House RO unit

redfishbluefish · Mar 29, 2014

I'm looking for the Rat!

My kid (she's 30) just rented a house that has well water. The water is supposedly within limits, but reeks of sulfur. They would like to have the ability to draw water to cook and make ice and drink that doesn't stink. I have an old RO unit that has two canisters and a member canister. What two prefilters should I use. I'm expecting the first will be a sediment filter and the second a carbon, but I'd like opinions on micron size.

Also, do you think I should include a polishing carbon filter after the membrane?

I'll also have to pick up a three gallon blader tank since this is for a faucet unit on the kitchen sink.

One more question, do you think a straddle valve would be sufficient for the water supply with this. I've seen were they shouldn't be used with certain RO units.

760mason · Mar 29, 2014

Amazon.com: iSpring 75GPD 5-Stage Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System: Home Improvement
We have terrible water were i live. This unit works great. They also offer a 3 year supply of filters at a very reasonable price. It comes with a polishing filter for taste. Our water had a sulfur smell. this unit took care of
it and it makes 0 tds di water in case she is a reef junkie.

AZDesertRat · Mar 29, 2014

First, how old is the RO system and how long hs it been sitting? The membrane may not be salvagable.
If you can test it with a TDS meter to determine the rejection rate I would do so before investing any money.
I would use a 1micron sediment filter and carbon block and yes I would also use a post RO GAC taste and odor filter.
If you only need to add a pressure tank, PurelyH2o sells an add on drinking water kit for $60 complete and their filter replacements are reasonable.
If you need to replace the entire RO system I use H2o Splash for much of my drinking water stuff and they have given me good service.

The Flying Turkey · Mar 29, 2014

When I was a struggling flight instructor, myself and 3 buddies rented a house near the airport. This was a very small airport with no airline service out in the sticks. The house was on well water and it stunk bad. What we did was to have a 100 gallon tank that the pump dumped water into directly out of the well. There was enough surface area that the sulfur smell would come out in the tank, and when you opened a faucet in the house another pump would come on and pump the water to the house. No smell inside the house, but if you were anywhere near the well tank it smelled bad.

redfishbluefish · Mar 29, 2014

Rat and others, I greatly appreciate the responses. I had planned on replacing the membrane and two filters in this existing unit, and purchasing the “water faucet” add on kit. When I started totaling up the cost to “fix” this unit I already had, I found that I could purchase a spanking brand new unit for less……America, got to lot it!

I’m an Amazon freak….and I found THIS with five stars…..complete unit, ready to go. I can’t buy the parts I need for less than this!

AZDesertRat · Mar 29, 2014

Find out more about it before you purchase it. What micron rating is the sediment filter? Is the carbon a long life solid extruded carbon block or a short lived GAC granular carbon? Is it the 90% rejection rate 100 GPD Dow Filmtec membrane intended for pool and spa use or a GE Water 100 GPD rated at 96-98% rejection rate or who knows what brand and quality, they don't tell you much which worries me.
With a well system it would be nice to have both clear housings so you can see any sediment or particulate build up on the filters which reduces the membrane efficiency and an inline pressure gauge to monitor headloss due to plugging and fouling.

It could be inexpensive for a reason but they don't offer enough information to make a decision.

I use Amazon Prime a lot myself but some things are not that great of a deal.