RO Membrane Replacement: How Often to Replace RO Membrane?

Alright, so I’ve been messing around with my reverse osmosis system lately, and it got me thinking – how often should I really be swapping out that RO membrane? I mean, it’s the heart of the whole operation, right? It’s what gets all that nasty stuff out of my water.

I started by checking the water quality that I drink everyday, you know, just to see what I was dealing with. I grabbed one of those cheap TDS meters online – total dissolved solids, they call it. Turns out, my tap water was reading pretty high. Like, way higher than I was comfortable with. I live in this old house, I guess the plumbing is not that great. And we have a lot of minerals in the water here, calcium and all that, makes the water “hard” as they say.

So, I dug out the manual for my RO system. It’s a pretty basic setup, nothing fancy. The manual said to change the membrane every 2-5 years, But it also mentioned that it depends on your water quality. Well, given my high TDS readings, I figured I was probably on the shorter end of that range. Probably gonna wear out that membrane pretty fast with all the junk it’s gotta filter out.

Here’s what I did next:

• Checked for leaks: First things first, I made sure there were no leaks in the system. Didn’t want to be swapping out a membrane if there was a different problem. All clear there, luckily.
• Turned off the water: Shut off the water supply to the RO system. Important step, don’t want to make a watery mess.
• Opened the housing: Got the wrench that came with the system and opened up the membrane housing. It’s usually the biggest canister in the setup.
• Pulled out the old one: Carefully pulled out the old membrane. It was kinda slimy, not gonna lie. Definitely looked like it had seen better days.
• Put in the new one: Slid the new membrane in, making sure it was seated properly. There’s usually an arrow or something to show you which way it goes.
• Closed it up: Screwed the housing back on, nice and tight.
• Turned the water back on: Slowly turned the water supply back on, checking for leaks again.
• Ran the system: Let the system run for a bit to flush out any air and get the new membrane working.

I decided to mark my calendar for next year. I figure I’ll test the TDS levels again then and see how things are looking. If the TDS is creeping back up, I’ll know it’s time to replace the membrane again. Better safe than sorry, especially when it comes to drinking water, right?

Honestly, the whole process was easier than I thought it would be. Just a few simple steps, and it made a big difference in the taste and quality of my water. So, if you’ve got an RO system, don’t sleep on that membrane replacement! It’s worth the effort, and it’s not as hard as you might think.