Honestly, getting all the pieces is the largest drain on your time. Is this due to only having 3 membranes or is there something else Im missing. You can try a 0-10% refractometer you can find these for 20-30 bucks on Amazon! Im blessed to live in an old farmhouse, by a mountain lake, on acres of stone walls and sugar maples. Cant wait to try it out. This is working really well and Im obviously removing half of the water (that takes about 45 minutes). Taste the maple syrup, cream and buckwheat pancake mix, all available for sale. Great article and I am ordering supplies today. if this works I plan on expanding to an additional 5 trees but being only having 6 trees at my disposal expanding is limited. (I wish we had a better answer for the storage, but thats what we do. I think Im removing maybe 10% of the water and am running at 70psi. (And it was my pleasure ). }); Im interested in making an RO machine from the plans you show here. At the end of the season, after flushing them well, we then place the filters in a large ziploc bag in the freezer until the following season. Some years ago I was a much larger producer, and had an 8 tube RO. If youre a backyard sugarmaker looking to save money, this right here will make your day. I use pruning shears. Hi again Michelle, Thanks again for all the info. Thanks so much! . Thank you for taking the time to share all this information. At the end of every season, we run 5-10 gallons of permeate through the system, then we remove the filters from their casings and mark where each filter was in the system (so we can change their position each year, to hopefully give them a longer life) Then we put them in a ziplock bag and store them in the refrigerator until the next sugar season. When were making maple syrup, reverse osmosis also leaves you with pure water, but what it removes is actually what we want to keep highly concentrated sap. Im making birch syrup in Alaska and it takes about 100-110 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. (Bill said youre welcome. its nice for him to know its helping others after it took him 2 years to break down and put it all on paper for me. Funding for this project was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant AM170100XXXXG167, awarded to the University of Vermont Proctor Maple Research Center. I priced your unit in Canada and its around the $650 mark (for 2 filters that is $1300). Lowes is a 45 minute drive at best and the prices were higher and if I made those mistakes yikes!! How long does it take for a 5-gallon bucket of sap to go through the system? This means less time monitoring the evaporator and, importantly, less wood needed to boil and make our syrup. Notes from the reverse osmosis system build we are planning: Ideally, we run RO inside lose 3% efficiency on RO for every degree drop, and systems are rated at 77 F. DIY Reverse Osmosis Filter for Maple Sap Notes from the reverse osmosis system build we are planning: maple; maple sap; maple syrup; Post navigation. The floorboards creak, the barn roof sags, and the rocky land seems unforgiving. And great question about what we run it at! Its kind of you to share all this information with the back yarders. I looked into RO years ago but never realized one could build one. It was 1.5 out of tree. What causes air bubbles to come out of 1 RO filter the rest of them are ok.. Ive built and used your RO system for 3 years now. Hi Jim. Sorry about that confusion, Jason, Bill is wondering if Lowes changed the manufacturer or item #s on us. Hi Michelle, For us, some of the parts from Lowes were not needed b/c the parts were included with the Amazon pieces. Hi Michelle. Next to the prairie river in Bloomvile Wisconsin. Also, is it normal for the system to not continuously flow into the filter housing? Remove from frying pan and set aside.4. 7. If you are prone to fits of unrestrained enthusiasm, such as I am, you may want to add capacity by adding additional RO membranes in series. It <3. The process takes about 30 minutes to transform the syrup into a gorgeous golden, thickened maple cream. I hooked it up with the three I have and was getting 1% sugar in my permeate. He has 400 trees. I can see a little of it in the background in you video. At what pressure do we run our RO? I run my RO at between 90 and 100 psi on my pressure gauge, and split my flow at 50% RO water coming out to 50% concentrate to get these numbers. WebConsisting of one sediment filter and two reverse osmosis filters, the Sugar Cube RO Replacement Filter Kit contains everything you need for the annual maintenance of your prototype Sugar Cube RO. That top will not spin unless the line is cut. And, yes, the refractometer is AMAZING! I found that leaving out in the sun and wind did more than just rinsing with water daily. Luckily, there are other options for obtaining a reserve