How to Regenerate Deionization Resin for Use in Reverse Osmosis Deionization Systems

[@NurdRage]

Answer to a common question that keeps coming up: *Separating and remixing the resin seems redundant, can time and labor be saved by keeping the resins separate during use and regenerating them in independent cycles?* Actually yes, you can save time and labor by using separate deionization beds, but there are some caveats. So for those of you that don't know, since the resin beads work independently, you don't strictly need to mix them. Instead two different cartridges can be made, one containing anion exchange resin and the other containing cation exchange resin. They are installed in separate housings and connected in series. As the water flows through one the corresponding ions are removed, and then as they flow through the next cartridge, the ions of that type are removed. The result is deionized water just as with a mixed bed. But the system is much easier to regenerate as the resins are already separated and it's just a matter of removing the appropriate resin, mixing it with regenerant, washing it, and putting it back. In fact a number of commercial systems indeed do it this way. And you can set your system up this way as well. The reason why it's not the standard is because it actually produces slightly lower purity water. This is because as you replace ions you shift the equilibrium of the reaction and some of it shifts back. For example, let's say we have a solution of sodium chloride salt water and we run through a cation exchange resin already loaded with hydronium ions. The result is the sodium ions are swapped out for hydronium ions making hydrochloric acid. But as we know from before, hydrochloric acid will actually regenerate the resin and swap out sodium ions making salt again. Fortunately the effect is very small since the concentration of hydrochloric acid produced is very low. The actual equilibrium will lie very far to the right. But the effect isn't zero. The tiny amount of sodium that remains will pass through the anion exchange column without being absorbed. Meanwhile, most of the chloride will be removed but again, not all for a similar reason of equilibrium. To improve this you need to have another cation exchange resin column that now removes the remaining sodium ions. Since the most of chloride was removed by the anion exchange resin the amount of hydrochloric acid produced is lower so you get improved water quality. But it still isn't zero, you need to keep stacking more and more pairs. A mixed bed deionization resin column solves this by essentially having hundreds of deionization pairs in one column. The leftover ions from one bead of resin are removed by the next bead, and the leftovers from that bead are absorbed by a bead further down. So mixed bed resins give the best performance for the least complication. And thus remain the standard for water deionization. However there is a way to get the benefits of a mixed bed deionization column and still have the slightly easier maintenance of separate beds, and that's to use both. First have the anion and cation exchange columns processing the incoming water, and then have a final mixed bed column to polish the tiny percentage that makes it through. As long as you keep regenerating the anion and cation exchange columns before they are completely depleted, you can get many months of use out of the mixed bed column before it needs to be regenerated. Personally though, i don't bother. Separating and remixing the resin isn't the most labor intensive part of this process and i don't regenerate my resin often enough anyway to be bothered by it.

[@jeremyprovence4942]

Thanks, well done.

[@Kineth1]

This is exactly the question that came to my mind while watching the video! That, and now I know what the orange beads that float up out of a new ZeroWater filter are. Is there any test to tell when resin without indicator dye is fully regenerated?

[@stazeII]

Literally was going to ask this. Thanks for answering. :)

[@kingofnuclearfallout39]

I'm so glad that you are okay

[@MichaelMantion]

Could you use a small amount of NaCl to replace some NaOH to get a high sp yet still treat the resin in 1 step?

[@NurdRage]

Still rebuilding the lab. Might do some electroplating, or revisit making nitric acid (my last video on nitric acid is a decade old).

[@Jameson1776]

Him about some energetic chemistry.

[@mikerobling1056]

Rebuilding the lab, awesomesauce!!! New nitric acid vid - yes please!!!

[@fluke196c]

What happened to the lab?

[@tomlutman2041]

Nice. I’m actually about to charge the flask with H₂SO₄ while watching your 10yr old video. Only difference is I’m pulling vacuum

[@aga5897]

Do the Organic route ! Nobody ever did in answer to the Challenge. Process is in the SM archive.

[@75Bird455]

This is what my dad does for a living, since 1990, on a rather large scale.

[@sko1beer]

Good for him saving the environment 👍 if no one regens resin it just goes in the bin

[@jessehellakoo]

Can you pre-filter water before you run it through di resin to limit the resin from being exposes to chlorine and iron in order to have it last longer?

