Reverse Osmosis systems

[Ryland]

I am starting to work on the new kitchen and want to put a water filtration system into place for drinking water. One of the methods would be a reverse osmosis system. Is there any reason why I couldn't put the hardware for it in the basement (directly under the kitchen cabinet) instead of right under the sink?

Should I be looking at other options instead of a RO system?

 

[MadMechMaster]

That's where mine is. The plus is that you can select a larger storage tank, and run a line to the ice maker.

Due to possibly having more space, you can look at larger units.

 

[clkimmel]

I don't see any reason you can't put the RO system in the basement and run the water line to the kitchen. You should use plastic -not copper- line going to the faucet, the RO water will leach metals out of the line. I have been thinking about putting in an RO system in my attached garage and running the output to my refridgerator instead of installing the small faucet in my counter top.

 

[Frank The Plumber]

Any place you would like.

 

[z28snksknr]

No reason why you can't remote mount it as long as you have a good destination for the waste stream generated. I have a RO/DI unit under my kitchen cabinet that uses a saddle fitting to tap into the sink drain line. I use mine for purifying water to make aquarium saltwater (hence the addition of the Dionization unit (DI). I assume a home unit would come with some sort of surge tank to hold a couple gallons of water since the RO systems are usually pretty slow. Mine is 100 gallons per day, so 5 gallons takes >1 hrs. or so.

Unless you have some nasty stuff in your water, I would think a sediment filter + 2 stage charcoal filter should suffice for high quality drinking water. RO is a bit overkill IMO.

 

[Ryland]

My water is coming off a well and already run though a softener. We are just trying to make it taste a bit cleaner.

Are you talking about something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/DUAL-BIG-BLUE-W...all_Kitchen_Appliances_US&hash=item1e63acc8b6

 

[kbs2244]

For sure follow the advice on useing plastic for the plumbing.
At my FL place the town put in RO for the whole system.
Now houses with copper pipes are springing leaks all over town.

 

[Ryland]

For sure follow the advice on useing plastic for the plumbing.
At my FL place the town put in RO for the whole system.
Now houses with copper pipes are springing leaks all over town.

Will do. I was going to run the RO (or other filtered water) to both my sink dispenser and fridge input (which only has an icemaker).

 

[kchalle]

Hey Culligan man.

 

[z28snksknr]

My water is coming off a well and already run though a softener. We are just trying to make it taste a bit cleaner.

Are you talking about something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/DUAL-BIG-BLUE-W...all_Kitchen_Appliances_US&hash=item1e63acc8b6

yes. I would opt for a 2 stage charcoal filtration just for some overdesign, but that would work well enough and you could mount it anywhere in the line - no waste stream to deal with. Since the RO membrane is the rate limiting step, it will handle a higher flow rate as well - no surge tank needed.

 

[eldirector]

I have a Kenmore-branded RO filter under my kitchen sink. Feeds the drinking water tap there, and also the icemaker in the freezer. Works pretty well, though the cartridges are pricey. Space for a larger tank would be really nice. I thought about putting the tank in the crawlspace, but made it fit in the cabinet instead.

I'm on a well also, with a greensand filter and softener.

 

[Ryland]

I wonder if it would be worth going with a whole house filtration system after my softener but that seems like overkill plus I would still pickup taste from the copper lines.

The only 2 stage charcoal filters I am finding are whole house ones.

 

[z28snksknr]

Here's a good comparison chart of various water filtration systems for drinking water. Note that the top rated systems do not contain RO units. It appears that most of these systems tested do not include an RO step.

water filter comparison

RO will remove molecules that are larger than water. This means calcium, magnesium, iron, salt, etc. that can give water "flavor" (as in good flavor). Water bottling companies often will use RO units to strip their "feedstock" to realtively pure water, then add calcium, magnesium, and other things to give the water that "fresh from the spring" taste.

 

[z28snksknr]

I wonder if it would be worth going with a whole house filtration system after my softener but that seems like overkill plus I would still pickup taste from the copper lines.

The only 2 stage charcoal filters I am finding are whole house ones.

Again, 2 charcoal stages are not required, but niec to have since they extend the time between switching out elements.

 

[Ryland]

water filter comparison

Nice chart, thanks!

 

[bigdav160]

Now houses with copper pipes are springing leaks all over town.

Would not be a problem with the pH and nothing to do with RO?

 

[RPH]

Trouble with drinking DI or RO water is the need to balance the minerals back. Hence the body gives them up. It will leach calcium from the bones if needed.

 

[LeonardY]

Some refrigerator manufacturers specifically say do not use RO filtration. I know that some of that has changed recently but it might be wise to check. I use a multi-filter charcoal system for the refrigerator. There was no way to get a hose to the refrigerator from the sink.

 

[Hmrhead]

I have ours in the basement as well. Plastic lines to fridge and drinking fixture at sink. Like z28snksknr I use ours to make water for our salt water aquarium. 75 gpd unit.

 

[Ryland]

I am leaning away from the RO unit since our water isn't actually that bad. I will probably go with at least the 2 stage charcoal based filtering method.

 

[Ryland]

is there a reason to go with a system like this http://www.aquascience.net/gac/index.cfm?id=211 which would filter all of the houses water? Wouldn't I still pick up some metallic taste from the copper piping?

 

[z28snksknr]

I think the copper issue is more from the RO water being "starved" for dissolved solids (ions, metals, buffers like calcium, etc) that is pulls copper out of the pipes. It's not good to drink RO water, as stated in recent posts for that reason.

On the other hand, I use RO water from my unit for cleaning carpets - it dissolves so well and rinses clean. I have a tee upstream of the RO unit if I want "drinking quality water" that's gone through sediment and charcoal filtration. My tap water is good enough though that I never really use it for that.