Reverse Osmosis System

[dreamchasers]

My Country Coach has a reverse osmosis system installed. Their is a tap at the kitchen and bathroom sink, that I believe ?? are for the RO system taps. When I depress the RO dispenser, I do get water. I have attempted to trace the tubing on several occasions with dissatisfied results. I see three 'filter like' containers. Particulate filter, carbon filter, and TCO (RO) Module. A small booster pump mounted in a plastic box marked 'Aqua Clear' is also part of the system. I can see where the system is tied into the gray colored water piping of the coach.

Whew!

The system is located next to the battery box in a 'very tight' spot.

I hope I have the capabilities to draw water through the city water connection, purify the water and slowly fill the fresh water tank. Does anybody have information on how much water does it use to produce a gallon of pure water?

3906
This is a picture of the system mounted on the forward bulkhead, passenger side, fourth compartment back (Battery compartment on a Country Coach).

If any owners have such a system, I would appreciate any information. A piping schematic would be very handy. I would like to replace all the filters and assure the system works properly. This summer I am planning on being in a location that has proved to us to have high clear water iron in the water. In the Eagle, the shower turned orange! I took us several weeks of cleaning to remove the orange iron tint.

Hector

[jack14r]

I have a 10 GPM system in my plant and it discharges 3-4 gpm,so 30-40%.These small systems are for coffee,cooking,and drinking water they might produce 10-15 gallons a day.Another choice might be a set of DI mixed bed tanks with a carbon bed in front to remove the chlorine if you are on city water,this is fairly expensive but it will produce almost perfect water.On my last trip I filled my tank with RO water and then washed the coach when I got to Stewart,FL it saved a couple of hours of not having to dry it by hand.The city water here has about 125 PPM and the RO will eliminate 99% of that therefore the RO water is <2PPM,but DI water should be <.05PPM.I doubt that any of us can taste the difference,it is only important in some manufacturing processes.

[jelmore]

I disabled my RO system. The waste water from making water was adding to the holding tank and it was running the water pump frequently. I bypassed it with an easy-to-get-to and inexpensive inline refrigerator water filter. It supplies the kitchen sink drinking water faucet and the refrigerator ice maker and water dispenser. The water is already filtered twice before it gets to that inline filter so I don't think we miss the RO water (do we?). Don't know about PPM. We're all over the country and haven't had any water issues. The water always tastes good and the best bus wash we get is when we use our on-board twice-filtered water.

[bluevost]

Hector,

My system is exactly the same as yours (what do you know!). I don't believe you can get the city water to go from the hose bib, through the RO, to the holding tank. I think (guessing) the RO system draws water from the pressure tank that draws water from the holding tank.

[garyde]

My Coach has a Culligan system which is only hooked to my refrigerator ice maker and cold water dispensor. They say to remove it if storing and in freezing conditions and store indoors. My 3 cylinders are removable as one modular unit. They also give detailed instructions for cleaning and replacing filters. ( a diluted chlorine wipe to clean cylinders and parts yearly).

[dreamchasers]

Thanks for the replys.

Hector

[flyu2there]

Hector,

There are actually 4 filters, one is a final carbon filter (looks like an overgrown vitamin pill and cannot be opened, only replaced) out of the RO unit itself on the way to the two drinking water taps. These filters can be found as a package in Costco or Sams Club if you have no other resource, thankfully the filter sizes are standard!

Not real sure what you are asking but, these units typically produce 10-12 gallons of drinking water each day, at full demand. They have nowhere near the volume or ability to work as "whole house" filters. I believe with some additional looking that you will find the accumulator tank (mine is under the galley sink) that stores just a bit under 5 gallons of water, check the published pressure on the accumulator tank and make certain that pressure is correct (there is a schrader valve on the air side of the tank).

The RO system will draw from any pressurized source, either from your fresh water holding tank with the water pump on or, the pressurized hose connection t the side of your bus. It is advised that you replace all filters yearly and check for proper accumulator pressure.

The RO unit itself is nothing more than a membrane that traps impurities down miniscual sizes however if the filters have not been maintained and you get an agggresive flow from the taps on a system that has not charged (takes a couple of hours after filter replacement to get any volume of water) then the membrane has failed and you will need one of those as well.

Anyway, after all of that, if you are worried about a rusty shower, don't look for help from your RO......again it just can't do it. There are available whole house filter units that can be connected between the water source and the bus (so what if they are ugly) that can include iron filters...... There is also the filter located above the water pumps, behind the panel, in the service bay.

