may like every one to rush through stuff, but that doesn't help folk understand and absorb what you are presenting. Instead it ensures they miss the point of the presentation and only focus on the speed of delivery.