Reverse Osmosis

[chev]

We spend a lot of time in Las Vegas and the water here is horrible. When sprinklers come on and splash your coach you have a huge job getting the water stains off. We previously had a problem in our other coach with water pressure and the hot water tank blowing out holes. All caused by the high mineral content of the water. We lived on bottled water. We just installed a reverse osmosis system in the coach, fit very well under our sink. It is hooked up with one dispenser at the sink and to the ice maker and cold water dispenser on our refrigerator. When I tested the water I was blown away with the results. The water into the coach, ahead of the osmosis system tested at 445 parts per million, our bottled water tested at 25 parts per million, and our new drinking water coming out of the osmosis system tested at 12 parts per million. this means I have more storage space since I wont have to pack around cases of bottled water. It is worth looking into.

[Lorna]

And it would help if you told us what brand/where bought when posting something like that. Not all RO systems are equal.

[FlyingDiver]

We installed one from last year. DW is very happy with the drinking water quality. We got the first one on this page, but with a smaller tank (limited under sink room):

RV Water Filter Store: Reverse Osmosis For Drinking Water

If you boondock, you REALLY want the Boondocker Option. I'll add it some time when I have someone available to run the water return line back to the fresh water tank. I don't think I want to do that myself (too much work in the basement and the slideout).

joe

[The Danes Are Coming]

chev - what was the cost of buying/installing your new system?

I am familiar with the system used on boats but have never heard of systems used in RV's.

[wa8yxm]

There are two concerns I have over R/O systems.

One is the fact that they flush a lot of water.. only a fraction of the water they take in is delivered to the faucet, the rest is either flushed back into the supply side tank, which causes the mineral content there to go up and up and up and up, or down the drain, which is pure waste.

The other factor is the human body is not intended to consume pure water. We are designed to drink water with some mineral content.

What I don't know is how much and what minerals.. That... I leave to a bunch of PHd's and I've not read their reports fully.. Only a highlight or two.

[FlyingDiver]

Yes, the boondocking option does flush the minerals back into the fresh tank, but I don't think the mineral content actually goes up that much. Unless you never use your fresh tank but anything except drinking water. Any other water usage (washing, etc) that goes into the black tank is going to take those minerals out. So your fresh refill will dilute it back down again.

And it's not 0 ppm minerals (like distilled), so I'm not concerned about the low mineral content.

joe

[chev]

Before bought one, I researched the process at www.reverse-osmosis-water-filter-guide.com/where-to-buy-water-filters-online.html

I was very skeptical but after reading info there we bought our unit from APEC Water Filters in California. I bought it on line. Retail price was $385.00 but on sale for $299.00. It was a complete system. The only trouble I had was running the water line to our refrigerator which was on the opposite wall from the sink in our coach. I am really pleased with the results..........

[Lued]

We have been running a R O for 7 Yrs we have them in our home In Ia and in the RV, they work well, The water on the Colorado River near Parker AZ has alot of minerals and stuff in it, and the R O is a must.

[Lorna]

I always hear about the RO for RVer's but never seem to hear that much about the UV systems. why not? It seems that a UV system would be better for an RVer.

[FlyingDiver]

There's some info on UV systems for RVs here: RV Water Filter Store: Information About Ultraviolet

They're not really replacements for the other. RO takes out minerals, etc. UV kills bugs. UV is more of an alternative for some of the filter systems.

joe

[saydiver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wa8yxm There are two concerns I have over R/O systems. One is the fact that they flush a lot of water.. only a fraction of the water they take in is delivered to the faucet, the rest is either flushed back into the supply side tank, which causes the mineral content there to go up and up and up and up, or down the drain, which is pure waste. The other factor is the human body is not intended to consume pure water. We are designed to drink water with some mineral content. What I don't know is how much and what minerals.. That... I leave to a bunch of PHd's and I've not read their reports fully.. Only a highlight or two.

We installed our drinking water R/O system for medical reasons. My health is more important than wasting some water.

Our R/O system wastes less water than one load of laundry in a non-HE washing machine.

Sue

[powerboatr]

we have had ours from our previous unit to this one
it filters all the water we drink
its a whirlpool from lowes

my drain or waste water does not drain into the gray or black, instead i ran a drain tube to the wet bay and out the bottom, so it drains on the ground or a tube i have that fits over it to direct the water away from the site..
it parks that complain i simply run the drain tube to the sewer drain ground hole let her go

[NIFFIT]

They say if you use a Permeate pump with the RO system it cuts down the waste water considerably?

[FlyingDiver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NIFFIT They say if you use a Permeate pump with the RO system it cuts down the waste water considerably?

Who says?

A permeate pump provides pressure to get water through the RO filter without depending on shore connection pressure or a regular pump. I'm not sure how that would effect the amount of waste water.

joe