Get a TFC RO Membrane: Enjoy Clean and Safe Drinking Water!

Today, I wanna talk about messing with a TFC RO membrane. So, I got this old reverse osmosis system at home, been using it for a while. The water started tasting a bit off, and I figured it was probably time to check out the membrane. I’m no expert, but I’ve done a bit of DIY stuff around the house, so I thought, why not?

First thing I did was turn off the water supply to the system. Wouldn’t want a surprise shower, right? Then, I located the membrane housing. It’s usually this long, cylindrical thing. I grabbed a wrench and carefully unscrewed the housing cap.

• Turn off the water supply.
• Locate the membrane housing.
• Unscrew the housing cap.

Once I got it open, I saw the old membrane. It looked kinda gunky, not gonna lie. I gently pulled it out. It’s important to be careful here ’cause you don’t wanna damage anything.

I had bought a new TFC membrane beforehand. It’s supposed to be pretty good at filtering out all sorts of nasty stuff, with a pore size of about 0.0001 microns. Tiny, right? This thing can block out suspended particles, bacteria, viruses, ions and even most of the VOCs. It says it can remove up to 98% of total dissolved solids.

I took the new membrane and carefully inserted it into the housing, making sure it was sitting right. After that, I screwed the cap back on, nice and tight.

The Procedure for RO membrane cleaning

• High pH Cleaning: I use a cleaning solution with a high pH to get rid of most of the organic stuff.
• Low pH Cleaning: Then I use the cleaning solution with a low pH to get rid of other things.

After Replacing

Turned the water supply back on and let the system run for a bit. I discarded the first few gallons of water, just to flush out any residue from the manufacturing process or anything that got in while I was replacing the membrane. After that, I tested the water. Tasted way better! Seems like the new membrane is doing its job.

This whole thing wasn’t too hard, to be honest. Saved some money doing it myself instead of calling a professional, which is always a plus. Plus, I learned a bit more about how these systems work. Not too bad for a casual Sunday project, I’d say.

I remember one time, my neighbor had a similar issue, and he ended up calling some expert to do the whole cleaning. Paid a ton for something that I figured out with a bit of tinkering. It’s always satisfying to get your hands dirty and fix something yourself. Now I know the importance of regular checking. I’ll probably do it every few months or so, just to be sure.

Anyway, that’s my little story about changing a TFC RO membrane. Hope it helps someone out there. If I can do it, you probably can too!