Thanks! I looked all over trying to find data on POU vs. POE filtration and if CDC/NSF had a list of dos/don’ts related to it but nearly every link ended at a sales pitch for some filtration system. Do you know if the chloramines still left in the water (post carbon filter) provide any anti-microbial benefit? How do people with wells keep their water safe for use? Is it typical to put POU filtration on every faucet and shower head?
That looks great Joe Beer! As far as legionella goes Isn’t too low of a hot water heater temp the concern? Will 140 degree tank temp not kill it?
If you are concerned about bacteria growth in the plumbing after a carbon filter perhaps plumbing in a bypass would allow you to occasionally fill the plumbing with chlorinated water? Though at typical residual disinfection levels of municipal water that may not be high enough to sanitize plumbing with any biofilm growth in it.
Since the flow rate past the typical carbon unit isn’t low enough to remove chloramines, there probably is some residual remaining. It MIGHT provide some benefit, but the killing power of chloramine is substantially lower than chlorine.
People on well water are at risk for that sort of contamination too. Thankfully, its pretty rare in all cases…but still possible. I just wanted our readers to know that there are risks for removing your disinfectant residual. I’m curious why you’re interested in removing that residual? I find that it’s definitely not a problem in the shower, but I can smell my chlorine residual when I draw water from an aerated tap. It goes away pretty quickly with a puff of breath across my glass.
Ok hmm… I see your point. I could replace the carbon filter with another sediment filter I suppose. Or, remove it all together. Sharkbite fittings are nice that way.
Do you know if the length of run of plumbing makes a difference as far as risk goes with non chlorinated water? In other words, is a point-of-use carbon filtrater any better? These usually have several feet of tubing post-filter. More if going to the fridge for the ice maker. Maybe stuff doesn’t grow as easily there?
The lack of chlorine in the water is preferred by the longer haired residents of the house. Both scalp, and hair are less dry and brittle. The carbon filtered water just tastes better too. Honestly, it just seemed like an easy fix to get all the water in the house tasting better while also making it simple to run non-chlorinated + softened water through the RO membrane for brewing.
Thanks! I would guess without any chlorine, anything less than boiling for a given amount of time would be a “no” on that but I’m no where near as experienced as Martin in this. Even pastuerizing temps are not effective for removing legionella so it’s one of those things you don’t even want to get started. Like wild violets in your lawn.
I thought about a bypass to “flush” things monthly but then what is the metric to know this was effective? Also, depending where/how you tee bypass, there’s still going to be a length of plumbing just past the filter (up to the tee) which never gets flushed. So, the more I think about it, it’s probably best to just buy a couple POU under the sink filters and change the media every so often.
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Ok, I have been running into issues more and more with my grocery and the Walmart across the street from it. I prefer distilled and can usually count on purified (RO) but they have been an unreliable source lately. So… I decided to assemble an RO system.
I have a 1 micron sediment filter and housing, a carbon block filter and housing, and various ball valves and quick disconnects on hand. I ordered a 100 gpd RO element and housing along with associated fittings and tubing as well as a TDS meter from Buckeye Hydro.
My plan is to use a QD at the slop sink faucet so I can connect/disconnect it as required, plumb it to a wall mounted filter assembly, have a T with a ball valve just after the filter for use in things like a humidifier, coffee pot, portable ice maker, etc (to reduce scale in them), collect waste to a bucket in the sink to use elsewhere (in anticipation of overflow), and install a hose and ball valve run around two sides of the room to my brew kettle. I have good water pressure so my hope is not to require a boost pump but I can add one later if required.
I am sure there will be a learning curve involved. I plan to collect water and dose it with yeast to scavenge O2 the night before, then start my brewday the next morning. It should take ~2-3 hours to collect my water.
I recently also installed a 220v switch at my dryer plug so I can route electric power to the induction cooktop without disconnecting the dryer.
Sounds like a decent plan. 1 micron is more than small enough, but that shouldn’t matter. I assume you’re on a municipal water system and need the carbon…that should be good. I’m not a fan of employing high rate RO elements since they’re on the ragged edge of performance. I prefer 50 to 75 gpd elements and using a storage tank of some sort. Then the element flow rate becomes somewhat immaterial. Just make sure that your tank is large enough to meet your brewday needs.
