reverse osmosis

has anyone installed one of these systems before? i was reading my instruction guide last night and it was saying something about testing my water preasure. how do you test your sinks water preasure? any advice on installing this thing would be great. thanks

 

there is actually a calculator based on having 2 faucets open and how many gallons of water you can fill in a given amount of time... I had to do this when I put in my water softener.

FYI.. My dad had an RO unit forever. I grew up with it. Loved how clean the water tasted (or didn't taste ). I have recently heard that it isnt' good to have one because the water is so clean and free of minerals that it take minerals out of your body that you need. Now I haven't looked into it but I have just heard that.

 

sorry that is for flow rate. my book says that if you call your local water department they can tell you what your pressure is for your location.

 

From what I know this is completly true. Minerals naturally cling to water particles, if they aren't going in with the water they will adsorp them from your body!

 

agreed. I was thinking the same thing as I typed it.

 

To get the most accurate reading you would want to put a pressure gauge on your main line into the house, most likely where your hot water tank gets it's water from.

 

That still wouldn't really account for the internal plumbing would it??

 

I don't think it should much, unless there are restrictors like in the shower head. The pressure in from the main should be the same as the pressure out of your tap. Where are you going to install the RO filter? At the kitchen sink? You could try and get a pressure reading at the sink? You would probably have to do some plumbing. I only mentioned the hot water tank because they usually have some sort of pipe fittings on them and would be fairly easy to attach a pressure gauge to?

 

Fair enuf- didn't really think about where the RO was going...

 

yeah i plan on putting it under the kitchen sink. i have one of those fancy facets so hooking one of those gauges up wouldnt be impossible.

 

x2.

If your still not sure call a home inspector. I worked with a home inspection company for a while and thats how we tested water pressure. Expect anywhere between 40-100 psi. Ideally you want 80ish psi water pressure. 60 is fine too though. Anything below sucks and anything about 100 or more can cause really bad problems. I was at a house once that had about 140 psi water pressure and you could hear the pipes shaking inside the walls everytime a sink or hose was turned on.

edit: you can get that part at walmart or any home improvement store such as lowes or homedepot.

 

Thanks guys. I'll let you know how the install goes. my wife is always saying pay someone to do it. f that i am do it your self kinda guy lol

 

Under your sink there should be a hose connecting a hard (copper) line to your faucet? The fitting on your faucet is probably a standard garden hose fitting, if so you should be able to rig something up from your local plumbing store to get a pressure reading. Tell them what your trying to do, and they should be able to help. Just out of curiosity, why do you need a pressure reading for a RO system? Do they want a certain pressure? Or do they want under a certain pressure, say under 60psi?

 

+1, Mine was on a well system with no problems so if you have city pressure you should have enough pressure

 

well i was reading the instructions and it said to make sure to get a water pressure reading 24 hours before installing. it says it has to be atleast 60 psi and below 100psi. my boss was saying that i am on city water and that i shouldnt have to worry about it. plus we just moved in like 4 months ago and its a brand new house. should have the right water pressure right?

 

It should be fine, when you turn your shower on does it violently pelt you with beads of water? If your worried call your water company, they should be able to tell you what pressure is at the street. If nothing else they will be able to tell you the maximum pressure you will get. Around here city water is 60 psi.