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Is this a good thread to ask about under-sink reverse osmosis water systems? I want to buy one and install it. I've wanted one for years, because I need to use chemical-free water for my frogs - I've been buying gallon jugs of distilled water at 99c a gallon for years and that's just wasteful and stupid. Now I'm more motivated to finally do it because, probably in response to the drought (I'm in California), our water is being heavily treated and it tastes really bad. Like drinking out of a swimming pool, there's a noticeable odor of chlorine. I need a system that will remove chloramine as well as chlorine. Might as well remove whatever else is in there. I'd spend up to like $500, although I'm seeing a lot of systems around the $300 mark that seem fine from an uneducated first-look standpoint. But like... do I need a 5-stage, or 6? or 7? Is there a preferred brand? What would be overkill? My municipal water supply has plenty of pressure and my wife and I use way way less than the water company tells me would be "normal" so I'm not terribly concerned about the wastage rate - we'd use maybe a couple or three gallons a day, just for drinking, ice, cooking, and for the pets.
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Sep 12, 2015 23:56
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 16:17 |
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Big jugs of water identified as "drinking water" is actually surprisingly unregulated, and I can't always be confident that it doesn't contain harmful chemicals. Unfortunately, distilled water seems to mostly only be available in one-gallon jugs. If you look at the cost comparison only, though, the one-gallon jugs for a buck each are very cheap. I think I use about a gallon a week for the frogs (and lizards). $50 a year vs. a $300 RO system isn't too bad. But I'd also like the convenience of on-tap water for cooking and drinking. Filters don't seem to cost that much. The systems I'm seeing on Amazon all have packs you can buy that give you like a years' worth of filters for maybe $20ish, which is cheap and convenient. I definitely want to avoid a system that just doesn't work, though, and I don't have any sense of what is a "good brand." I was hoping the plumbing thread would know, but I haven't gotten a response other than yours. Thanks though.
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Sep 16, 2015 02:34
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Jadunk posted:If you can get a years worth of RO filters for $20 bucks they probably don't do much more than take out particulate. I assume it's because it's on Amazon, but I'm seeing some systems that have filter packs costing $50+. So I suppose quality varies. quote:I personally don't, nor have I known any plumber that really likes under sink RO's or had one they felt comfortable recommending. That's discouraging. Is it just because they're finicky and need a lot of maintenance? babyeatingpsychopath posted:My parents have an under-sink RO unit for about 25 years now. The whole thing died about 6-7 years ago and had to be replaced, so I'd guess they got roughly 15-20 years out of their first unit. I might be able to avoid some of that sort of headache, at least in as much as I'm quite capable of doing my own work on the system as needed. Also I wouldn't have a 25-year-old system of course. I'm pretty well determined to get one. I'm just not settled on a brand or price point. I'll do more research. Thanks for the advice, guys. e. Based on a lot of reviews, I'm leaning towards this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N2941T2 It has a pump which means it doesn't waste as much water, it adds magnesium and calcium back to the water to make it more palatable, and it has perfect reviews. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Sep 25, 2015 |
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Sep 25, 2015 18:09
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Right now, I use about a gallon every week or two. I mist the geckos and frogs with it, and pour some into the toad's tank. In addition to being safe for the frogs, the mister won't gradually scale or lime up when I use distilled water. If I had an R/O system, I'd also use it for my own drinking water, for making ice, cooking, and for my cats. Right now we use tap water and I don't like it much. I would not pay someone to install a system. I've already done plenty of piping in my house, including soldering copper; I can handle unscrewing things under the sink. This is the system I'm probably going to get. It's $500 but it has perfect reviews (including on sites not on Amazon), specifically removes chloramines, and the pump means it wastes a lot less water. My only concern is whether having it add calcium and magnesium back to the water (while nice for drinking) might gradually clog my mister. I'm also wondering. I know typically the undersink systems just dump the waste water down the drain. How hard would it be for me to run a drain line down through the floor and out to the back yard? At least it'd be watering my plants.
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Sep 27, 2015 05:33
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Hmm. OK well I guess I'll go for a normal 5-stage rather than 6-stage. Although they (Home Master) claim softening the water makes the seals and stuff in the system last longer vs. the "slightly acidic" water that comes out of the R/O filter. (I thought pure water was perfectly neutral, but I'm not a chemist.)
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Sep 27, 2015 05:57
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My Pro Mist system uses a pump to spray a fine mist through a couple of misting heads. Those heads will gradually clog if the water has dissolved minerals, I assume. I can stick them in de-liming solution occasionally, or, just replace them when they clog (they cost around $10 each, and I use two right now, so that's not a huge expense). If I have to pick between an expensive RO system needing parts replaced more frequently, vs. a cheaper misting system needing parts replaced more frequently, I suppose I should err on the side of getting the mineralizing RO system.