[@Stuffonyourknee12]

@@jessehellakoo yes it is recommended so the resin doesn’t exhaust as quickly.

[@Stuffonyourknee12]

Also chlorine is bad for the resin

[@maryudomah4387]

Me: *Doesn’t understand a word of the title* Also me: *Watches with complete and utter interest anyways*

[@StephenGillie]

Cations are positive and I remember that because "cats are a plus".

[@zazaaji9833]

11:29 Ah yes, the truly professional way of storing things that you just spent hours preparing. I really love how youäve always used whatever you have on-hand to do so many of your things with. Easily one of my favorite things about you.

[@Kineth1]

I really like it as well, I do barely any chemistry, but I appreciate his effort to bring professional techniques together with amateur equipment.

[@Brandon-sc1fz]

I forgot how much i enjoyed watching videos that go completely over my head....

[@mparim]

I have been in the water treatment industry for a few years. My 2¢ on this. 1. Consider adding another RO/NF stage (NF if the system feed water is softened, RO if water is hard) to the system before the current RO. This will reduce the TDS of the RO permeate and increase the life of the second RO membrane. Doing this will require one more pump and tank to be added to the system. 2. The biggest advantage to running a three vessel i.e ( anion, cation and mixed-bed) ion exchange system is that you can regenerate and rinse the anion and cation vessels in place. You can use the hoses to pump HCl / NaOH / DI water into the vessels. The OBR (Output between Regenerations) of the Mixed bed vessel will also be very very high and most of the ions are exchanged in the anion and cation exchangers.

[@schautamatic]

Oh great: another Nalcoholic! 😄😄😄

[@rudrashishmajumdar4251]

thanks Man id Like to Know More. is it replicable to large industries?

[@curmudgeon7217]

I watch these videos to make myself feel smarter.

[@72polara]

This answered many questions I had on regeneration. Worked with equipment (servicing electronic controls) with ion exchange resin many years ago and never really understood how it worked until now.

[@jaredlevy8271]

You're back!

[@ProjectPhysX]

The density separation is ingenious!

[@DrewskisBrews]

One of the major setups for the meltdown disaster at Threee Mile Island nuclear power station involved the [non-nuclear] condensate water polishing tanks. The resin beads were becoming packed, and Babcock and Willcox's (B&W) factory-installed compressed air sparging system was proving inadequate at agitating the resin. The plant engineers, thinking outside the box, had cross-connected the control air system to the tanks to get a mightier sparge. Unfortunately, a valve to the control system air supply was left open when a tank was returned to service, and water backed up into the control air system. The water caused all the condensate supply valves to simultaneously slam shut, which on its own, caused a pretty impressive amount of destruction from the "water hammer" effect. Without the heat-removing action of the secondary power generation steam loop, the reactor scram'd. This "turbine trip" scram was nothing to write home about, but the sudden pressure spike in the primary loop caused the PORV (pilot operated relief valve) to spring open, also not unusual. Then, the unusual, though not unpredictable, transpired when the PORV became jammed open. No one noticed this amid the chaos of information in the control room, and the unusal fixation upon the status of the pressurizer. It was at this point that the TMI crisis began.

[@chickendog3042]

That is the best quote ever "this fluid is somewhat corrosive to human flesh"

[@StephenGillie]

It's as corrosive as soap. NileRed stuck his hand in it once, and nothing happened.

[@Flederratte]

Nice video! I appreciate it very much that you are back! Oh I would love a new video on nitric acid! Greetings from Germany. Have a nice week!

[@RicoElectrico]

You never cease to amaze me after all the years on KZbin. No complete lab? No problem! :)

[@TheBackyardChemist]

2:10 The nitrogen atom on the right has an OH group instead of a methyl, not sure if intentional or not.

[@NurdRage]

Yup, that's wrong. I'll fix for a future video.

[@margonaaaa]

الله احيان عاباالي

[@StephenGillie]

He says "hydronium" but shows hydrogen several times. Hydronium is H3O, but H+ is shown.

[@markovichglass]

@@StephenGillie you realize h+, in water, IS hydronium....💚

[@matthewbim10]

Very cool video, I haven't watched for a year or two; good to see that you're still going strong. Love the content, hope to see you at a million before the new year!

