# My new RO System from First Ray's



## silence882 (Jan 16, 2014)

I have finally gotten an RO system! I was tired of going out to a frozen water barrel mid-winter and my wife was tired of 15 milk jugs strewn about the kitchen/growing area.

I ordered the 5-stage residential system from First Ray's and installed it under the kitchen sink. It was much easier to install and get started than I thought it would be.

Here's the full set-up freshly unpacked:






Here's where it'll go:





The first step was to install the supply valve at the cold water source. My sink is connected to the cold water valve with a braided steel line, so I had to use a T valve rather than a self-piercing saddle valve:





Unfortunately, there wasn't enough of the 1 1/4" drain pipe exposed to connect the saddle valve for the drain. The previous owner of the house cobbled together a bizarre drain setup:





So I had to add a few components to lengthen the exposed area:





I drilled a 1/4" hole in the drain pipe and attached the saddle valve:





I installed the RO membrane in the main unit and mounted it to the side of the cabinet:





I then pre-filled the tank, closed its valve and connected all the tubing. The faucet is still under the sink until I figure out where to put it. I have granite countertops and it's not so easy to drill a hole in it:





After everything was hooked up, I opened the supply valve to pressurize the system. After the system filled for a while, I opened the faucet and let the system run until water came out of the faucet. I then opened the valve on the tank and allowed it to empty.

I let it run for a few hours until I was sure the tank was full and emptied it and discarded the water. I did this one more time to finish breaking in the system.

Then came the exciting water tests! The water coming straight out of the tap was registering 160 ppm TDS. The water out of the RO system was at 11 ppm TDS. I added a quarter teaspoon (half-strength) of the fertilizer from First Ray's and the finished product was 175 ppm TDS with a pH of 6.4.

As a bonus, the setup from First Ray's came with 3 extra sediment filters, 2 extra carbon filters, and a 2 pound tub of fertilizer. The extra filters means I have everything I need for two years of service.





--Stephen


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## abax (Jan 16, 2014)

WOOHOO! And you didn't make a big mess on the wood floors or the
bottom of the cabinet. Good job!


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## Dido (Jan 17, 2014)

Great system I work with it since over 10 years now for my fishes and so for my plants too.


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## consettbay2003 (Jan 17, 2014)

Is the third filter a deionizing one?


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## Ray (Jan 17, 2014)

consettbay2003 said:


> Is the third filter a deionizing one?



No. A 4-stage system consists of 1) sediment filter, 2) carbon filter, 3) membrane, and 4) polishing filter. A 5-stage system adds a second carbon cartridge before the membrane, and is intended for sure removal of chlorine, as that can degrade the membrane.


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## dodidoki (Jan 17, 2014)

The best way to get great water for orchids. Better than rain water! (eg. no acidic chemicals, bacteria etc.) RO water is free from any parts of diseases.


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## eteson (Jan 17, 2014)

I have been thinking for a while in installing a RO system.
I use to "waste" about 10 to 12k liters/mont of water watering my plants.
My water is about 50ppm TDS but sometimes the chlorine content is too high.
Should I use a whole RO system or using only carbon filters would be OK?
thanks in advance
Eliseo


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## tomkalina (Jan 17, 2014)

We installed one of Ray's systems about a year ago, and it's worked flawlessly. Water in is 220 ppm TDS with a pH of 7.3 and water out is < 10ppm TDS w a pH of 7.0. I'd recommend it to anyone having issues with water quality. You can have everything else perfect (humidity,light levels, temps,etc. ) but if your water quality is not good - you won't be able to maximize growth.


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## Justin (Jan 17, 2014)

Nice work! Be sure you are putting back in plenty of Magnesium and Calcium via your fert program.


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## keithrs (Jan 17, 2014)

eteson said:


> I have been thinking for a while in installing a RO system.
> I use to "waste" about 10 to 12k liters/mont of water watering my plants.
> My water is about 50ppm TDS but sometimes the chlorine content is too high.
> Should I use a whole RO system or using only carbon filters would be OK?
> ...



Carbon filters will be fine..... You can also just let the water sit in a open container for 24 hrs and the chlorine will gas off.


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## The Orchid Boy (Jan 18, 2014)

Nice! I'm seriously considering getting one.