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Sep 28, 2015 20:31
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Hello gentlefolks please help me unfuck this in the minimally invasive way       This last photo is my phone stuck into the wall pointing up. The blurry foreground is the copper pipe descending from what I think we call the mixing valve or T or whatever, it's where the hot and cold come in and mix and either come down to the faucet, or if the faucet stopper is set, rise up to the showerhead.  So, what we have here is in 1958 the original construction just went ahead and tiled flush with a galvanized steel pipe, which connects to what I think is a brass or bronze elbow fitting, which is soldered to definitely a short segment of copper pipe, which is then fit in some manner to the mixing point. Obviously the remnants of the galvanized pipe gotta go. What I am wondering if there is any chance at all that the elbow and stuff above it is still useable. If it isn't, I'm going to have to rip open either the tile or the bathroom wall on the other side (which means ripping out the bathroom sink, too). The whole bathroom is likely to be renovated within the next 2 years, so a temporary fix is acceptable. Aesthetics are also not important. I intend to get a fix that gets the shower and tub working again, cover the new hole with a rondel or something behind a new faucet, and call it done. But if I cannot get the old rusty poo poo pipe out of the elbow or if I have to cut the elbow off, sweating a new elbow onto that slightly bent old copper pipe sounds dicey and if that don't work it's demo time which I really want to avoid. What do you think? e. the blackened wood doesn't look like water damage, I think it's where the plumber in '58 sweat pipes together with a torch and scorched the wood. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Dec 9, 2023 |
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Dec 9, 2023 20:43
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Why would I need access below the tub line? I'm not following. The other side of this wall is the bathroom vanity. It's a little stub wall. To access it I'll have to rip out the vanity. But there's nothing below the faucet that I'm concerned with - yet - the faucet pipe goes upward to the mixer and the hot and cold are fed by pipes from the crawlspace, but I don't think I'll need to touch those at all Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 21:19 on Dec 9, 2023 |
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Dec 9, 2023 21:17
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there are no pipes going down from the tub spout. The last pic I took is of a pipe going up. The only galvanized is the pipe that has sheared off, the rest is copper. This is consistent with what I've found throughout the house: copper runs in the walls, then joins (with no accounting for dielectric issues lol) to steel when penetrating a wall. Also of course the cold water runs were used as electric grounds for the handful of grounded outlets in the house. e. this diagram may help, or perhaps muddy things further  e. here is a contextual photo. I invite you to ignore the obvious horrible water damage at the base of this stub wall, because we are 89% sure it's from the (badly installed in the first place) glass sliding door frame leaking, plus some owner using normal drywall on that bit instead of something more water resistant, and I am going to just loving ignore it until we're ready to rip out the whole bathroom  As you can see, we can maybe access part of the back of the shower by ripping out the vanity. Where I have depicted a stud, is the back end of that wall - the other side of that stud is behind another wall, in the master bathroom, with another vanity attached to it. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 21:48 on Dec 9, 2023 |
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Dec 9, 2023 21:32
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My wife is ready to rip it out to the studs but my mother in law will be staying with us for at least 4 more weeks, and if this can be made functional for another few months that would be very convenient as we have not yet finished the exterior house repair projects, one of which is actively causing water damage to the wall of the garage so it's higher priority.
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Dec 9, 2023 21:50
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With the judicious application of liquid wrench and then a very focused little butane torch to heat the fitting, I managed to get the steel pipe out! The threads actually look very good.  Dirty, but I see bright brass with no obvious damage  I'm going to proceed on the belief that this is all going to be Just Fine
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Dec 9, 2023 22:28
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I'm sure it is fine to stuff a battery terminal cleaner into there and twist it around. A little battery terminal corrosion dust in the shower water never hurt anyone
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Dec 9, 2023 22:38
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well I got a 6" nipple and it looks like the right length would be 6 1/2" which home depot aint got, although grainger can ship me one for a mere $15 plus $10 shipping OR I could cut a half inch off the rear end end of this cheapo faucet so uh, I'mma do that i will hide my sins with silicone sealant
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Dec 10, 2023 00:04
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This is supposed to sort of grip the wall from behind, so the screws through the rondel (that is supposed to be for a hot/cold water handle but I'm misusing it) can screw into something and pull tight. Like... do you call this a furring strip? Anyway how do you get it to hold still till you screw into it? I am trying dabs of silicone but I expect that to not work.
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Dec 10, 2023 02:51
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did pilot holes, didn't run screws through first, that's smart. I actually have a whole tube of construction adhesive but I don't wanna cut open a fresh tube to get two dabs. I did realize I have some two-part epoxy though. Although that will take a long time to hold. Anyway I'll figure something out.
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Dec 10, 2023 03:29
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there I fixed it This looks weird with the hot and cold labels on the round thing but gently caress it it fit. I had purchased a new spout and cut a half inch off the back to account for the shorter pipe, and it turns out that the roundel thingy is actually recessed by a quarter inch so I had to go buy another new spout and take just a quarter inch off the back so that was another $20 wasted. I had thought that the silicone wouldn't be strong enough to hold the little bits of wood in place well enough to screw into, but after curing overnight it actually was just stiff enough for the screws to bite so I wound up not needing to epoxy it. Since I had the oscillating tool and silicone out anyway I went ahead and carved away grout around the tub to tile interface and re-caulked that too.  Still looks old and poo poo but at least it doesn't leak any more. I mean, probably. Maybe it's spraying gallons of water into the wall now. I don't care. If I can't see it it's not happening, right?