John

[Liam]

I am still de-bugging my newly purchased 92-CC and the brochure in the file says I have a Water General 5-stage RO system. When I open the bay door, there is a plywood slide-out (not very finished looking) with the 3 big screw-on filters and the in-line 4th stage carbon. (most were empty with no filters) What I can't find is the pressure tank or the RO stage and I don't see a drain-line for the RO under the kitchen sink. BTW, I also have the little water softener - but haven't gotten to that yet.

Any hints on where the RO, tank and drain would be?? Wondering if someone altered this from factory-stock?

[Steve Bennett]

We installed a Deionized water system in our coach. I can use it to wash the coach, as it has a 1,500PSI pressure washer. We also use it to fill our fresh tank with Deionized water. We do have a bypass, and typically add a little city water to the tank (about 5%) as pure DI water is aggressive, and will dissolve metals form our water system (brass in our manifold, etc) also pure water will not conduct electricity, and our fresh gauge will not read unless there are a few impurities. As Jack said it is not cheap. It cost us about $80 to change the resin beads, and I typically can generate about 1,000 gallons per charge. The big plus is our water heaters, drains, shower all look like new with 0 deposits.

[Liam]

Have to admit I have never heard of one. Have a make/ model I can Google?

[mike kerley]

Liam, That's a new one to me. We have a single state filter coming out of the fresh water tank or utility port, a small filter behind the refer for the ice maker and that's it. I would be not want to store fresh water very long without some chlorine to keep the bacteria down plus you'll want to rinse and clean that tank and the fresh water system with bleach every few months just to keep the critters at a minimum.

[Liam]

Thanks everyone! In the end there really was no RO filter or tank. PO must have removed. I wound up installing a compact 3-stage biologic filter (Whirlpool from Lowes). After some research I found that RO filters do not remove bacteria and this bio filter is certified to take "boil notice" contaminated water and make it safe. That was all I was really after was protection from a load of contaminated water.

[phorner]

Just bear in mind a couple of things...

Every water filtration device requires routine maintenance and, without it, can actually degrade the water quality.

And, unless you have water quality testing performed on a regular basis, you have know way of knowing whether the water treatment device is working or not.

Having operated municipal water treatment plants, my advice is to keep it simple, keep it maintained, and disinfect your complete water system a couple of times a year. That should be more that adequate to keep your water safe to drink. A small activated carbon filter at the source of water for drinking will eliminate tastes and odors.

Last thing to keep in mind, federal EPA standards set drinking water contaminate limits based on consuming 2 liters of that water every day..... for 70 years.... and then you might increase your risk of cancer by 1 in 10,000.

Those are really long odds.....

[sswindle14260]

Paul-Could you explain how you disinfect your water system and the steps you use? Maybe you have an easier way to do it.

[phorner]

Real easy to disinfect the system.

Add 1/4 cup of ordinary chlorine bleach for every 15 gallons of water. Ideally, you should fill your fresh water tank so that the entire tank comes into contact with the bleach solution.

Run all faucets, shower head, clothes washer, ice maker, etc. for a couple of minutes to bring the chlorinated water into contact.

Let everything sit of a couple of hours, then drain. Re-fill fresh water tank with fresh water and flush everything until the chlorine odor is gone. Shouldn't take but a few minutes. If you decided that "if a little is good, then more must be better" then you may have to drain and flush more than once.

Once a year is probably good enough if you always connect to water of known good quality. Otherwise, twice a year is probably sufficient. Obviously, if your fresh water system should become known to be contaminated with bacteria, perform immediately.

This routine should keep you out of trouble..... but this only addresses bacteria and some viruses. Chemical and radiological contamination (if present) WILL NOT be removed by sterilization.

I have never personally known of anyone getting sick from consumption of water drawn from their RV, so don't obsess over it. Just be prudent and careful.

Now then, it is also a medical fact that alcohol kills bacteria. So, a little Kentucky bourbon added to that glass of water......maybe it's the other way around...

[Pete]

Paul, do you use the same ratio on the bourbon as the bleach? Will scotch work as well.

[phorner]

Nah...I use much more bourbon than bleach.... and I've found that Scotch whiskey works just as well, often better :cool:

[sswindle14260]

Paul--Thanks for the information. I will certainly try to kill all bacteria with a little bourbon and if that does not work, then I will try the bleach.

[JIM KELLER]

Patrick Fix, Tell the story about " Water Pressure " after chlorine sanitation.