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Old 03-26-2015, 01:33 PM   #1
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RO Systems for 5er

Has anyone installed an RO system in their 5er? I was looking at this small portable system(APEC ULTIMATE Reverse Osmosis Countertop System, 90 GPD) and thinking an under counter install would be perfect with a fill line coming up through the counter. Its a 4 stage system and is only $229. It can do 90gpd at 60psi so should be enough for drinking and cooking needs.
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Old 03-26-2015, 01:53 PM   #2
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When not in use for a while RO units in boats have to be "pickled" to prevent nasties from growing in the membranes - at least that used to be necessary, I assume it still is.
I wonder if that would that be a problem for RVs that aren't used too often?
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Old 03-26-2015, 07:45 PM   #3
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back in 2010 we installed an RO system in our 5er .... we average 6 months a year on the road (mostly 3+/- months in the summer and 3+/- in the winter) .... we do filter all water coming into the camper and average replacing the RO filters about every year and a half .... we have never needed to do anything to treat the water in the system during down times .... ours is rated at 50 gpd and provides us all the water we need for drinking, cooking, and running our ice maker .... the convenience of not having to buy and haul bottled water is a plus for us
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Old 04-03-2015, 08:00 AM   #4
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Here is a LINK to a document the describes what we did for a whole house RO system. I'm happy to answer questions by email....I don't read this forum daily.
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Old 04-04-2015, 08:44 PM   #5
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A perspective you may want to consider. My career was in water treatment so I was very interested in this subject. Here is some of what I learned. My choice was not to use RO water for drinking or cooking.

Key Health Advantage

The main health advantage R.O. water has over tap water is that an R.O. system removes some unhealthy contaminants.

A good R.O. system can remove contaminants such as arsenic, nitrates, sodium, copper and lead, some organic chemicals, and the municipal additive fluoride.

A Few Disadvantages

You might be interested to know that reverse osmosis was actually developed as a water treatment method over 40 years ago. The process was used primarily to de-salinate water.

The following are three of the main disadvantages of drinking R.O. water:

1. The water is demineralized.

Since most mineral particles (including sodium, calcium, magnesium, magnesium, and iron) are larger than water molecules, they are removed by the semi-permeable membrane of the R.O. system.

The World Health Organization conducted a study that revealed some of the health risks associated with drinking demineralized water.

Just a few of the risks include gastrointestinal problems, bone density issues, joint conditions, and cardiovascular disease. (See reference below to review the WHO study online.)

Removing the naturally occurring minerals also leaves the water tasteless. Many people thus have to add liquid minerals to their R.O. water to improve the taste.

2. The water is usually acidic.

One of the primary reasons R.O. water is unhealthy is because removing the minerals makes the water acidic (often well below 7.0 pH). Drinking acidic water will not help maintain a healthy pH balance in the blood, which should be slightly alkaline.

Depending on the source water and the specific R.O. system used, the pH of R.O. water can be anywhere from about 3.0 pH (very acidic) to 7.0 pH (neutral). Most of the R.O. water I have tested has been in the range of 5.0 to 6.0 pH. The only time I have ever seen R.O. water testing at 7.0 is when the R.O. system had the added remineralization element.

In the natural health and medical communities, acidosis in the body is considered an underlying cause of most degenerative diseases.

In fact, in 1931, Dr. Otto Warburg won the Nobel Prize for discovering the cause of cancer. In essence, he said it was caused by a lack of cellular oxygenation due to acidosis in the body.

Medical research has also determined that drinking acidic water (as well as other acidic beverages) will often cause a mineral imbalance in the body.

According to the WHO study, low mineral water increased diuresis (the production of urine by the kidneys) 20% on average and markedly increased the elimination of sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium and magnesium ions from the body.

3. Some critical contaminants are not removed.

While reverse osmosis is effective for removing a variety of contaminants in water, the reverse osmosis membrane alone does NOT remove volatile organic chemical (VOCs), chlorine and chloramines, pharmaceuticals, and a host of other synthetic chemicals found in municipal water.