[@azamatbumbaclot]

my boy is back!

[@seancalifornia510]

Your explanation of the process or action happening with this chemistry video is thorough and impressive. I did have to watch a few of your videos several times. Due to you rather quick rate of speech. But that maybe me just processing each step in my head trying to understanding what your saying. But outstanding presentation Sir...

[@yohanessondangkunto724]

Thank you! I have my mixed bed resin successfully seperated into anion and cation, and I could generate them now!

[@saimon174666]

I really enjoy vids I can replicate at home quite easily. Not that I had a reverse osmosis filter, but still..

[@RNJBlackguard]

Valeu!

[@FantomZap]

Glad to see you're back at it brother

[@building4jesus]

I have been wondering how this is done. I love the explanation in laymen's terms for us that got a D in chemistry

[@Chemfan-vz4qv]

Very in depth and interesting!!

[@Lossanaght]

Would there be any value in keeping most of the already separated resin as an easily in-situ regenerated dual bed to do the bulk deionization and use the remainder as a mixed bed for final cleanup of the ions?

[@NurdRage]

go for it

[@danheidel]

That is actually a good way to do it. I built a system in an old lab with separate color indicating anion and cation beds and a polishing step with mixed breed nuclear grade resin. The system consistently put out >1 megaohm water at 2gpm. Didn't need the ro step since the incoming water was fairly high quality. I would recommend having physical filters (1 um gradient spun yarn filters work well) and a uv sterilizer and at least 1 activated carbon block upstream if the resins. The water coming out of the system was very low toc and was deionized enough that it completely after away a stainless steel temperature probably in a few months.

[@RicoElectrico]

@@danheidel > was deionized enough that it completely after away a stainless steel temperature probably in a few months. Did you mean: completely ate away a stainless steel temperature probe?

[@erbenton07]

That's what happens when people post from phones - you end up with a lot of gibberish.

[@lesterw9258]

I would love to see an attempt at an amateur production of a proton exchange membrane. Love this channel, keep up the good work!

[@johnathancorgan3994]

Suggestion: please do di-nitration of phenol or some other substituted benzene. Lots of videos on mono- or tri-nitration (keep it cold or let it rip), but I don't think I've ever seen a youtube video on the controlled process of di-nitration and how to deal with excessive side-reactions, etc.

[@Andrew-my1cp]

Yea I like this idea! I made lots of lower nitrates when using crappy nitrates for picric acid and the lower nitrates all were similar but had slightly different melting points and color. To make mono and di nitrophenol you'd just need more dilute acids and lower temps. NileRed actually made mono nitrophenol in order to make tylenol from aspirin.

[@killerdustbunnies]

I just thought that i hadn't seen a NurdRage video in a while... then lo and behold a New Video!! YAY!

[@jasonpatterson8091]

Propel "Fitness Water" bottles are perfect for DIY separatory funnels. The top of the bottle is already spout shaped and it's clear as well. They also make AMAZING alcohol vapor rockets when used for the "whoosh bottle" demonstration, as the spout acts just like a rocket nozzle. Use a ring stand or similar to make sure that they fly upward instead of sideways and assume anything underneath is going to catch fire from alcohol.

[@revenevan11]

Wow, a fitting name for that demonstration too! (I've had it and thus heard the name before but haven't tried that experiment and don't have any bottles lying around)

[@jasonpatterson8091]

@@revenevan11 It's pretty impressive. There is one poor ceiling tile in my classroom with chunks out of it from being hit by a Propel bottle dozens of times. If you try it, be smart about your hands, face, and the surroundings.

[@girlmastergeneral]

THIS guy is amazing!

[@alexandervangraff8475]

NerdRage content is one of my favorite birthday presents (July 5th) and I got GLASS this year too

[@We_Share_Engineering_Tech]

thank you very much, very insightful explanation

[@dimaxx23]

Thank You for making process clear!

[@DYLANTRIES]

Thanks again for mentioning us reefers!!

Dude thanks, I have been thinking on getting RO system for brewery needs but unavailability of spare cartages does not make it a wise purchase. Regeneration of at least one part of the system might make it viable for me. Will research further.

