RO/DI unit questions...

my5girls

Member
I am looking into getting a RO/DI unit. I found one with 110 gpd at an ---- store. They also had a garden hose attachment. anyone know anything about it? Does that mean I can run it from my outside faucet with the hose attachment? I really don't have anywhere I can set it up except my hallway bathroom which is not close to the tank, and the sink is not very condusive to getting a bucket under to fill it. Maybe I am misunderstanding what this attachment is for?
 

scsinet

Active Member
Yes, that is what this fitting is for. If you live in any climate which might freeze, it's really not such a good idea to put the unit outside, though. One good freeze will burst the canisters and wreck your RO membrane, not to mention that the water it produces will be so cold you'll almost have to heat it before you can top off with it.
I suggest a laundry room. It's an ideal place as most people don't mind putting the ugly unit there, it's got a garden hose hookup that can be shared with the wash machine via a simple (BRASS.. NOT PLASTIC) "Y" garden hose fitting, and has a drain nearby for waste water.
You can also put it anywhere in the house there is a cold water pipe (and a drain nearby or a place where you can drill a hole to the outside). A simple saddle valve can be installed on any copper water line, and it has the 1/4" compression fitting for the polyethelene tubing that RO units have... just cut the hose fitting off.
You can get the saddle valve at any nameless home improvement store in the same place they sell the icemaker hookup kits.
 

my5girls

Member
So how would it work if I set it up in the laundry room? I am pretty clueless about it. Does it sit on the floor behind the washer? Will the water come out when I turn a valve or what? Can I hook it into the faucet only as needed and then bring it inside when not in use? I will let the water sit and mix overnight so temp. should not be a problem. Is is easy enough to attach to the faucet that I can just hook it up as needed? If I did use it in the hallway bathroom, as the laundry room is pretty crowded, are there any hose attachments for the sink faucets that I could run into a big bucket on the floor? Thank you so much!! I really am clueless about these units.
 

scsinet

Active Member
Welll... let's take this one bit at a time.
1. In theory, you COULD just take it outside when you need to, but I'll bet that becomes a pain in the butt sooner than later. I am also not sure whether you'll affect the water quality produced by constantly moving the unit around. Shaking it around as would happen will almost certainly knock debis loose from the filter and it'll get into your water. Additionally, consider that the thing basically fills completely up with water when you first turn it on. Wherever you store it, count on water leaking out, etc as you move it.
2. Water will come out when you turn on the valve, or shortly thereafter, but even with a 110 GPD unit, expect a tricke more than a flow. Don't expect to just set it up, fill a bucket, and go back inside. It'll take some time to fill a bucket or pitcher with water, especially when you do a water change and need a lot of water.
3. It is easy to hook up to an outside faucet, but I don't know of any adapters to hook them up to an inside sink. That goes back to the saddle valve I talked about. You may have enough room where the pipes protrude from the wall to fit a saddle valve on there to run your unit. You still have to contend with the waste water. Depending on how bad your tap water is, your unit will produce varying amounts of waste water. I'd figure that for every 100 gallons your unit produces, you'll get at least 150 gallons of waste water.
Your best bet at this point would be to pair up the unit with a storage tank. I am almost positive that Sears and Lowe's both sell them. They hook up to the output of your RODI unit under the sink and store some water.. usually about 3 gallons or so.. and provide a faucet that you install at counter level to get the water out. That gets into some plumbing though, and given what you are telling me of your experience level you might be better off hiring a plumber to do it. Expensive as that may be, it would give you a separate faucet up at counter level to fill your containers.
 
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