Qustion about my new RO unit.

[jester805]

I ordered the Kent Marine HI-S RO unit and it showed up yesterday. I hooked it up to my kitchen sink and it seems to work flawlessly. It's rated to do 35 gallons per day. How do you guys use your RO units?? I mean, do you leave it hooked up all the time?? Do you leave the faucet water running all the time?? How do you store the purified water?? What do you do with it during the day when you aren't home?? :notsure:
I didn't realize that the pure water would only DRIP out. I guess I assumed the RO process worked faster than what it does. I'm not complaining, just looking for some ideas. I was thinking about buying a 5 gallon jug to let it drip into. Even then I couldn't let it run all day while I'm at work because it would over-flow. :notsure: For that matter, I couldn't let it run over-night either. :notsure:
Thanks.

 

[lepete]

I hook mine to a 3-gallons presurized tank. So, there's always 3 gallons on reserved. I also have tons of 5 gallons jugs. Once a while, I empty the 3 gallons into my 5 gallon jugs. I then wait 30 minutes (my RO is 90 GPD) for my RO to drip out the other 2 gallons.

 

[dogstar]

I have a pressurized tank on mine too and a ball valve on the end of the output tube so when I want water I just open the valve and close it when done. Kent makes a float switch that you could rig to a bucket that will shut off automaticly when full if you want to get one.

 

[weberian]

Mine is a 75 gpd unit that is hooked up in my basement via a Y-connector at the washing machine feed. The water goes thru a pressure-reducing valve since my city has quite high water pressure ~90 psi. It drips into two 32-gallon rubbermaid trashbarrels (one inside the other for strength) There is an air-stone in the bottom of the barrel.

 

[dischirm]

I have mine going into a 33 gallon NEW rubbermaid garbage can. It takes about a day and a half to fill it. I run it all night while sleeping and turn it off during the day while at work.
Your Kent will start putting out a little better after using it a few days. It needs to have the filters become thoroughly soaked inside. I know that sounds weird, but mine was dripping at first and now it has a SMALL stream coming out. Alot depends on your water pressure also.
I keep mine hooked up on the washing machine outlet and then change over when I need to use the machine. I also run the waste water into the washing machine when I need to do a load of laundry. It wastes a LOT of water and i try to use the water for washing.
I store the water in the garbage can with tight lid and a powerhead in there running to prevent water from becoming stagnant.

 

[lepete]

Originally Posted by Dischirm
I have mine going into a 33 gallon NEW rubbermaid garbage can. It takes about a day and a half to fill it. I run it all night while sleeping and turn it off during the day while at work.
.
Daring... like me....
So, it takes 30 minutes to fill out my 5 gallon buckets. I put my bucket on the washing machine just in case of overflow. Well, instead of 30 minutes, I left it overnight. The RO water overflowed from my 5 gallon bucket into my washing machine. Overflowed the washing machine into the basement floor. I woke up with a swoshy basement. But, my laundry was extra special that day having used the RO water ...

 

[trainfever]

Not to hijack this thread but I have a question about RO units. I bought an RO unit off of Da bay for 8 bucks and 15 shipping(couldnt beat the price). It's a Kenmore model 550. The filters were supposedly not that old. I dont know what old filters look like but these filters were clean looking. Anyway I hooked the unit to my laundry tub faucet and water started spitting out a hole in the back of the faucet. The instructions said this was normal at first until the unit was pressurized. Water never did come out of the faucet. I disconnected everything after 45 minutes because the backpressure caused my faucet to leak. (Theres never any backpressure on the faucet to begin with. I'll try the "Y" in the future). Anyway, how long does it take to get water out of the faucet when you first set up the unit?

 

[dischirm]

wow dont mean to be a smartass, but i guess you get what you pay for.
I really dont understand what your are saying about water coming out of back of faucet, but when I turn on my water, it takes about 15-30 seconds to start getting "good" water and waste water starts immediately.
Maybe call the manufacturer??

 

[trainfever]

In the back of the faucet is a "faucet airgap hole". The instructions say that in about 2 hours, pressure will start to build in the RO system and then to check for leaks on all fittings. and then on a side note it tells about the airgap hole and that water may spurt out until air is expelled from the RO system but it doesnt say how long this would take or how long it would take for water to come from the faucet. You may get water immediately now but did you when you first set up your system? I was thinking about setting up the unit on the garden hose in the back yard thinking I could hook it up whenever I needed water.

 

[dischirm]

I really dont know. I dont have any air holes in my unit. It has a fitting that treads on the faucet with tubing that goes directly into the unit and then through the unit and then a waste output tube and a good water output tube. When I first got it, it worked as soon as it filled up the unit. The air is expelled out of the unit throught the two tubes. Maybe contact the person you got the unit from on that auction site.

 

[seahorse11]

Jester, I also bought a Kent marine Maxxima HIS 60. I also hooked mine up yesterday. I spoke to a tech support guy at Kent Marine and he said that at the beginning, the unit needs to be flushed for 3-4 hours. I did that and even after 3 1/3 hours, there was only a trickle out of the blue hose and a flow out of the orange one. The blue hose has the "good" water and I cant imagine filling up my 90 gallon with only a trickle coming out. And all the wasted water coming out of the orange hose and down the drain. The tech guy said that to fill a 90 gallon will take approx 1 1/2 to 2 days. After the tank is filled, I guess I will store some extra in a rubbermaid container for top offs. I am a bit dissapointed at the amount of water I am getting and the amount of time it is going to take to fill the tank. Anyone have any suggestions?