un-plumbed RO unit

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cichness

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 6, 2008
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michigan
so lets say you have an RO unit.... lets also say you dont want to plumb it into the house because.....

1) you dont know how
2) parents probably wont let you
3) dont know how long you will live here

lets also say you have biggish barrels and some plumbing parts and a powerhead/pump

how would one go about setting up an RO unit to be powered by a powerhead or pump, and just fill one barrel with tap water, and run the RO unit on that to fill the "pure water" barrel
 
Well this can be done, what you need is an RO pump though not a power head, RO units work by pressure, the more the better. i think most R/O units need like 50 to 60PSI.

How I would set this up is put the barrel above the R/O unit, then put a bulkhead in the bottom of the barrel and plumb the r/o pump into the gravity feed bulkhead.

example
http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/3086/R-O-Booster-Pump
 
Plumbing an ro unit in is not rocket science. I know nothing about plumbing but installed ours no problem at all. Most models connect via a needle that is inserted in to the water pipe. Clamp the connector onto the pipe and turn the needle which pierces the pipe to give maximum pressure. With the system off nothing happens, only when on does it start to produce. Hope that helped
 
Do you have a laundry sink or utility sink?

I'm not familiar with a five stage, but is it just one in, an out, and a waste line?
 
yup, one in, one out, and waste. i have the bath room sink with a small tiny faucet. and my moms hair dresser sink in the next room.

it my not be a 5 stage, i just said that cuz its what got typed lol. its got 3 horizontal chambers and 3 verticals.

float valve was rusted all to hell so i removed it to try and find a new one. the "in" line has a hose fitting (garden hose style)
 
That would be a six stage then. You may have said six earlier. I was thinking of adapting to a fittling like that to use on a laundry tub. If you want to mount it under your sink, if you have copper plumbing, you can use the tap mentioned above (I think post #2). Another easy way is to get a splitter for the valve under your sink. It screws into the current valve and gives you two outlets for the same valve. You can also install a new pipe above the P-trap with a dishwasher waste tube. You can get all of the parts at Lowes. If the RO system is only for reef water and not because of bad quality tap water, you may be able to use the waste water for your freshwater tanks (check the quality first). Collect it in another barrel and keep an air stone running in it for aging.
 
yea its just for my salt tank and ATO. the float valve will keep it from running when i dont want it to right? i wont have to worry about flooded valves?
 
Yeah, it will prevent floods. However, it is really wastefull when it is in drip mode. The waste line supposedly will run at full force. I don't know why, but that is the word over at Reef Central. The solution is to use solenoids and float switches instead.

You could use a float valve as a fail safe, and then just keep an eye on the barrel when it fills.
 
hmm... i dk what the solenoids would be used for... im new to the plumbing thing, so forgive the lack of knowledge, but at least i was smart enough to ask for help BEFORE i flooded my house lol
 
The solenoid is an electric valve (easiest way to explain it). It will be either completely on or completely off. It won't drip or cause partial flow from the RO/DI unit. The idea is to prevent huge amount of water being wasted.
 
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