Just remember ro systems rely on pressure and the water coming In at 77 degrees. For every degree below 77 degrees it’ll lose efficiency. So say it can do 12 gallons an hr if the water coming in is say 68 degrees you won’t get anything close to 12 gallons an hr and instead it will create more waste water instead. Now if the water coming in is warmer then 77 degrees it’ll allow more junk to pass the ro membrane making your tds/ppm/ec higher as the membrane swells. They make a blend valve you can tap both your warm and cold lines and blend the water to say 75 degrees and youll get stellar water production with very little waste.
Thank you, that's a good thing to know! Maybe I'll add a bunch of PEX before the RO, it should allow the water up warm up to near room temperature.
Every year, thousands of dollars are wasted on unneeded membrane replacements because hobbyists overlook the negative effects of cold water on their reverse osmosis (RO) system performance. Assumptions are generally made that their membranes have fouled, when in fact the temperature of the feed...
aquaticlife.com
The article mentions this though, "all water heaters have silt and other sediment in their reservoirs that can damage the membrane and RO unit."
My water is around 1.3 EC and the house I bought had no softener.
When I tried to flush my water heater the sediment clogged the drain valve!
I knew what to do... Shut off water to the heater and drain it. Remove drain valve and open water supply a bit to flush. Use a coat hanger wire or something through the drain valve bung to loosen up the sediment that's settled on the bottom. I got about a gallon of sediment out of there!
Yes, it messy.