I have a 20 gallon pressure tank and a terminal white “open” tank (15 gallon wine fermenter bucket) where I collect for brew day (11 gallon final batch size). I just draw the strike water from the open bucket by the pitcher to fill the strike and sparge needs and refill it for the next brew day.
Thx Martin.
I’m on muni water with an annual test reported 140 TDS and chlorine, TTHM, and HAA5 listed as disinfectants and disinfectant by-products. I have chlorine test strips I’ll use along with the TDS meter to measure pre- and post- performance. Once assembled, up and running, coupled with some trial and error, if I need to adjust I can do that by simply changing the element(s).
Disclaimer: Any comment I add is simply the way I brew beer. There are certainly other ways that can be equally effective which other brewers may contribute. This is what I’ve found that works for me using my equipment and processes so I offer this for your consideration. YMMV
*I have good water pressure so my hope is not to require a boost pump but I can add one later if required.
Your muni water system is probably pumping 75-100 psi from its filtration plant not to mention head pressure from elevated storage tanks. I doubt very much if you would need a booster pump or pressure tank at all. My pressure at the water meter is 70+ psi and I haven’t had any issues with with my RO performing as would be expected. Good luck!
Chlorine test strips aren’t as sensitive as the liquid test kits used for swimming pool maintenance. At low chlorine/chloramine concentration, strips are unlikely to show you anything, while the liquid tests do show that tinge of yellow that’s still perceptible.
I’ve had pretty good luck with these
Disclaimer: Any comment I add is simply the way I brew beer. There are certainly other ways that can be equally effective which other brewers may contribute. This is what I’ve found that works for me using my equipment and processes so I offer this for your consideration. YMMV
First test run/leak ck. The Buckeye Hydro instructions recommend running three gallons thru the RO filter. This test run will be timed to see how long that takes.
I plan to mount it on a shelf on the wall near the sink.
…and route the output hose around the room to the kettle
Edit: the test revealed a cpl leaks that I fixed and the time was slower than anticipated so I adjusted restriction. After repair/adjustments, I re-ran a gallon in 26 minutes. On my yearly report the County found 140 TDS. I measured 108 at the tap and 14 with a 6.8 pH at the collection point.
That should mean my 7 gal normal brewing water should take ~3 hours and I honestly thought TDS would be single digit but this is acceptable for me.
I have another restrictor on order but this should be good for my planned brewday on Fri.
Nice setup!
FWIW, I still use my ball valve as the restrictor. I realized I could open it all the way for a couple minutes to flush the membrane when output slows (I have like a +300 TDS on the feed). Seems like it gets a build-up after a couple hours of filtering and the flush seems to get things moving again.
That’s a good idea. I may add a proper flush valve later. For now I’ll simply remove the restricted waste line and replace it with an unrestricted line, flush, then reinstall the restricted line for use.
Here’s my final assembly. I use the low point drain to collect filtered water for the coffee pot, ice tea maker, humidifier, etc, basically any machine where I am required to add water. …and of course to drain the feed line.
Is there any concern with having too big of a storage tank?
I don’t see the need for a storage tank, large or small unless one is brewing multiple small batch size recipes back to back to back in a relatively short period of time IMO.
Personally I fill both my MT and LT simultaneously a day or two before brew day. (25-30 gallon total)
Martin, can you expound on the benefit of a storage tank please?
I think the storage tank allows you to drink a glass of water, right after your wife and kids each have a glass of water, anytime 
I think if you’re only using RO for brewing you can temporarily store RO water in your mash tun, kettle, a bucket, etc. until you brew, as you’re doing.
A storage tank provides instant access to the volume of water it stores. That avoids the need to wait for a RO system to produce that water. If you pre-plan your water needs and can live within that requirement, then you’re OK.
LOL!! Thanks for that!! I only make water for brewing and the wife waits for that!!
I used the pressure gauge to measure my faucet pressure: 35 psi.
I placed it between the pre filters and RO membrane: a little over 30 psi.
I am getting 86% reject rate where I anticipated 90% (14 TDS vs 7 TDS). ~26 min per gal vs ~15. A bit of performance loss.
So… I didn’t get the intended 100 gpd performance. I may add a boost pump later when I do a filter change to get it to 50 psi to see if performance improves. I may not.
Disclaimer: Any comment I add is simply the way I brew beer. There are certainly other ways that can be equally effective which other brewers may contribute. This is what I’ve found that works for me using my equipment and processes so I offer this for your consideration. YMMV