Hooking up the R/O unit.

[SquishyFish]

We just purchased an R/O unit. The instructions say that it is suppose to be hooked up under the sink. The clamp has a pin that is suppose to puncture the pipe. Is there a way to hook it up in the laundry room? I dont really want to put it under the sink, and our pipes are the mesh kind..not copper.

Squishy

 

[cj10488]

You can get adapters at just about any hardware store... You dont need to use the piercing piece.. Just take that piece to the hardware store and let them know what you are doing and they can get you a piece that will work for just a few $$$..

HTH<
James

 

[ellisz]

For the laundry room, I think you can get a Y fitting for the cold side of the water valve where your washing machine hooks up. I think it is just a garden hose Y adaptor.

HTH

 

[ClamKnuckle]

i set mine up in my laundry room
get an adapter that will fit a faucet/hose connection...more then likely the company that makes your RO will make one of them too.
i then put a 3 way valve on my cold water laundry line...water in, water to washer and water to the ro
finally i just took the drain line and put it down the drain pipe behind the washer
it took like 5 minutes start to finish to hook it up and its out of the way

 

[ClamKnuckle]

For the laundry room, I think you can get a Y fitting for the cold side of the water valve where your washing machine hooks up. I think it is just a garden hose Y adaptor

you posted while i was typing! Thats exactly what i used

 

[ellisz]

LOL. You had better detail

 

[indy]

The laundry fittings in my house is the same size as garden hose, so lawn and garden at walmart would have the Y for about a buck.

 

[kidkameleon3]

I got mine and just put it under the bathroom sink, and got the adaptor that goes into the faucet.I jsut hook it up and run the discharge into the drain and let her go .The hose is 1/8 on mine so you'll need a what ever to 1/8"

 

[PatM]

Pin Valves

Just wanted to jump in to say that I installed R/O units for a living years ago and anyone who is thinking of using one of those "pin" type valves should throw it out. A few minutes in the hardware store will open you up to tons of different options. I witnessed thousands of dollars worth of damage from these pin valves eventually leaking, usually while people were on vacation, and it was our practice to replace them if we ran into them. They are also not up to code in most areas these days for this reason, although I doubt most of my wiring for my system would pass if an inspector got a look at it. Just a word of caution.

 

[TygGer]

Anyone have pictures of their installation?

 

[PatM]

I have no photos but am willing to walk anyone through it who needs help. I did it every day for 4 years hooking r/o's up to coolers, float systems, coffee makers etc, and built a very nice custom unit before leaving the company I worked for. I have a tfc membrane (approx 25 gpd) with an auto shut-off to not waste water, three different kinds of carbon, and storage for up to 7.5 gallons at a time. I also have an extra shut off rigged to a float that I can clip to the top of a container in an emergency need for more water, and a membrane by-pass, which runs the unit through the sediment and carbon filters only if I need water quick and am willing to sacrifice a little quality.

 

[SquishyFish]

Wow..thanks for the quick responce guys. I was hoping to use the Y adapter and hook both up. Im assuming they will have a connector that will allow me to connect that little tiny hose off of the RO unit to the Y adapter right? ReefRunner said they should. (on the other thread.)


Also...The output is the hook shaped faucet thingy-ma-bobber. Are there other types that I can get to go on the end of it?


And Pat....You lost me about the 2nd sentence into your 2nd post. what did you mean by..

I have a tfc membrane (approx 25 gpd) with an auto shut-off to not waste water,

is that something I should look into?


Edit: I just realized that this posted twice! I have no idea how I did that!

 

[PatM]

The R/O membrane is the the main filter, usually has one feed line going in and two going out, good water and drain water. The membrane is basically a tighlty wrapped material that catches a large amount of tds (Total Dissolved Solids (the bad junk in the water)). Alot of people don't know but they come in many different output sizes, the TFC (thin film composite- about 20-25 gpd) being the best (most water production), and a standard the least- about 3-5 gpd. Then you also usually have two more filters, a pre filter before the membrane to catch the big junk, and a carbon after the membrane mainly intended to affect taste and odor (these were invented for drinking water systems. What kind of Y are you talking about, and yes there are all kinds of faucets, check home depot, and also you can hook these straight to a float, I have one going into an old 5 gallon water jug in the basement to store water for changes. I'm trying to remember where I saw these floats for sale online, I plundered mine years ago when I worked for........ And the auto shut off, it's just something to think about, most r/o's dump 20+ gallons down the drain daily without an auto shut off, being earth concious I hate wasting that much water just to make 3 gallons of good water.

