R/O unit - do I want a faucet?

[Erin Kerrik]

Looking at the R/O units available at home or aquarium stores:

The under-the-kitchen-sink kind looks a lot harder to install than the aquarium style without the faucet.

At 24 gal/day it seems "no faucet" may weigh in on usability as well.

Can the faucet be turned on and left on or does it flip back?

tHOUGHTS ON FAUCET/NO FAUCET?

tHANKS.

 

[BudGood2006]

Look at MarineDepot.com, they have a float set available that'll shut off water to the RO when the float valve is activated, meaning you can buy a RO (the aquarium variety) at a cheaper price than the home depot versions, which don't put out much water and usually have too small of a water tank. You can make a res out of a trashcan, or whatever size container you need, hook it (the RO) up with a Y connection to the cold line of the washer hookup, and have the res constantly filled, without the RO system running all the time, which wastes water BIGTIME. I'm really high, so if I missed anything, please ask.

 

[Erin Kerrik]

Good advice - thanks!

 

[BudGood2006]

Another thing I neglected to mention, I used a Brute 20 gallon trashcan for a water container, I put a 3/4 drain and ballvalve at the bottom of the trashcan, on the side. This way, I have RO water on tap. Works great.

 

[bartender187]

The R/O units im familiar with require a good amount of pressure to operate. Could you link the R/O unit that you use that works on the pressure of gravity? thanks

 

[nUt_jOb]

Erin - take a look at this setup. It has a screw in to a garden hose connection and then the drain is directed to the utility connection drain (where a washer would drain to) in this utility closet. There is a float valve to stop the RO flow when the can is full and a fish tank pump that pressurizes the hose when in use.

This is a slick little setup and done for less than 50 bucks (not incl RO sys).

That RO pictured is the spectra pure $300 dual membrane one.. now I want you ppl to understand why it was twice as expensive as the other systems.. lmake sure you understand a RO units rated output (not GPD) between filter changes and if it is not published dont buy the system. The RO systems you can find on ebay for $150 are normally rated at about 100 gallons per month (600 gal between filter changes which should happen every 6mo).. thats not enough if you have a 25 gal res or more.. this spectra pure is rated at 1000 gallons per month (6000gal/6mo).

 

[Erin Kerrik]

Everyone here is awesome! How did people grow anything inside before the Internet?

Going to the fish store and HD plumbing dept with $200. Coming back with R/O unit and stuff for DIY bubble cloner ... inshallah.

 

[nUt_jOb]

Your welcome Erin.. how did your setup come out by the way? and Im just curious are you fem?

 

[Erin Kerrik]

Nutjob -

I got a CoraLife 24 GPD R/O unit which has an add-on float stop-valve for $30. There were two price tags on the unit, 179 and 149 ... got it for $149. Got an 18 gallon "reservoir" from HomeDepot for $4.50. Still need to drill a hole for the valve.

I believe this will work fine - it's for soil (& drinking) - we have the hardest water in the region here.

 

[nUt_jOb]

thats going to be a usable little setup. I didnt even know they came in a 24GPD capacity.. should be fine for a soil gro tho.