RO question...

I hooked up my GE RO filter. And i need to do a water change this week so im trying to figure out the best thing to do.

The problem is, i acquired this unit. First of all, the way this thing hooked up was a fitting that screwed on to the supply pipe under the sink, then i bought a male adapter to keep the line going up to the faucet.

The RO kind of parasites on the fitting with what is probably 1/4" plastic tubing. It just screws on to a compression fitting that comes off the piece that i screwed onto the pipe. First question is, is this how yours is? I dk if this came with it, or if it was a jury rig from the last guy.

This is my real problem though - i am getting MAYBE 5 GPD out of this right now. It trickles through. Comes out as a nice steady stream....just slow and steady. The guy said "it didnt need filters for 6 months because i just changed em six months ago"... that seems like a long time to me? Don't have a TDS meter so dont ask AZ (BTW do you work for spectrapure?)

My first test was going to be what AZ suggested on another question...take the filters out one by one and see what needs to be replaced.... go from there. The pressure at this location is pretty good. dont have a meter so i dont know exactly.

Last question is - is the DI part the part that takes out Po4? Because i tested po4 (mostly out of curiosity and boredom) before and after RO. Before i am getting .5 PPm. After i am getting 1PPM. So its actually going up... not really what im going for here, ya know?

 

RO GPD or output is dependent on several things. First is water pressure. GE says it takes 65 psi to produce whatever your membrane is rated at, so a 100 GPD membrane would in theory produce 100 gallons in a 24 hour period or about 8.8 ounces a minute if everything else is perfect. By that I mean a water temperature of 77 degrees F., a waste ratio of no more than 4:1 and a softened tap water TDS no higher than 500 ppm.

Now, most of us don't have 65 psi out of the tap, strike 1. Our water is also usually colder than 77 degrees, especially in winter months, strike 2. Most RO or RO/DI units don't have the ability to adjust the flow restrictor so you may have greater than 4:1 waste ratio which could be another strike.

You really really need to know the water pressure and water temperature at an absolute minimum in order to do any troubleshooting at all. You also need to know exactly which RO membrane you have for sure. If its a 25, 35, 50 or 60 GPD membrane you may doing great, if its a 100 GPD maybe not so great.

If the filters are 6 months old, change them. 6 months is the recommended lifespan or you may be doing more harm than good. Without a TDS meter and pressure gauge you have no idea.
Many adapters look like the black plastic one at the bottom of the page here:
PLUMBING ACCESSORIES FOR RO

Others may look like this:
John Guest Brass Female Connector (Garden Hose) - 1/4 x 3/4 - 11.5 NH - FreshWaterSystems.com

Its possible someone rigged yours up out of various fittings, it really doesn't matter what it looks like as long as it works and doesn't leak.

I don't work for Spectrapure or any other RO vendor. I'm actually employed by a large nationally recognized water/wastewater/environmental engineering firm.
I use and recommend Spectrapure products though as I find them to be the only truly innovative RO/DI manufacturer around today. The others assemble readily available off the shelf components and stick their name on them while Spectrapure pioneers much of what they sell and are unique in that way. No one else tests their membranes and offers a performance guarantee, or researches, tests and blends all their DI resins in house for optimum perfromance, or spent years researching a way to build a low waste RO/DI like the UHE.

 

I can help with a few questions. As far as the parasite fitting, it is acually common. Most RO units are sold with them because they are so easy to setup. I have the same fitting and I have never had a problem yet.

AZ answered most questions already, and as he stated, you might not get a full flow because of many different varibles. MY RO unit flows VERY slow... dripping slow. Some people buy a pump that you can hook up to your unit to increase flow and decrease waste water.

And third I belive yes. The DI filter of the RO unit is what is suppose to give you 0 ppm. The pre-filters are more to protect your RO membrane to help it last longer.

Hope this helps!