Anyone good at hooking up R/O's?! Just bought one from PureWaterClub. Plumbers unite!!

irish1985

New Member
Recently bought an R/O from PureWaterClub. From the research I did, most seemed to be satisfied with the product, especially for the $. I was a bit worried about it being a small company with no phone support, as I’m a complete moron when it comes to plumbing and general “handy-man” type stuff…I feel like Homer Simpson when I need to set up a TV stand that I buy from BestBuy. With that being said, has anyone here bought one of the R/O’s from PureWaterClub? Check out the pics below, and maybe you can help me get this baby running:

Hopefully when this post goes through the photo above shows up a bit larger than it's looking for me right now - but basically, I have the three tubes...one for the incoming tap water, one for the outgoing R/O water, and one for the waste water. I'm hooking up to where I believe a washer and dryer were once setup...PVC piping with a standard hose faucet. I quickly noticed I don't have anything to pierce the pipe, so I was advised to buy this (just the white adapter, not the whole faucet) which is only 6 bucks:

I guess my question is, what the heck are all these extra parts that I have and what is their function (see pic below)!? The customer service for PureWaterClub speaks very broken english, so it's hard to follow, and my directions aren't the greatest...and again, I'm the type of person who needs to have my hand held when it comes to this type of stuff
...

From what I've gathered, I believe #1 is the "Saddle Clamp Drain Valve", which from my understanding would be used if I was interested in collecting the waste water for some reason? I could be wrong on that. Does anyone collect their waste water? What reasons would one do this? Not knocking it, just curious! #5 is obviously used to loosen/tighten the three big canisters on the R/O unit. I think #7 is just an extra tube incase one of mine breaks. This leaves me to wonder what the rest of these parts are... #2 - no clue. I believe #3 is the "1/4" Tube Straight Ball Valve" (whatever that means) and it has an on/off switch. #6 is obviously a wrench, but for what? #4 is a small, black, rubber ring. I scoured the PureWaterClub website but can't seem to find these exact parts or a dummy-proof explanation on what their purpose is. Thanks in advance!
 

scsinet

Active Member
#1 - Yes, that is a saddle drain valve. You drill a small hole in a PVC sewer/drain line, then clamp the valve over the top of it. They do not self-pierce like supply-saddle valves. You would use this if you were NOT collecting waste water, but rather just wanted to get rid of it.
People collect waste water for many things and sometimes come up wtih fairly elaborate schemes for doing so. Watering plants, washing clothes, etc are all things you can do with it. Personally, I have no issues just letting it go down the drain since all that water ends up back in the ground and in the water table anyway. I ran my drain hose outside the house where it dumps into the garden.
#2 - I have no clue what that is either.
#3 - Yes, it's an inline valve.
#4 - That looks like an o-ring, likely for seating one of the other parts.
#5 - Canister wrench.
#6 - Probably a cheap wrench to tighten that #3 valve or something along those lines.
If I had to guess, #2, #3, #4, and #7 all form a backflush system, but I can't be sure.
 

irish1985

New Member
Thanks for the reply SCSI!
#1 - This is probably a stupid question, but since i'm hooking up to where a washer/dryer use to be, can I simply place the R/O waste water tube freely inside my PVC drain pipe? See first photo I posted (my PVC drain pipe is on the far left...at least I THINK that's a drain pipe
). If I went with this menthod, I think it would mean I don't need to bother with the "saddle drain valve" (part #1)?
Turns out, parts #2, 3, and 4 all connect to form one part (pic below - I color-labeled the open ends in an attempt to more easily go back and fourth through email about what's what with the customer service rep). From my understanding, this part is only used when you're tapping into the cold water supply (hence the on/off switch)...since I'm hooking up to a hose/laundry faucet, I just bought that adapter instead (still waiting for it to come in), and from what I've gathered I won't need this piece (parts #2, 3, and 4). They confirmed that #7 is just a spare tube (which I will probably need to connect to my hose/laundry adapter if it doesn't come with one). Now my only question is how do you turn this thing on/off?!