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Dec 11, 2023 19:55
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I have guys coming next week to bolt the sill to the foundation for earthquake upgrade and they'll be spending a couple days in the crawlspace so I'll actually run the shower for a bit and ask them to tell me if they see water pouring out the wall. Just in case. I could go down and look myself but the crawlspace is very short and it's cold and my back and knees aren't what they used to be. 
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Dec 11, 2023 20:02
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H110Hawk posted:Are you having Brace-and-Bolt pay for this? If not, see if you can. Yup! I got into the program this year, belatedly (I was initially wait-listed). It doesn't pay the full price, it's just a subsidy, but I was bracing (heh) for a huge price but it turns out I don't have a cripple wall to brace, so I only need the basic bolt package. It's gonna be $1500 total, and there's a place on my earthquake insurance to mark that I have it bolted (and another correction to make because the insurance thinks I have a cripple wall) so I believe I'll be getting a small discount on my insurance going forward. In addition to, hopefully, not dying in an earthquake. I'm 1/4 mile from the concord fault line. StormDrain posted:I know you're done so I can't help you but in general, I think it's very interesting that you cut the back of the spout off. It's been a few years but as I recall most of these just grip onto a pipe using a set screw. I would probably have gotten a threaded male and soldered that onto a copper pipe and cut that to length. Or if you wanted to stick with that one that was threaded... two male fittings and a section of copper pipe. The cheapo spout from home depot just has a plastic threaded bit right near the spout opening, the rest of the body is just an empty shell. I could have tried cobbling together fittings but instead I just cut a bit off the back with a hacksaw and then cleaned it on the benchtop disk sander. And then threw that one away and got another one and just ground a quarter inch off with 80 grit, which took about five seconds lol. The metal is very thin. I was looking at all the name brand spouts and they all had different fittings at different lengths and I didn't want to gently caress with any of that because I was sure it would not line up quite right and I couldn't think of an easy way to, say, add 1/2 an inch of depth with a coupling off the shelf from home depot.
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Dec 12, 2023 01:23
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H110Hawk posted:Congrats. Ours was about $1500 as well post subsidy. Pro tip don't be home it's loud and stinks to high heaven due to the epoxy they use in the bolts. Uh well poo poo, I work from home, and I have cats, I don't want them getting gassed
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Dec 12, 2023 05:13
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and for those of you who have a similar problem, but with something not made of wood, in the future: this is a magic plumbing tool that I recently had tremendous success with: https://www.lowesprosupply.com/Product/BASIN-WRENCH-SWIVEL-HEAD-792013  It's called a "swivel head basin wrench" and since the end swivels, you can turn something either direction and the long handle can add leverage if you can get any more angle with it than straight on, but you can still get some twist using the little slidey thing at the other end if you have to go full 90 degrees on with no wiggle room. Home depot has pictures of them in use to help visualize   Note that the jaws end is absolutely a nut-rounder, I think this tool is ideal for when you're removing something you're gonna throw away. harbor freight has a Pittsburgh branded one for six bucks, it's worth it even if you only need it once.
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Jan 22, 2024 07:30
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NZAmoeba posted:I probably need to take this post to the woodworking thread to see if there's a detachable replacement for quarter-rounds... Trim is often brad or pin nailed in, and then painted. You pry it off with a pry bar. But unpainted I think you have to decide how much you care about visible pinheads. Quarter round is available in a lot of plastic/vinyl or something material, sometimes stick-on. I don't like that stuff.
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Jan 22, 2024 21:23
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There's another way you can check if you don't wanna crawl in the crawlspace, if you have access to your power panel. Turn off the power for the whole house. Your sump pump will stop working. Wait ten minutes. Still hear a noise? Then it's something else. Your plumbing isn't powered (hopefully) so that'll eliminate issues from toilets and drains and so on.
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Jan 26, 2024 22:17
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2020 was like, four or five months ago. Or possibly some time last century. That's how we all feel.
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Mar 10, 2024 06:12
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in some places it's literally illegal to flush that stuff, like, the water treatment plants get horribly clogged with plastic applicators and it costs the municipality millions annually to deal with Here's an example, I just googled to find one, it's for the city of Folsom, CA but I'm sure it's typical: quote:13.08.120 Prohibited discharges. If you cause a big enough problem that the city has to bring a crew to your local sewer lines, you might get fined or worse.
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Mar 20, 2024 16:40
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I thought cleanout caps were intentionally supposed to leak, as a predictable soft point of failure that is way better than everything gushing out your toilet the plastic cap on my sewer line cleanout sure doesn't seal, anyway
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Mar 21, 2024 20:43
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it was toilet ghosts they were haunting that specific valve and now you have laid them to rest
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Apr 4, 2024 23:44
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