Reverse Osmosis Water Question

Joined
Aug 22, 2004
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1,675
Location
San Antonio, Texas
Recently moved into a new to me home and under the sink is all this plumbing. I'm pretty sure it's reverse osmosis water system. The water that comes out of the drinking spigot is cloudy and tastes weird.

Are there serviceable filters under here?

Can someone please explain what I need to do to service it?

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I would say YES they are serviceable since they mention "2000 gallons or 1 year" right on the filter.
I would call that phone # (877) 693-PURE and ask them the procedure....I would think you would have to source the
filters from them anyway....I'm sure the 'service' would be to depressurize the system and change the filter...
 
A reverse osmosis cartridge looks fairly similar to the others but functions way differently. Firstly, water goes through the other cartridges. If there is a reverse osmosis cartridge look for additional hoses. Reverse osmosis takes a side stream, in that some water makes it through the membrane and the rest ( carrying the minerals) is discarded down the drain. If you don't see a drain, and hear it functioning, there is no reverse osmosis going on. More photos might help.
 
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On all our homes we've removed all previous filtering systems, mostly due to proprietary ("must buy from so-and-so supplier") parts. This included reverse osmosis systems where there also was the added cost of a continuous water flow ("we pay for every gallon used and sewer charge").

What has worked well after removal is to setup any brand (Home Depot, Lowes, Amazon, Walmart) 5-year type pre-filter (typically a very large carbon filter) and then connect a 3-part water filter with sediment, taste, membrane - quick change cartridge system (about $100 on amazon, several styles). This setup lasts for years and you do not need to change every filter at every recommended interval (some have 6 months, some have 12 months, some are based on gallons, some based on dates).

Another option is to setup a water distiller (boiled condensate is collected for drinking and cooking) but it requires lots of power and a method to dispose of the boiling hot water.
 
The blue part in the back is the reverse osmosis column or membrane. Finished treated water accumulates in the large white tank. The puck-shaped part with 4 ports is a valve that stops the incoming flow when the treated water tank is full to prevent constant use of water.

All those parts are available generically. The name on the label doesn't mean much, there are lots of little companies building these systems.
 
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I would send a sample of your water from another faucet that does not have this filtering to a outside lab and have it analyzed. The prior owners could have been sold a bill of goods. The water conditioning business is full of over priced rip off companies.
 
mk378 is on the right track. We have a similar type of system in our home, though no electrical stuff on ours. Though ours is proprietary (and the dealer would love to service it), you can find all the parts on line with a little hunting. Ebay was my friend here...

Go look on Home Depot's site - the system under your sink looks like a dead ringer for the ones they sell...

There is no continuous water flow with our reverse osmosis system. When the finished water tank is full, there is no flow. Reverse osmosis will always have waste water - they just put them in different places depending on the system. Ours currently goes down the drain.
 
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There is more than Reverse Osmosis going on here. That UV light treatment "box" (the little black one) is not part of reverse osmosis, but is an additional disinfection step. These usually are replaced annually. Likewise on the carbon filter. That is pretty much a taste and odor filter. Likewise, replace annually or sooner...according to directions or flow amount.

The IRON filter is also NOT a standard RO filtration piece, but an add on as well. Replaceable.

What you have here is a complete water treatment system where someone has anticipated Bacterial, Iron, hardness (RO water is soft) and other chemicals like sulphur (bad taste/smell) or even Nitrates (RO).

Drain flow is CONSTANT WHILE MAKING WATER, but when the tank is full, drainage stops.

In fact, this may not be a Reverse Osmosis system at all, but just filtration which is completely different. RO sysytems sold at Home Depot (and others) generally consist of three separate "filter" piped in series, with drains. I don't see that here at all.

Regardless of what this system is, if it's putting out cloudy or smelly water, it's not working right and needs repaired.
 
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Originally Posted by double vanos
I didn't realize reverse osmosis discarded some water down the drain. Here in Az that's a big no no as it is a waste of water. I like henni's idea best.


Not some, most.
 
Originally Posted by JohnG
There is more than Reverse Osmosis going on here. That UV light treatment "box" (the little black one) is not part of reverse osmosis, but is an additional disinfection step. These usually are replaced annually. Likewise on the carbon filter. That is pretty much a taste and odor filter. Likewise, replace annually or sooner...according to directions or flow amount.

The IRON filter is also NOT a standard RO filtration piece, but an add on as well. Replaceable.

What you have here is a complete water treatment system where someone has anticipated Bacterial, Iron, hardness (RO water is soft) and other chemicals like sulphur (bad taste/smell) or even Nitrates (RO).

Drain flow is CONSTANT WHILE MAKING WATER, but when the tank is full, drainage stops.

In fact, this may not be a Reverse Osmosis system at all, but just filtration which is completely different. RO sysytems sold at Home Depot (and others) generally consist of three separate "filter" piped in series, with drains. I don't see that here at all.

Regardless of what this system is, if it's putting out cloudy or smelly water, it's not working right and needs repaired.


From my reading UV lights don't do what they need to do after 12 months even if the bulb is working. So replace every 12 months.
 
Thanks for all the words of wisdom!

A filter refresh kit is $120 at Home Depot. Includes new UV light and all the filters. Wife is deciding whether or not she wants to spend that kind of money each year.
 
Really the key is what Donald said, get a good sample of the raw water and evaluate it for taste and smell as well as get it analyzed.
 
remembering from past readings removing ALL minerals with RO is NOT good as many are necessary for health!! a former olympic trainer mike colgan noted our athletes ONLY get distilled water + are fully tested $$$$ for ALL nutritients that are supplemented as needed for EACH athletes requirement! since my area added a water treatment our formerly good tasting Roaring Creek water Co in PAr became NOT so good so since then i put a "decent" IMO from research under sink filtering system NOT RO. searching will reveal many OPINIONS both professional + consumer + like "nutritional supplements" read a lot + learn as its YOUR health or NOT!! your body + $$$ your choice
 
My approach is different. I use $6 primo 5 gallon water jugs and a water cooler.
Around here I get refillable 5 gal bottles. Lowest price refill at small business water store is $0.25/gal; 5 gal is $1.25.
This is mainly to keep drinking water handy for when “the big one” hits.
 
I would send a sample of your water from another faucet that does not have this filtering to a outside lab and have it analyzed. The prior owners could have been sold a bill of goods. The water conditioning business is full of over priced rip off companies.
Yep I had a completely unnecessary rust remover that made this horrible noise when well pump water ran thru a Venturi valve to inject air. The prior old people got screwed by Culligan. The removal meant silence and also a nice pressure increase in well water.
 
A reverse osmosis cartridge looks fairly similar to the others but functions way differently. Firstly, water goes through the other cartridges. If there is a reverse osmosis cartridge look for additional hoses. Reverse osmosis takes a side stream, in that some water makes it through the membrane and the rest ( carrying the minerals) is discarded down the drain. If you don't see a drain, and hear it functioning, there is no reverse osmosis going on. More photos might help.
I’ve always found it unfortunate that reverse osmosis didn’t send its waste to a toilet or something
 
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