[@ncktbs]

you know id love to to see you do nickle plating most if not all the other videos ive watched are of amateurs doing it in rather crude set ups. id love to see a much better set up of a run. its always kinda amazed me that since the 1800s people nickle plated guns or other things and they held up so well

[@zazaaji9833]

In this video: Chemist cleans Caviar! Joking aside, it really amazes me how similar looking it is... Donät get me wrong, I donät think Iäve ever once owned caviar muchless know what it tastes like, but you must admit it looks very similar to all the depictions of caviar youäve seen.

[@tempus448]

Excelente aporte! muchas Gracias!

[@mohammadhasan9179]

Simple and very good

[@ThijsKops]

Heterogeneous catalyse might be an intresting use/demonstration.

[@mohammadjavadDadmohammadi]

Hi thank you for your good information. please answer to my question: capacity of Ion exchenge of Resin after regeneration dont reduce?

[@stephanien0-0]

How do you suggest getting the resin out of the original filter cartridge? I am working in a research lab for the summer and my task is to do this exact process, however, I am concerned about how to extract the resin beads safely (given that I don't know what chemicals the resin has absorbed over its operating period) and efficiently. Any help is great, thank you so much again for the wonderful video, it really saved me. :)

[@esunayg]

Great explanation.

[@northeastcorals]

Very interesting stuff indeed, I use DI resin for making my coral farming water but to be honest I will just continue to buy new stuff when needed as I'm far to lazy to do all of this 😅

[@Alexander_Sannikov]

although simple, i liked the ingenuity of separation stage using a liquid of intermediate density

[@mirosawbrylski8943]

Thank you very much for this video.

[@richleyden6839]

Nice video and well researched. I wonder how much performance would be lost of the anionic and cationic resins were physically separated (layers? bags?) in the column. It would make regeneration easier.

[@NurdRage]

Separate resins would produce lower quality water. So it's better to use mixed resins.

[@uss_04]

I’ve been keeping these, seems like a fun project

[@chadgdry3938]

always worth watching

[@jonathanhendry9759]

Crane ultrasonic humidifiers use a demineralization filter containing what looks like the cation exchange resin. There doesn't appear to be any of the darker anion resin. Would running an HCl solution through such a filter work to refresh it? The filters don't appear to be constructed to allow resin replacement or removal.

[@solarchuva7042]

Thanks for sharing your amazing video. I run separated resins. Please how long should I let the anion resin in the NaOH solution and the cation in the acid solution ? Once I finish can I put each resin in a different container with DI water to remove the restoration solution or is it better to filter as you demonstrated.

[@gabycouvrette6223]

Can you store the dissolved Sodium Hydroxide and Acid for later use Regeneration ? (Did and a little Sodium hydroxide to the liquid to keep up 3/17 ratio).

[@RipperYouTubeOfficial]

Yo man, I've watched a few videos on this process, and this is the 1st video that actually makes sense, and explained so well. I really appreciate you making this video. Now, I need some help. FYI, this Is RipperJack from season 2 of Tiger King, and I normally help people who need drastic help, free of charge. If you watch season 2, you'll see I need a ton of work, all for free. Here's where I need help though, with the math. I have a mixed bed di system for car rinsing, and for use in my press cookers for my mushroom sterilization process. Let's say I had 10 LBS, or 20 lbs of mixed bed resin that I needed to reactivate. 10lbs is easier math I think, and I'm curious as to how much solution, or how much of that solution would I need to start the process of separating resins, and then the next step? This is where I'm completely lost, and would really appreciate some help. I can send an email with my contact info, or come to you in person to have a walkthrough of the process. I would also be willing to pay for your time, if required. I hope to hear back from you, or at least get some insight from someone who might have this information. Thanks kindly, and I'm located in Oklahoma if you're close to that State. Thanks, RipperJack. P.S. Carole definitely did it!