osmosis set-up. Im not like you. Thank you for all of this; would not have done it without you. The authors homemade PVC hangers for collecting syrup. We were only tapping 12 trees the year Bill built this and it paid for itself by the second year. Hi Michael, No need to apologize I could never build one of these myself. The whole point of boiling sap is to evaporate water and be left with a thick, sugary maple syrup. Every WebHomemade Maple Syrup Reverse Osmosis Water Reverse Osmosis System Canning Syrup Maple Syrup Evaporator Maple Tapping Maple Syrup Grades Syrup Labels More information More information Build your own Reverse Osmosis system for maple syrup SoulyRested More like this W Water Filtration System L 1 Please let us know how it works for you! So, the last year of making maple syrup at home, we tried a 4 by 40 with the 330 gallons per hour pump and it performed very well, delivering 80 to 100 gallons per I am going to give it a go. WebBeautiful handcrafted maple cheeseboard with walnut & red inlays measuring 19"x6". My primary limitation is sap storage. I just received all the parts recommended ( I went for 4 100GPD filters) and it cost me just under 500$. The Sugar cube is an RO system built into a compact ammo box with handles so that you can move it around as needed. Thank you again for sharing your wisdom! We live in Northern New York, think near the Canadian border north. Nope, thats all my husbands ingenuity. Hi Mark, Its all Greek to me, but Bill said thats just his perference but you definitely can choose something else. Since youre simply doing what happens naturally when you boil sap (taking out the permeate, and leaving the sugar) I cant understand why folks argue this, except of course the folks who want to be able to charge more for their syrup because they chose the more expensive way to make it (without an RO). Never ever occurred to me that an RO system could be used in this manner. Order Wavey Maple Cheese Board online from Urban Stead Cheese. This is really interesting! 2. Of course, no matter what you use for fuel, cuddling with a barn cat while you watch the sap boil makes everything a little more puuurfect. tanks of propane. How long are they typically good for? Separation by reverse osmosis Up to two-thirds of the water in maple sap can be separated by using reverse osmosis before the boiling process, which will I wouldnt know how to even cut the plywood the size I wanted it. Good luck this season. Sorry for my ignorance. 2. The frame is a rectangular base welded from 1 1/2 in angle iron. It measures 18 inches wide by 24 inches long. It has a mounting plate for the h February 23, 2023. One change I am making this year though is to use snap it valves rather than the brass needle valve, as I always had trouble with the brass valve leaking. Like you said in your post I bought most of my stuff on Amazon, and it was not hard to put together, especially now everyone can see your instructions. Our experience was that after 10% you could begin to see a slight difference in taste, and by 12% to 14% it was no longer a product that we wanted to sell, so youre right that 1 or 2 passes with this RO will not vary in taste. The sap will be filtered again later, after it's boiled. You definitely want to build it in series. Michelle, My first time finding your web page and read thru all of your posts. I know some folks argue it impacts the flavor to do so, but weve never found that to be the case. Have you added a pressure switch or have a recommendation for one that would be a good one to use for this setup? Give a couple of wraps of teflon tape and seal. Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trialby clicking through this link. If you decide to take the plunge, let me know what you think. This may be a good place to introduce yourself and your site or include some credits. Thanks for that suggestion. You know the ones that that filter out the impurities and leave you with wonderfully pure drinking water? Thanks again for this post! Have you noticed your syrup having a Different taste when you started using an ros system. Hi Tim. Hi Mike, I built mine last year(2021) and ran into the same issue. While researching, Ive read about some RO systems running at 100 110 PSI, however this system runs around 60. lol. It was capable of running raw sap from 2% up to 14% by running it thru multiple times. I have never run an RO system and am not quite sure how to run it. We have 110 taps and process roughly 5 gallons of sap through the RO every 45 minutes. That is insane return. Your tubing from the sap to the pump and then pump to filter you Looking forward to next year. So glad youre finding it helpful. Approaches to syrup production. Reverse osmosis is a process that can speed up syrup production by removing a significant amount of water from the sap before you put it