 

[SquishyFish]

I have a float designed to work with a refill system on a tank, but I would have no idea how to hook it up.

The auto shut off...is that water that is discarded while filtering or after? I guess what I am asking is "is that a by product of the RO or just water that isnt being filtered?"

How would I go about hooking up the float and the auto shut off? Remember, you are talking to someone that can run the lines for a tank, but thats about it. I know little to nothing about hooking this up.

Squishy

 

[PatM]

If you can get your hands on an auto shut off it should come with instructions but basically it has two fittings on one side and four on the other. The two side is for feed water (unfiltered water) and back out to the membrane. Then on the other side one fitting will take filtered water out of the membrane, one to the drain, one to the faucet and one to the storage tank. As far as the float you can use standard 1/4 inch fittings, mine is threaded and takes a 1/4 inch compression fitting with a nut, a ferrule (the thing that goes around the tubing and holds it in place) and insert ( the thing that goes in the tubing to keep the nut from crushing it. I will look into where to get auto shut offs, although I might be willing to part with one I have just to see a little less water get wasted. As far as what comes out of this auto shut off ( which usually has a flow control incorporated in it) it is waste water, or bad stuff taken from the membrane. Unfortunately when the storage tank is full the drain water just runs straight through to this drain on the membrane and goes down your drain. Flow Control def: a flow control, which you have whether you hve an auto shut off or not just regulates the water going through, basically creating enough pressure to fill the storage tank which is also pressurized. Does that help?

 

[SquishyFish]

Unfortunately when the storage tank is full the drain water just runs straight through to this drain on the membrane and goes down your drain. Flow Control def: a flow control, which you have whether you hve an auto shut off or not just regulates the water going through, basically creating enough pressure to fill the storage tank which is also pressurized. Does that help?

This is the part that I a little fuzzy on. Are you saying that once my tank is full, the water will just continuously flow to the drain? Kind of the equivalent of turning the faucet on and lettin it run for no reason?

 

[lando]

I hung mine in the laundry room but the facet to the tub sink was not threaded and I had a heck of a time finding one that would fit. I have exposed copper pluming to the sink in there so I just shut off the water, removed a small section of the pipe, put in an in-line facet (like an outside hose facet with a hand valve) Sweated the pipe together and screwed on the hose fitting from the RO/DI unit. Now when I want it on, I just open the valve and let it run. After the auto shut off trips on my collection tub, I just shut it off and wait till I run out of water.

 

[PatM]

Yes, unfortunately it does run aimlessly once the tank fills. lando has a good idea, but turning off an R/O can be detrimental to the membrane, once dried out they are useless, and everytime you turn it on and off many off the particles and tds suspended in your filters will get jiggled loose and propelled into your system, kind of like when you shut off a water main and all that junk comes out for ten minutes before the water runs clear.

 

[lando]

Yes, those are valid concerns, but I run mine frequnrly enough that the membanes do not dry out and I have installed a backwash system to relieve the filters of unwanted particles. Bear in mind that as a filter natually "clogs" with particualtes, it will actually fitler out to a smaller micron rating. This is, of course, to a point. It does become counter productive at a point.

 

[PatM]

You are correct, if you can keep it flushed and run frequently enough then there shouldn't be any problems short term. However, testing shows, I assembled, tested, serviced and installed units for 4 years, that shutting down units even for short periods of time, and the pressure of back flowing will reduce the life of your membrane. At $100 a pop I try to get every minute out of the unit. We used to "flush" the membrane at every service call, and when we changed filters we would bring them back to the shop and flush and test them, and this flushing will blow holes in the membrane over time. The only real way to tell is with a TDS meter and mine was property of the company I worked for so I don't test tds anymore. I do change my pre(2) and carbons (3) ever 8-12 months and my membrane yearly. This was about the average life I saw in the field, but I use this system for my family of 4's drinking water as well. Also, without a tds meter it's really hard to tell what your r/o system is doing, although the best way to tell is the speed it runs. When a membrane goes bad it will usually run unusually fast or unusually slow.