Can anyone recommend a small portable RO system. My tap water passes through a water softener and thus my need for an RO system. I'm looking for a system I can use on brew day and then put away. I have seen a few portable systems on the internet but I have no idea if they are any good. Thanks
I don´t understand why should it be portable, but that is all up to you.I have a RO System like this: http://www.amazon.com/Reverse-Osmosis-Storage-Removes-Fluoride/dp/B002LHDL7E
Does your water softener not have a bypass? Also, why not cut your water with some store bought distilled water? In any event, I'd send your tap water off to get a water profile and decide what you can do from there. It seems that many of the cheaper RO systems are hit-or-miss in quality...filters are expensive...and you won't really know how well they're working without testing. I'd also assume as the filters age your water profile will change.
While I could be wrong, I'm not confident that a portable unit would do the job, assuming it even existed (I'm not saying they don't). It sounds like you want to hook it up, draw water for brewing, then put it away. RO doesn't exactly work that way. 100 gallons per day (4 gallons per hour) is pretty high capacity for a home unit, though 35 (less than 1.5 gallons per hour) seems to be a little more common. Pure water is produced in drips. It's typically stored in a tank from which you draw as you need it. Even a 100gpd membrane running at full tilt (brand new, under ideal conditions, with no back pressure from a partly filled tank) would give you about 8 oz per minute. A unit like Tebuken suggests would be a better choice than a portable unit (probably much cheaper, too), but you would need to add a bigger tank than the 3.2 gal tank that is typically supplied (mine is 14 gallons, from which I can draw, maybe, 10 per day - just a guess).