in your evaporator. Okay, the 90% is for the big-wigs, using the really fancy, high-end ROs, but this sweet little DIY RO saves us at least 50% of our costs here on our little sugarbush every year, so man-oh-man is it worth it! Bill confuses me sometimes too. Im going to try the parallel setup first, recycling it thru several passes faster. And then the downer a material balance. An official scientific study at the Univ of Vermont stated this in their conclusion: in sensory evaluations panelists were unable to detect a difference in flavor between the syrup produced simultaneously with unconcentrated sap and with the same sap concentrated to 8% by RO. Steam the tofu 5. drizzle with maple syrup and mustard mixture. Last year, I made about 1 gallon of sap and used 4(!!!) a maple syrup producer records the amount. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. A friend is using this system and says it works great. After 3 disconnections, the tubing may be scarred and leak. I literally know nothing about this unit aside from what you read here. Our maple season can be very short and using your RO cuts boiling time down considerably. For us, producing enough syrup to last the full year plus more for gifts is part of our priority. I expected the permeate flow to be really really really low and most would just flow into the water tank. I dont have a refractometer, but the difference in taste is dramatic. Ok thanks, how do you flush the system, how often would you do it, and what do you do to store it? IS THAT MY PROBLEM? Volunteers boil it down and the park sells it. I do have a couple of questions though. Im retired and a one-man band. Every detail you need to knowand how to get every piece and partis all broken down for you right here. Hello Michelle, I am in the process of assembling my RO. Thanks. I need to get me some Sweet Maple! Michelle, fyi my issue was a bad membrane. We dont feed our sap directly into our RO. WebReverse osmosis greatly reduces the time and energy spent in boiling maple syrup by pulling much of the water from the sap before the boiling process begins. Im not understanding every item youre referring to. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window). Im about to build my unit thanks to your posting! 10. They said they could see the difference. . Thanks and happy sugaring!! We just finished putting it all together. Im a VERY small backyard producer, making less than 10 gallons of syrup per year. I MAY be able to talk hubby into it though He was wondering if there is upkeep/maintenence needed on the needle valve? Taste and see that theLordis good. Maple syrup is produced typically from maple sap concentrated by nanofiltration or reverse osmosis at a moderate Brix level ranging from 6 to 16 Brix followed by heat evaporation. Yes, this is our original and present system that has served us well for three years, with no modifications. She is a Founder and Editor of Homestead How-To and also blogs about her family's homestead life at The Happy Hive. 1/4 T (youll need 4 of them) Sharkbite item # 835039, model #25427Z, 1/4 male x 1/4 quick connect 90 (youll need 5 of them) Sharkbite item #83500, model #25433, 1/4 male x 1/4quick connect straight (youll need 8 of these) Sharkbite item #835025, model #25413Z, 3/8 x 1/4 male quick connect (just 1) Sharkbite item #835028, model #25416Z, 3/8polyethylene tubing (25 of it) item #879277, model #98634, 1/4polyethylene tubing (25 of it) item #814305, model #98584, 3/8 quick connect ball valve (just 1) Sharkbite item #835049, model #25438Z, ridgid 3/8 x 30 pex tube (30 faucet) item #751655, model #7227-30-38-2, *NOTE: the red lines in Bills drawing represent clear tubing connecting the filters in sequence above. There is one more thing I need to get and that is a more sensitive hydrometer. Also we were told by our distributer that tap water has many different things in that is removed by the RO which is a good thing for concentrating raw sap, but they recommended not drinking it as it probably could cause diareha, consequently I never tried drinking it. What pressure do you run at? Thanks, Bob. If so, I hope you love it. But the good news is there are 31 varieties of trees that can be used to make syrup (no one seems to know this so many folks think its sugar maple or nothing) and every single state in the U.S. has at least one native tree that is good for making syrup. So I asked Bill to walk me through exactly what he did to make this sweet contraption. 4. I generally have used garden hose to connect the low pressure system components together. It's universal, it's cheap and readily available. It's Also, instead of snow, mostly we get freezing rain, which can be hard on limbs. Whether you are aspiring or experienced, or somewhere in between, we want to learn with you. 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