Emperor PWCRO, Manual

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Glossary of Terms
The RO system is designed to operate at specified flow rates to ensure longevity of the
membranes and performance. It is best to set the RO system to operate at its designed
flow rates but, in some cases due to feed water temperature and TDS ( total dissolved
solids) levels, the designed flow rates may not be achievable. Please see the definitions
below to understand the adjustment procedure and the RO system:
• Permeate: The clean water being produced by the RO system.
• Concentrate: The dirty water being rejected from the RO system to the facility drain.
• Concentrate Recycle: The rejected concentrate water that is returned to the pump in-
let to be re-processed through the RO system.
• Rejection Rate: The percentage of contaminants being rejected by the RO system.
This can be figured by taking the incoming TDS value and the Permeate TDS value
and using those measurements to do an efficiency calculation. The calculation is as fol-
lows:
IN - OUT / IN * 100 = % of Rejection.
• Recovery Rate: The amount of feed water that is being used and not wasted to the
drain. This rate is fixed on standard systems. Systems with a concentrate recycle fea-
ture can be adjusted to a specified recovery rate. The maximum recovery rate that
should be targeted is 75%.
• Flow Meter: There are 3 flow meters on the system. These flow meters are called ro-
tometers. There is a stainless steel meniscus that floats in a glass block to a specific
level that can be measured using the scale on the glass blocks. The flow meters have
a gallons per minute scale and a liters per minute scale. The value should be read at
the top of the stainless steel meniscus.
• Pre-Filter Gauges: There are two gauges on the pre-filters that are used to monitor
the inlet pressure and the pressure drop across the pre-filters on the RO system. When
there is a 10 PSI differential in these readings, the pre-filters should be changed. If ei-
ther of these pressures fall below 30 PSI while the system is running, the system will
shut down due to a low pressure fault. This is usually indicated by a red LED light illu-
minated or digital display indicating a pressure fault. This system should not be operat-
ed with low pressure. The low pressure switch should not be adjusted to a lower pres-
sure or the RO booster pump could be damaged.
• Pump Pressure Gauge: This gauge is on the front of the RO system and is used to
determine the system operating/membrane pressure. This reading is important when
adjusting the RO system.
• Pump Throttle Valve: There is an adjustment valve on the RO system booster pump.
This will either be a slotted adjustment screw on the smaller systems or a gate valve on
the larger systems. This valve is used to adjust the pump pressure.
• Concentrate Valve: This valve is used to regulate the amount of water that is being
directed to the drain.
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