Help with RO system intall

[Spartan1979]

I was trying to install my new RO system today but I'm confused. Here is a picture of what I have, the white hose on the right goes to the three prefilters.

Per the instructions got, the blue tubing goes to the tank. The black is the drain. The unit came with all these tubes installed.

What goes to the faucet? There aren't any ports left.

The instructions also say that I'm supposed to remove the flow restrictor to flush the system but I'm not seeing that either.

Thanks.

 

[ajdelange]

There would be a 'T' at the tank. One arm would connect to the blue tube, one to the tank and the third to the faucet. In many systems the faucet also contains an air gap (required by code in most states). The black tube would connect to that and and outlet on the faucet unit would go to the drain.

I'm guessing that the 'flow restrictor' is built into the automatic shutoff device which is in the little square 4-port thingy.

 

[Spartan1979]

All I got for the tank was just a valve.

There's no air gap in this system, but my basement would have to be flooded for stuff to go the other way.

Hopefully the vendor will respond tomorrow.

 

[ajdelange]

Then you'll have to put a T in the tank line. Looks like John Guest fittings to me - easy enough to obtain though what you use doesn't have to be John Guest - any T will do that connects. Did the faucet come with any tubing?

As to the air-gap: any gap will do i.e. fixing the concentrate line to a wall above a drain is considered fine.

 

[Spartan1979]

I was studying the pictures on eBay for what I bought and it looks there there's supposed to be a tee at one end of the filter that comes after the RO membrane. No hose for the faucet either. I'll have to see what Lowe's has.

 

[Spartan1979]

One more question. I got three filters, a 1 micron sediment filter, a 5 micron sediment filter and a carbon filter.

The vendor says the filters should go:

1 micron filter
carbon filter
5 micron filter

Does this make sense? What's the point of putting the 5 micron filter after the 1 micron filter. Won't the 1 micron filter everything the 5 micron would (and more) leaving nothing for the 5 micron filter to filter?

 

[ajdelange]

Not to me. But I'd check with the vendor. He may actually have a valid reason such as the carbon block filter shedding 4u chunks of stuff.

 

[Spartan1979]

I was told this:

The purpose of putting the least micron filter first is to help you evaluate when you need your to change your filters. the 1 micron sediment will pick most of the sediment, if any are left over at all, the 5 micron will pick up, simple all purpose set up. However a couple months to a year down the line, with use, your 1 micron is going to start to go bad, changing from white to a orange/brown color, as a filter should do, has it continues to pick up sediment, making it least effective. At this point your 5 micron will start to take up the bulk of the sediment that the 1 micron cannot anymore. now has for you, this is important, your system came with clear housing so that so you can visibility look at both filters and begin to get general understanding of when it is time to change your filter through visibility looking at the color change, the 5 micron will also hold up for a while as you order your filters so you can still have drinking water while you wait. I would suggest taking a look at the two sediment filter at least once a year or 6 to 8 months for more accurate results.

Seems strange to have a 5 stage filtration system where one of the stages is basically a backup. I put the five micron first then the one micron filter and finally the charcoal filter. But it might make sense to switch the last two.