[@NurdRage]

Its not too hard, the important part is to get the density of the regenerating and separating solution right. that 3/17 ratio of sodium hydroxide (crystal lye) with water. So if you have 17 lbs of water, you add 3 lbs of sodium hydroxide. Stir it up and let it cool, then mix it with your resin. I don't know how much you need for your particular resin, but the point is that you want enough that it will separate into 3 layers. Anionic resin on top, a layer of clear solution in the middle, and the cationic resin on the bottom. Since crystal lye isn't too expensive, i say start with an equal mass to your resin. 20 lbs of resin? so 3 lbs sodium hydroxide (crystal lye) and 17 lbs water like i said before. If it's not enough, make more. The anionic resin floats to the top. scoop that off and into a separate bucket, filter or drain away the solution, and wash it with clean water. Meanwhile the cationic resin is at the bottom in the original solution, filter or drain away the solution to get just the resin. Wash it once with water. Then add in hydrochloric acid to regenerate it, let it sit for 10 minutes, then filter/drain away the acid. Wash the resin in clean water. Since you're just using it wash your cars and make mushrooms, you don't need SUPER ULTRA clean washing like i did in my video for laboratory grade water. Just a couple of washings is fine. Then mix the two resins together and you should be able to use them for your DI system.

[@CzarownicaMarta]

11:40 Professor, I have a question... 11:49 ...oh, I guess I don't. Thank you for the valuable lecture!

[@stennisrl]

This is awesome, had no idea such a thing was possible!

[@ferriswhitehouse1476]

Would it be possible to make an ion selective membrane with this stuff? For a battery separator for example?

[@saimon174666]

An idea - would it be possible to add clock to the shots? Always wonder at which speed e.g. the filtration process is proceeding. Or add text saying at which speed it's played. Thanks!

[@christophersalaan7518]

This is really informative..thanks..BTWI have commercial water refilling station and I am using cat ionic resin and I also use NaCl to regenerate it..my question is how long should i wash it with water after regeneration? If you are wondering how much resin im using...its actually one frp tank almost full with size of 10 by 54 inches..should i be using my tds meter to determine the duration..pls advise thanks

[@babajancenter-pb8oo]

hi thank you for all this teaching and sharing i have one question what chemistry book do you recommend us to buy thanks

[@jtbmetaldesigns]

Can you use the cation resin in hydronium form to isolate dilute acids from their sodium or potassium salts?

[@matteoalonzi3845]

Hi, i'm restoring an old mixed bed deionizer and i was wondering how the mass ratio between the two resins can be determined...Do you know how? Thank you!

[@jamesg1367]

GREAT info. Thanks!

[@aga5897]

Marvellous Chemistry, and Useful too ! Nice one Nurdy :)

[@gabycouvrette6223]

Having an issue Regenarated Resin is about 75% less effective beffor depleted again (comppared to brand new) did this already 3 times about 10Gal every time. Every step is being followed very pointy ... and trying to rinse out using pure water until i obtain 5~10 ppm need to rinse about 20 times to get that reading.(funny thing is Cation seem always slippy to touch like if there is still some sodium hydroixd sticking to it maby is this my problem? ). Is there any advice in some other step i should change to get better result.

[@krazieboy03]

If i want to do this in larger quantities, what do you recommend for containers? I run DI water system for car washes at home, and would be interested in doing like 5-10lb at once to save on time. Also what is the proper way to dispose of the chemicals after? I'm not a chemist, but looking for ways to cut resin cost. thanks! great video btw!

[@NurdRage]

Plastic buckets is fine for containers, for car wash use, you don't need ultra-high purity like a laboratory. Just be sure to wear elbow high dish washing gloves when handling the chemicals. When you're done, you can mix all the waste chemical solutions and add in some (like half a cup per bucket) baking soda. If it fizzes, stir it until dissolved then add in another half cup of baking soda. Keep doing this until it stops fizzing. At that point it's safe enough to dump down the drain (it has essentially become salt).

[@NomadFella]

After regeneration, can you put the cationic and anionic resin in separate layers allowing easy separation and subsequent regeneration? They should in theory still be able to capture the complementary ions and clean the water.

[@kenrickwilson9845]

I use to do this at Jamaica Detergents.

[@SP-jw1hi]

Excellent video! Thanks for the presentation. I have a question though, what do you do to dispose of the regenerant? Pour it down the drain??

