Reverse Osmosis – RO Systems

Installing a Reverse Osmosis (RO) system is rather easy.  But wait, what is a RO system and why would I want one in my home or place of business?  The simple answer is: an RO system is a type of water filtration system and you may want, both for health reasons, and to save money.

Saving Money
Lets start off with how it can save you money.  How much money do you spend on bottled water a month?  Well, if you are like most people, its probably a lot.  Now you can create your own bottled water with an RO system.
Health Reasons
The next issue is health reasons.  Most municipal water is safe to drink as the water is treated.  One item that can be a health risk is lead.  Old cities tend to have more lead in the water system because they have older pipes.  While the pipes in your home may be new, the pipes that are underground may be old.  The pipes that go from the Buffalo box to your meter.  An RO system greatly reduces metals such as lead, copper, pesticides, herbicides, and will also remove odors as well as the bad taste.
RO Systems
Now that you have two reasons, you may want an RO system. So let’s take a look into the terminology, and how they work.  We will also look at the pro’s and con’s, type of filters, and more.  We mentioned some of the pros above as what an RO system can remove from your water, plus help save money.  Some of the downsides to Ro systems are: they work slowly and only produce between 3 and 25 gallons a day, depending on your system.  RO systems also waste a lot of water.  For each gallon of filtered water, it waste about 3 gallons.
Installing an RO system
Once you buy your RO system, now it is time to install it.  Some people install their system under the sink, I like to install then in the basement.  It frees up more room under the sink.  Now if you don’t have a basement, then you will have to put it under the sink, or you can put it in a utility room and run a line to your sink.  Installing a RO system is very easy.  All you need to do is mount the reservoir and the filters.  Once you have these mounted, all you need to do is drill a small hole in your sink where you want your faucet to be placed.  Then you just run a line from your RO system to the faucet.  You should be able to use a saddle valve, like the one in the picture, to tap into your water source.
Maintenance
An RO system is not a set and forget system.  You do need to do regular maintenance on these systems.  We would recommend looking at your systems owner’s manual to see what they recommend.  However, most manufacturers recommend changing the filter every 4-6 months, and back-flushing the membrane every year.  Back-flushing is very easy to do. All this means is it cleans out the membrane to make it work more efficiently.