R/O plumbing

[Taco03]

Would anyone be so kind to describe their R/O plumbing setups? A somewhat elaborate description would be cool, pics would be great as well. Thanks in advance.

[mik]

instaid of hooking it under the sink and percing a pipe i just have it hooked up to a faucet adapter.

[mazultav]

I too use a faucet adapter, since i cant pierce the pipes in my apt.

And I just run it on the weekends, fill up a rubbermaid 20 gallon tub and keep the unit in the closet

[chaozie]

Is an ro hard to hook up or is it just pretty much screw it in and turn it on.

[SaltyDawg]

1st fill each chamber with water. then screw everything together making sure it all fits SNUGLY, using thread tape if there is none on all connections save the faucet adapter. Then run roughly ten gallons through it before putting any of the new RO water into your tank. I highly recommend using a pipe bib though versus the faucet adapter if you can. More efficient by far. Keeps constant pressure so there is less waist water. You can also hide it under the sink where it isnt in the way all the time, and keeps you from making a mess from having to hook it up and unhook it all the time.

mazultav: Sure you can . Just do it under the bathroom sink. when you move just leave the bib on and close the valve. No harm no foul as long as the land lord dosent know and you dont flood the place.

[SpitfireMk24]

we have an ro filter in my kitchen. its a bunch of filters and stuff under the sink, I never thought about it much. ours holds about 1.5 gallons, give or take, and refils every couple hours or so.

[NanoBob]

Here is a few pics of my setup:2 17 gal rubbermades(one fresh, one salt),waste line is zip tied to laundry tub, Toilet bowl float valve in container acts as a auto shutoff.

[NanoBob]

2

[NanoBob]

3

[NanoBob]

last one: not counting thr unit itself(which was free). The whole assembly was $50.00, which includes a small pump and heater.

[Tigahboy]

i have one from filterdirect. still havent set it up yet. =/ if the filter were to sit under the sink, is there a way to plumb it so you wouldn't have to make a hole in the plumbing for the drain? Luckily my apt sink pipes already had a hole for a RO/DI filter connected to the cold water source...but can't figure out how to drain the water since there is no hole for that.

[selch]

Tigahboy, I'm guessing you have plastic waste pipes under your sink? If that's the case drill the hole you need for your RO waste. When its time to move out of your apartment simply unscrew the two ends of that pipe, walk down to the local hardware store with it and get a new one. Screw it in and its fixed. It'll take you longer to go to the store for a new one than it will to replace it.

 

I'm a landlord myself and if one of my tenants did that, I'd probably never know. If I was in their unit and I saw that under the sink I probably wouldn't care as long as they repaired it when they moved out. (If they didn't fix it then I'd take a chunk out of their damage deposit.)

 

I'd be WAY more concerned with the - what 70 gallon? - tank in your apartment. If that thing broke loose the damage it would inflict would be substantial. If you have the balls to keep that, then drilling a little hole in the waste pipe of your sink is nothing.

 

Hope that helps.

[Tigahboy]

selch, thanks for the info. I think it's all metal. but I'll double check.

 

I was scared at first as well to start the 67g. But my landlord was over once and I asked her if my current set-up (30g + 20g sump) could ever be a problem and if there was a potential for it to damage the floor if there was water damage. she said that the floor is concrete/cement and not just wood, so she didnt think it was a big deal. what you think?

[imafishboy]

how does the faucet adapter, well, adapt to the faucet? is the faucet supposed to be threaded? and you screw it on? wht if it isn't threaded?

 

And if you hook it up, get the water ya need to get, then unhook it, would you have to go through the process of post-ten gallons till you could fill ur tank with it? or after the first time, its plug and play? thanks guys/gals

[Sergeant-G]

Imafishboy- most faucets are threaded. there is a screen that fits in the end of the faucet that acts as a small strainer. It needs cleaned occasionally, so you just screw the end of the faucet off and clean it. hope this helps

 

Casey

[selch]

Tigah, if your plumbing is metal its the same process. That stuff is as cheap (both price wise and quality) as the plastic pipes and just as easily replacable.

 

If your floor is concrete, then no, water on the floor would not be much of an issue as long as it doesn't ruin the drywall. (I have hardwood floors in all of my units and a 67 gallon puddle would be - um, bad.)

 

Anyway, drill away! Pure fresh water for all!

[Tigahboy]

thanks for the 411, selch.

[imafishboy]

sorry to be buggin again but i have some more questions abouthe faucet adapter. check this pic out i took off the first screw one part. and if you haven't noticed, it has no threads on the outside. so would i be able to go to home depot or something and buy a threaded attachment? its a sink faucet btw.

 

secondly, i do not think my PSI (pressure?) is high enough, is using a booster pump normal? how does this attach? to the RO unit or the faucet? i will most likely go somewhere to get a psi gauge. but wht's the reccomended psi for these units? and one more question, is the booster pump adjustable? or the higher the better?...

[selch]

Now I understand what you're talking about. You have a hose adapter on your RO unit end. Its designed to thread onto a faucet like you'd find on the outside of your house, right? You need an adapter that will screw into your sink faucet and have threads on it that you can screw your RO unit to.

 

Bring the screen part that you have in your hand in the pic and the adapter for the RO unit to Home Depot. Having those two parts with you will let you test for size at the store. See if they make an adapter that will go between the two. I'm not certain they make one but they probably do.

[imafishboy]

excellent, thank you.