[@supermetaltastic]

He answered this: When you're done, you can mix all the waste chemical solutions and add in some (like half a cup per bucket) baking soda. If it fizzes, stir it until dissolved then add in another half cup of baking soda. Keep doing this until it stops fizzing. At that point it's safe enough to dump down the drain (it has essentially become salt).

[@chromatogiraffery3104]

Interesting video! The separated resins might be very interesting for home-packed HPLC columns for DIY protein chromatography!

[@AlldaylongRock]

HPLC uses way finer resins than this.. You can grind them up, maybe?? If not, it can be used as a normal CG column for those

[@west2718]

My griots garage spot free water system holds 13lbs of di resin. Can I recharge all that at once and if so how much of all the chemical would I need to mix?

[@1414orestis]

Hello. I installed an RO system at a friends dentist office and i want to install a DI filter also, inline. Will the final product be safe to be use by the doctor at his chair? (water gun will use this water for washing patients mouth )

[@isiTsotsi]

Why do the Cat- and Anionexchanger beads have to be mixed? Is it not possible to have two seperate columns in series for easier regeneration? Or even put something like a coffee filter in between them in one column?

[@NurdRage]

water quality is worse. Best thing to do is to have 3 beds. 2 bed with different resins, and then have a final bed of mixed resin that you change less often.

[@mikerobling1056]

Awesome!!! Now what SpectraPure

[@karlfischer6250]

Suggestion, the partial oxidation of a primary alcohol to an aldehyde, many have the demonstration or common experiment on you tube using acidified dichromate or permanganate, although another preparation needs the vapour of ethanol to be passed over hot copper turnings at 300 C. These is no real video or assessment of this method to produce acetaldehyde, could you maybe do it for an upcoming video? Regards, Karl

[@High_Caliber]

Can you regenerate ferric oxide?

[@NurdRage]

yes, check the video "Recover Copper from Ferric Chloride Etchant (Waste free method)"

[@Alexander_Sannikov]

it's probably obvious for you, but you could have elaborated in more detail how both of those resins change color when they're fresh/spent. i get that one of them is dark when it's fresh and becomes orange/transparent when it's spent, but what about the other one that just seems to always be orange?

[@rwong403]

Is it possible to have 2 cartridges, one with the cationic exchange resin and the other with anionic resin, then have the water flow through both cartridges one after another? Would that eliminate the need to have to separate the resin each time you want to regenerate it?

[@franzschluter5252]

What if we dont mix the resins and put them in different canisters during filtration to save the hassle of separating them?

[@jackmclane1826]

If both resins have the same amount of acid or base contamination after regeneration, they'll anihilate when mixed together. And the small amount of Na and Cl will not hurt. So keeping the washing minimal will not hurt much.

[@frollard]

Thank you for always sharing and being awesome. I want to mess with this and I don't even have an RO system...just looks like fun.

[@erik61801]

theres a nice system on amazon, a 5 stage with the 4.5g storage tank for like 189 dollars. brought my PPMs from down 550 to 20. I probably need a water softener upstream. for now i have two very strong neodymium magnets coupled together around the input to the filter in order to mitigate the adhesion of mineral scale to the innards. I imagine the R/O filter is being thrashed which I didnt know about till your previous video.

[@arinasan247]

Thank you😊

[@tworoelio]

Thanks so much for this information very cool stuff! If you know by any chance how I can work with a mixed ion resin that has pieces of charcoal in it I would highly appreciate it. Would take me forever to hand pick them out.

[@nilnull5457]

Can the regenerated cation exchange resin be used as an acid catalyst (e.g., like amberlyst 15)?

[@ThatanOmega]

How quickly does this ion exchange process take. Thinking of filling an in line shower filter with this resin

[@jessehellakoo]

Can you pre-filter water before you run it through di resin to limit the resin from being exposes to chlorine and iron in order to have it last longer?

[@story1234]

If you store the regenerated mix in water instead of air in a water bottle would that stop the CO2 absorption?

[@paulgibbs6900]

NurdRage...Would you please consider doing a video for synthesis of Calcium Hypophosphite for one of the ingredients in Hole-Wall activation in PCBs? Thank you.

[@erik61801]

sweet. been waiting for this.