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## Ray (Jan 18, 2014)

keithrs said:


> Carbon filters will be fine..... You can also just let the water sit in a open container for 24 hrs and the chlorine will gas off.



I agree - _UNLESS_ - the chlorine is in the form of chloramines, in which case time won't help, but activated carbon will.


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## Ray (Jan 18, 2014)

Let me thank those giving be kudos on the RO systems, but in reality, there is nothing unique about them, other than the deal I offer. The "other folks" who advertise them in the AOS _Orchids_ magazine claim to have the "lowest prices and best quality" and "lowest prices on prefilters and membranes", but don't.


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## iwillard (Jan 18, 2014)

I got "over the counter' RO system from Ray and it was the best thing I ever did for my orchids along with K-Lite and Kelpmaxx.


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## Wendy (Jan 18, 2014)

We have an r/o system that came with our new house but it uses water that has been through the softener so I can't use it for my orchids.


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## orchid527 (Jan 18, 2014)

Wendy

I don't understand your comment. My RO system uses softened water as its source. I'm getting 6 ppm water and I've been using it for 3 years with no problems. It is my understanding that sodium ions are easy to exclude with a RO membrane.

Mike


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## Wendy (Jan 19, 2014)

I actually started using it on my orchids and almost killed my little Pleurothallis grobyi before I realized that it was the water that was responsible. We also have a tap in the kitchen that bypasses the softener but isn't r/o so I use that. The plant is coming back nicely now. 

There must be something wrong with the way our system is hooked up but I have no idea what it could be. The membrane and filters were replaced prior to us moving in so I don't know what is wrong with it.


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## Ray (Jan 19, 2014)

Mike is right, Wendy. An RO system on a softened water feed should be great.

If you'd like, I can put together a brief description of how the tubing should be connected, so you can compare... Send me an email.


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## Ray (Jan 19, 2014)

I just had another thought: what fertili1zer were you using with the RO water, and did you check the pH?


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## Wendy (Jan 19, 2014)

For the first month I was using nothing for fertilizer as we had so much to unpack and I hadn't gotten to my orchid stuff yet.....so it had nothing to do with fertilizer.

I will try to get under the counter and check how it is hooked up. Will attempt photos as well and send them to you. We are finding all kinds of surprises with this home so it wouldn't surprise me that the previous owner messed things up. He was a bit strange. Our kitchen has three separate water sources at the sink....softened, raw and RO. Obviously the RO doesn't work properly. There are so many pipes etc under the sink that it will be difficult to get a good photo but I will certainly try.

LOL....the joys of fixing some one else's mistakes. :rollhappy:


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## ALToronto (Jan 19, 2014)

Wendy, you can kill orchids with just RO water simply by starving them. Tap water has at least some nutrients, so they can survive on it much longer than on RO. I wouldn't blame the system quite so quickly, but you should get a TDS or EC meter just to be sure that the RO system is doing its job.


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## Wendy (Jan 19, 2014)

ALToronto said:


> Wendy, you can kill orchids with just RO water simply by starving them. Tap water has at least some nutrients, so they can survive on it much longer than on RO. I wouldn't blame the system quite so quickly, but you should get a TDS or EC meter just to be sure that the RO system is doing its job.



Yes I know this. The damage to my pleuro happened over the course of two weeks. We moved in here September and by October it showed severe damage. Lack of fertilizer for that short a time would not have done the damage the plant suffered. The leaves on over half the plant (mounted) yellowed and fell off within a short period of time after I started using the new water.


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## papheteer (Jan 19, 2014)

Got the same set-up from Ray. It worked great. But got tired of collecting RO water!


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## Ray (Jan 20, 2014)

I don't think you'd see any nutrient deficiency in just two weeks.


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## Ozpaph (Jan 25, 2014)

thanks for the great pictures and commentary.


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## Ray (Jan 25, 2014)

Got a call from Richard Stone yesterday - he authored the "Cattleya (Sophronitis) coccinea - A Study in Sphagnum Moss TDS" article in the January AOS Orchids magazine. In the greenhouse photo on page 28, he pointed out that one of my counter-top RO units is visible on the floor next to the heater. I totally missed that when I read the article.


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