Portable Reverse Osmosis Units Speed Up Maple Syrup Production

Portable Reverse Osmosis Units Speed Up Maple Syrup Production FARM HOME Food Five years ago Ray Gingerich decided that small maple syrup producers might be interested in a portable reverse osmosis machine that would greatly reduce the boiling time to make syrup He and his son built one on wheels powered by a gas engine so it could be operated onsite right where maple sap is gathered After successful testing he now offers models in several sizes Orders are backlogged for what they call the Deer Run Maple Reverse Osmosis RO machine “Reverse osmosis removes up to 60 percent of water per pass That saves a lot of energy and time ” Gingerich says By eliminating as much as 80 percent of the water with multiple passes it takes much less time to cook sap down into syrup Gingerich who runs 17 000 taps each spring himself recommends leaving 20 percent water in order to get syrup with good flavor and color after finishing it off RO models range from 50 gal /hour to 1 200 gal /hour “We size our units for customers according to their tap count ” Gingerich says For example 500 taps producing an average of 500 gal of sap is common in his region He recommends purchasing a 125-gal /hour unit $1 995 for gas powered; $200 more for electric powered The newest model a 50-gal /hour unit $1 295 is made for backyard hobbyists The largest 1 200-gal /hour sells for $10 000 “We were the first to build small portable gas-powered models ” Gingerich notes He offers discounts for summer orders and cuts off orders for the following year on Dec 15 The Gingerichs quit building the units in the spring so they have time to tend to their own maple syrup harvest when they keep three or four reverse osmosis units running round the clock for up to eight days Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Ray Gingerich 1537 Easton Rd Orwell Ohio 44076 ph 440 422-3047

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