However, some R.O. systems now have multi-stage filtration media (in addition to the R.O. membrane), such as Activated Carbon, which does remove chlorine and certain pesticides.

What to Do If You Currently Have a Reverse Osmosis System

If you currently have a reverse osmosis system and are not ready to give it up, I recommend getting a remineralization cartridge or add-on to your R.O. system.

If that is not possible or too costly, you could add liquid ionic minerals, such as Trace Minerals Ionic Tonic, to your R.O. drinking water.

However, doing so will not be as beneficial as drinking water that contains minerals naturally, but it will help somewhat with the acid-alkaline balance in the body.

References

WHO Study: Health risks from drinking demineralised water

University of Nebraska; Drinking Water Treatment: Reverse Osmosis; 2014. This is a peer reviewed guide by Bruce I. Dvorak, Environmental Engineering Specialist, and Sharon O. Skipton, Water Quality Educator, which has a few good tables that show the types of contaminants that are and are not removed by reverse osmosis.

Also to be considered is that your body's pH is naturally alkaline which helps fight of diseases of all kinds. Things like RO water, which is acidic, Sugar and Caffine can tip the balance of your natural pH from alkaline to acidic and leave you open to more disease.

I will probably take some harsh rebuttals because RO is popular. I encourage you to educate yourself first, then decide.
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Old 04-05-2015, 12:08 PM   #6
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BigB provides an aspect to RO that I've not considered. One of the systems that I've been looking at has a demineralizer. But it made me think about the bottled water I've been using. It's purified by RO and doesn't say anything about remineralization.
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Old 04-05-2015, 02:04 PM   #7
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So Big B, what do you suggest to reduce the minerals to a level as to not distroy fixtures, not leave soap residue and generally just keep everything cleaner and working well but keep the beneficial effects. Is this even posiable?
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Old 04-06-2015, 07:48 AM   #8
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RO Water

To date I'm not aware of anything that addresses keeping fixtures clean other than peridoc cleaning. To de mineralized things I like white vinegar. But you have to be careful with whatever you use, some fixture finishes could be damaged from the acidity. For light mineral build up sometimes soaking with a water wetted rag will resolublize the minerals and then they wipe off. We squeegee our shower walls and glass after every use which works great and takes about a minute.
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Old 04-06-2015, 08:13 AM   #9
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To date I'm not aware of anything that addresses keeping fixtures clean other than peridoc cleaning. To de mineralized things I like white vinegar. But you have to be careful with whatever you use, some fixture finishes could be damaged from the acidity. For light mineral build up sometimes soaking with a water wetted rag will resolublize the minerals and then they wipe off. We squeegee our shower walls and glass after every use which works great and takes about a minute.

I have a softener. It dissolved all mineral deposits and keeps them clean. Great shower suds, and a spot-free shower.
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Old 04-12-2015, 09:15 PM   #10
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No offense intended but I have a hard time with the idea that ro water is a health hazard. Maybe if you are on an all water diet but in reality anyone consuming food will get most of their vitamins and minerals. A healthy person eating balanced meals will likely have few issues if any. BTW, I am that individual and have had ro systems for years.
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Old 04-12-2015, 10:18 PM   #11
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RO water is high in sodium.
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Old 04-12-2015, 11:25 PM   #12
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RO water is high in sodium.
??? What ???
Water softener water is high in sodium but not RO water.
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Old 04-13-2015, 05:48 AM   #13
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??? What ???
Water softener water is high in sodium but not RO water.
You are correct.

Sorry, I "submitted reply" before thinking.

Brain freeze is my only excuse.....
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Old 04-14-2015, 05:28 PM   #14
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You are correct.

Sorry, I "submitted reply" before thinking.

Brain freeze is my only excuse.....
I used to call them Brain F. A. R. T. S. But freeze works
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