Quote:
Originally Posted by SCSInet http:///forum/thread/386220/anyone-good-at-hooking-up-r-o-s-just-bought-one-from-purewaterclub-plumbers-unite#post_3391201
#1 - Yes, that is a saddle drain valve. You drill a small hole in a PVC sewer/drain line, then clamp the valve over the top of it. They do not self-pierce like supply-saddle valves. You would use this if you were NOT collecting waste water, but rather just wanted to get rid of it.
People collect waste water for many things and sometimes come up wtih fairly elaborate schemes for doing so. Watering plants, washing clothes, etc are all things you can do with it. Personally, I have no issues just letting it go down the drain since all that water ends up back in the ground and in the water table anyway. I ran my drain hose outside the house where it dumps into the garden.
#2 - I have no clue what that is either.
#3 - Yes, it's an inline valve.
#4 - That looks like an o-ring, likely for seating one of the other parts.
#5 - Canister wrench.
#6 - Probably a cheap wrench to tighten that #3 valve or something along those lines.
If I had to guess, #2, #3, #4, and #7 all form a backflush system, but I can't be sure.
 

tangs rule

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by irish1985 http:///forum/thread/386220/anyone-good-at-hooking-up-r-o-s-just-bought-one-from-purewaterclub-plumbers-unite#post_3391221
Thanks for the reply SCSI!
#1 - This is probably a stupid question, but since i'm hooking up to where a washer/dryer use to be, can I simply place the R/O waste water tube freely inside my PVC drain pipe? See first photo I posted (my PVC drain pipe is on the far left...at least I THINK that's a drain pipe
). If I went with this menthod, I think it would mean I don't need to bother with the "saddle drain valve" (part #1)?
Turns out, parts #2, 3, and 4 all connect to form one part (pic below - I color-labeled the open ends in an attempt to more easily go back and fourth through email about what's what with the customer service rep). From my understanding, this part is only used when you're tapping into the cold water supply (hence the on/off switch)...since I'm hooking up to a hose/laundry faucet, I just bought that adapter instead (still waiting for it to come in), and from what I've gathered I won't need this piece (parts #2, 3, and 4). They confirmed that #7 is just a spare tube (which I will probably need to connect to my hose/laundry adapter if it doesn't come with one). Now my only question is how do you turn this thing on/off?!
#1 - Yes that's what I do with my waste line.
#2 - Since your plumbing the rodi input into the cold water line to your washer - use it's on/off OR buy another tiny ball valve that'd go inline to the input line to cut it off.
 

irish1985

New Member
#1 - good to know, thanks!
#2 - so basically just keep an eye on it and use the faucet handle to manually turn the water + ro unit on/off? unless i want to get some sort of on/off switch to plug into the line, which seems like it would serve the same purpose as manually twisting the faucet on/off?
Quote:
Originally Posted by tangs rule http:///forum/thread/386220/anyone-good-at-hooking-up-r-o-s-just-bought-one-from-purewaterclub-plumbers-unite#post_3391223
#1 - Yes that's what I do with my waste line.
#2 - Since your plumbing the rodi input into the cold water line to your washer - use it's on/off OR buy another tiny ball valve that'd go inline to the input line to cut it off.
 

scsinet

Active Member
To turn the system on and off, you definitely want a float valve. I used to do it as you say, by just keeping an eye on it, but I flooded my garage too many times.
The pictures you posted indicate that you've already got an ASOV on your system, which is the most important part. Simply add a float valve and mount it in a bucket or other collection container, and you're golden.
This is how the whole thing should look when you are done.
 

irish1985

New Member
Good to know, thanks a lot. I've got my RO hooked up in a closet that's on the same level and very close to my kitchen/living room, so a flood would not be good (and I rent, so it's not even my house). I'll invest in a float valve
Thanks again
Quote:
Originally Posted by SCSInet http:///forum/thread/386220/anyone-good-at-hooking-up-r-o-s-just-bought-one-from-purewaterclub-plumbers-unite#post_3391467
To turn the system on and off, you definitely want a float valve. I used to do it as you say, by just keeping an eye on it, but I flooded my garage too many times.
The pictures you posted indicate that you've already got an ASOV on your system, which is the most important part. Simply add a float valve and mount it in a bucket or other collection container, and you're golden.
This is how the whole thing should look when you are done.
 
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