Systems and methods for extending water filtration membrane lifetime in self-mediated saltless whole home water treatment systems

A water treatment system comprising:

• a source of untreated water in fluid communication with an inlet line of the water treatment system;
• a pump in fluid communication with the source of untreated water;
• a membrane element in fluid communication with the pump via a membrane feed line, the membrane element configured to produce a permeate stream and a retentate stream, wherein the permeate stream is provided to a permeate line and the retentate stream is provided to a retentate line;
• an outlet line in fluid communication with the permeate line;
• a first sensor in fluid communication with the membrane element, the first sensor configured to sense a first parameter corresponding to a health of the membrane element;
• and
• a controller in electrical communication with the first sensor, wherein the controller is configured to initiate a cleaning of the membrane element.

A method of treating water, the method comprising:

• providing a water treatment system including a membrane element;
• performing diagnostics at a first time period to determine a membrane element performance, thereby determining a first diagnostic result;
• performing diagnostics at a second time period to determine the membrane element performance, thereby determining a second diagnostic result;
• and
• choosing an action depending on at least one of the first diagnostic result and the second diagnostic result, wherein the action comprises at least one of:
• initiating a physical cleaning process;
• initiating a chemical cleaning process;
• maintaining normal function of the water treatment system;
• resuming normal function of the water treatment system;
• initiating the physical cleaning process at regular intervals;
• and
• initiating the chemical cleaning process at regular intervals.