[@teishaandjakefooks6891]

A couple folks have alluded to using these for the stationary phase in chromatagraphy to isolate proteins and whatnot... Anyone have any notion of how workable that would be? My (largely uninformed) sense is that the resins designed for chromatography like amberlite, &c. are much finer grained, if otherwise more or less the same...?

[@SetTheCurve]

I’d like to know the same thing. It’s very hard to find specifics about commercial resins. I couldn’t even find a source of separate cation vs anion resins for the case when you need only one or the other. In fact that’s how I arrived at this video, trying to find a way to separate the two so I could have resins that could grab onto carboxylic acids or amines and release them when flushed with the appropriate acid/base.

[@swspriggs]

Thank you!

[@aayeron2675]

You rock nurdrage!

[@RobertSzasz]

Could you do the final wash with an upscaled soxholet extractor?

[@KoLuX57]

Can water zero filters be reactivated that's why I'm asking because there are 5 layers and how to separate them?

[@plutoniumiscool]

Could osmotic shock cause problems to the beads during regeneration?

[@Pistachio3325]

I have never even thought about havig reverse osmosis water in my house until 4 days ago when I bought a marine tank that will need RO water

[@erbenton07]

The deionized water is also ideal for things like topping up your car radiator and old style car batteries among other things. For your marine tank its a must but its a good investment too

[@mikesbasement6954]

Is it important to recombine the two resins or could you keep them separate for easier regeneration later? It would mean an extra filter can on the RO/DI system though.

[@NurdRage]

water quality is worse. Best thing to do is to have 3 beds. 2 bed with different resins, and then have a final bed of mixed resin that you change less often.

[@hammerth1421]

It should work perfectly fine. I think that's what's done to remove nitrate from drinking water, since you're only interested in removing anions in that case, you only use an anionic exchange resin. Keeping the resins seperate would just make it a two-step-process.

[@NurdRage]

No IT'S NOT PERFECTLY FINE. You get lower water quality. This is because as you replace ions you shift the equilibrium of the reaction and some of it shifts back. For example, let's say we have a solution of sodium chloride salt water and we run through a cation exchange resin already loaded with hydronium ions. The result is the sodium ions are swapped out for hydronium ions making hydrochloric acid. But as we know from before, hydrochloric acid will actually regenerate the resin and swap out sodium ions making salt again. Fortunately the effect is very small since the concentration of hydrochloric acid produced is very low. The actual equilibrium will lie very far to the right. But the effect isn't zero. The tiny amount of sodium that remains will pass through the anion exchange column without being absorbed. Meanwhile, most of the chloride will be removed but again, not all for a similar reason of equilibrium. To improve this you need to have another cation exchange resin column that now removes the remaining sodium ions. Since the most of chloride was removed by the anion exchange resin the amount of hydrochloric acid produced is lower so you get improved water quality. But it still isn't zero, you need to keep stacking more and more pairs. A mixed bed deionization resin column solves this by essentially having hundreds of deionization pairs in one column. The leftover ions from one bead of resin are removed by the next bead, and the leftovers from that bead are absorbed by a bead further down. So mixed bed resins give the best performance for the least complication. And thus remain the standard for water deionization. However there is a way to get the benefits of a mixed bed deionization column and still have the slightly easier maintenance of separate beds, and that's to use both. First have the anion and cation exchange columns processing the incoming water, and then have a final mixed bed column to polish the tiny percentage that makes it through. As long as you keep regenerating the anion and cation exchange columns before they are completely depleted, you can get many months of use out of the mixed bed column before it needs to be regenerated. Personally though, i don't bother. Separating and remixing the resin isn't the most labor intensive part of this process and i don't regenerate my resin often enough anyway to be bothered by it.

[@revenevan11]

@@NurdRage that's a really interesting example of the effects of the equilibrium shifting as a reaction proceeds. Really cool that it actually ends up making the mixed resin more efficient! Feels like the case of having just one type alone in a column should be an example problem in a differential equations textbook lol.

[@loveterrortattoo7867]

Nurdrage. Where have you been ? It’s been so long since your last upload. Hope you are doing well. Hoping there’s a lot more videos to come :)

[@peterheinrichs2161]

Not sure if this has been asked, is it practical/ possible to keep the already used sodium hydroxide solution and the acid for future DI resin regeneration to save money?