# RO Units



## sumwhatfishy (Oct 7, 2008)

This may be a dumb question, but I just bought an RO unit, Coralife Pure FLo II 50 gpd and there are two output lines, a blue (pure water) and a red (waste water). First, no instructions, etc. came with the unit, but when I run it, there is no shut-off valve on the red (waste water) line so it seems like I am just wasting more water than I am collecting. Is this normal to have the red line free-flowing while the unit is running or should I cap off the red line and only use this for flushing the membrane?

Thanks in advance!!


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## ivwarrior (Jul 27, 2008)

Perfectly normal. Capping the red line would actually cause you problems. The membrane doesn't "trap" stuff like a filter does, it "blocks" it from passing through. The red (drain) line is carrying this blocked stuff away so that it doesn't plug/ruin the membrane. Yes, you send more "waste" water down the drain than you get "pure" water from the unit. If you want, you could always save the waste water and use it to water house plants or something.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

by all means use the waste water! but do not plug the red line.


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## sumwhatfishy (Oct 7, 2008)

Thanks for the replies, I somewhat figured that was the right answer, but wanted to make sure.

Thanks again!!!


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## karazy (Nov 2, 2007)

my family is getting one installed and they r going to re-run the waste water into our main sytem so we dont waste any


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## BuckeyeFldSup (Nov 28, 2008)

Routing "waste" water back in to your plumbing is a mixed bag. Remember that this water has been dechlorinated, and the water purification systems are prone to the buildup of bacteria. It is my understanding that for this reason repressurizing the waste water and running it back into your home's plumbing is against code in some areas. 

If you are going to do this, make sure you make sanitizing the purification system a standard/routine part of your maintenance, and do it at least once per year.

Russ


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