Can RO Membrane Be Cleaned? Simple Steps for a Quick Clean!

Okay, so, I’ve been dealing with this reverse osmosis system at home, you know, the one that’s supposed to make the water all pure and stuff. Well, it wasn’t really doing its job anymore. The water started tasting a bit off, and the flow rate was, like, really slow. I figured it was probably time to look at the RO membrane.

Now, I’m no plumber, but I’m pretty handy. I like to try and fix things myself before calling in the pros, you know, save a few bucks. So, I thought, “Can I clean this RO membrane myself?” I did a little digging, read some stuff online, you know. Turns out, yeah, it’s doable, but it’s not just a simple rinse.

What I Did:

• First thing I did: I turned off the water supply to the RO system. Safety first, right? Don’t want any water spraying everywhere.
• Next, I got my tools. Nothing fancy, just some basic wrenches to disconnect the membrane housing.
• I carefully took out the RO membrane. It was pretty gunked up, I could see some nasty stuff on the surface.
• I found out you can’t just use any old cleaner. You need a specific cleaning solution. Some people recommend chlorine bleach, hydrochloric acid or hydrogen peroxide. I got some from a website, I can’t really remember the name, I went with the one that seemed the most effective.
• Then came the cleaning part. I mixed the cleaning solution with water, following the instructions on the bottle.
• I put the membrane into a bucket and poured the cleaning solution over it, making sure it was completely submerged.
• I let it soak for about an hour. The instructions said at least that long, so I figured, better safe than sorry.
• After the soak, I reinstalled the membrane into the housing. I flushed out all of the cleaning fluid and all of the nasty stuff it removed from the RO membrane.
• Once everything was back together, I turned the water supply back on. I also flushed the system a few times, just to make sure all the cleaning solution was gone.

And guess what? It worked! The water tasted way better, and the flow rate was back to normal. I was pretty proud of myself, to be honest. Saved myself a service call and learned something new. It wasn’t that hard, just took a bit of time and patience.

So, yeah, you can definitely clean an RO membrane yourself. Just make sure you do your research, get the right cleaning solution, and follow the instructions carefully. It’s a pretty satisfying feeling when you fix something yourself, you know? Plus, you save some money, which is always a good thing.