Adding a Faucet Kit to a 4-Stage RO/DI System

[MR2MAS]

I just want to make sure I'm not over analyzing this.

I currently have a 4-Stage RO/DI system and I'm using a Tee Valve between the membrane and DI filter to produce drinking water by manually filling up gallon jugs. But I want to be more efficient and just fill up a pressurized tank.

However, I'm also using a booster for the whole system, so I wasn't sure if I needed to add a second pressure switch to turn off the booster pump when the tank gets filled. I'm very visual, so this is what I think I need to add. All the new items are in yellow/orange

Am I planning this right? Do I need any additional valves to shut off water to tank when producing DI water?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Kooma]

I think a single pressure switch will be fine, the loss of water in the pressure tank will drop the water pressure in your DI membrane and the whole system will come down, booster comes on and pressure builds. If you need more water in the fish water, same thing happens. If you dont want the water created for fish to affect the pressure tank, then a second switch and check valve is needed as you have shown above.

Thinking about this more, you wont have much backflow if any from the DI unit with one pressure valve, but how you have it shown above i think will work well.

 

[Buckeye Hydro Verified Sponsor]

Suggested improvements:
1. Move your booster pump to AFTER your prefilter housings.
2. Add a pressure gauge after the pump but before the membranes.
3. Carefully consider if your situation is a good one to run two membranes in series. Typically this is not a good idea.
4. Use only one pressure switch - place it after the membrane and before the tee.
5. Add an inline taste and odor filter between the tank and the faucet.

Russ

 

[UncommonSense]

I think a single pressure switch will be fine, the loss of water in the pressure tank will drop the water pressure in your DI membrane and the whole system will come down, booster comes on and pressure builds. If you need more water in the fish water, same thing happens. If you dont want the water created for fish to affect the pressure tank, then a second switch and check valve is needed as you have shown above.

Thinking about this more, you wont have much backflow if any from the DI unit with one pressure valve, but how you have it shown above i think will work well.

Mine’s set up with one booster pump pressure switch between RO membrane, and two way selector for container/tank fill, or DI water!

The important thing to note is that you can just seal the output(s) for product water of any description and a single pressure switch will function great!

I have mine teed between RO membrane and DI cartridges to a watts plastic water accumulator tank, I 100% recommend them over the crappy steel ones that BRS at least used to sell… (sorry BRS; but I had two friends blow their pressure bladder seals out in under a year, both full of rust when cut open, warranty replacement tanks also blew seals in under a year; also rusty when cut open… water chemistry at both locations tested several times with no irregularities found….)

If you want water on demand fast from your tap; a 2-4 gallon accumulator tank is awesome, and your pressure pump will work well with it; kicking on only when tank pressure drops from usage!

Edit; I see you’re using an accumulator tank already, my mistake! Hopefully not the ubiquitous 3.2gallon “stainless steel” tank that all seem to come from the same factory despite different branding stickers?

 

[MR2MAS]

Thanks for all the input! I figured I was overthinking it and it didn't dawn on me to move the original pressure switch!

Apparently I've had my booster pump in the wrong location too. :confounded-face:

So this is my new sketch up (sorry, I'm a visual guy):

All the items in yellow I haven't bough yet because I wanted to make sure how to hook it up correctly. The 3 gallon tank is just a place holder as I really want to get a 10 gallon or larger tank.

Any other recommendations?

 

[Buckeye Hydro Verified Sponsor]

Give us a call when you're ready - we have everything in stock.

Also - the inlet fitting on the taste and odor filter is a tee mounted on a stem adapter. One side goes to the tank, one side goes through the taste and odor filter and onto the faucet.

 

[UncommonSense]

Mine’s set up with one booster pump pressure switch between RO membrane, and two way selector for container/tank fill, or DI water!

The important thing to note is that you can just seal the output(s) for product water of any description and a single pressure switch will function great!

I have mine teed between RO membrane and DI cartridges to a watts plastic water accumulator tank, I 100% recommend them over the crappy steel ones that BRS at least used to sell… (sorry BRS; but I had two friends blow their pressure bladder seals out in under a year, both full of rust when cut open, warranty replacement tanks also blew seals in under a year; also rusty when cut open…)

If you want water on demand fast from your tap; a 2-4 gallon accumulator tank is awesome, and your pressure pump will work well with it; kicking on only when tank pressure drops from usage!

Edit; I see you’re using an accumulator tank already, my mistake! Hopefully not the ubiquitous 3.2gallon “stainless steel” tank that all seem to come from the same factory despite different branding stickers?

Thanks for all the input! I figured I was overthinking it and it didn't dawn on me to move the original pressure switch!

Apparently I've had my booster pump in the wrong location too. :confounded-face:

So this is my new sketch up (sorry, I'm a visual guy):

All the items in yellow I haven't bough yet because I wanted to make sure how to hook it up correctly. The 3 gallon tank is just a place holder as I really want to get a 10 gallon or larger tank.

Any other recommendations?

If you’re using a accumulator tank that large; possibly look into the glass lined steel accumulator tanks!

They are primarily used in commercial applications, thus they start around 20gal tank size, at least last time I checked! (Around $400 at that size though!)

I initially discovered these glass lined steel accumulator tanks when trying to find a replacement for the aforementioned “stainless steel” tanks that was not plastic!

Alternative idea: I use two of those 2.5-3-ish gallon Watts plastic accumulator tanks teed together, allowing me to have roughly 5 gallons of water on-hand, and ready to fill ATO reservoirs, or even large cooking pots from the sink faucet quickly!

I think the Watts brand plastic tanks were roughly $25/gallon, the glass lined steel tanks are roughly the same price per gallon.

 

[UncommonSense]

Give us a call when you're ready - we have everything in stock.

Also - the inlet fitting on the taste and odor filter is a tee mounted on a stem adapter. One side goes to the tank, one side goes through the taste and odor filter and onto the faucet.

Just out of curiosity; isn’t a taste and odor filter just a proprietarily shaped carbon filter?

 

[UncommonSense]

Thanks for all the input! I figured I was overthinking it and it didn't dawn on me to move the original pressure switch!

Apparently I've had my booster pump in the wrong location too. :confounded-face:

So this is my new sketch up (sorry, I'm a visual guy):

All the items in yellow I haven't bough yet because I wanted to make sure how to hook it up correctly. The 3 gallon tank is just a place holder as I really want to get a 10 gallon or larger tank.

Any other recommendations?

You can easily remote mount your accumulator tanks too for space savings; my first tank went with my RODO system in the same space, the second one’s installed around 60-70ft away, in the crawlspace under the house, under the kitchen sink filtered water faucet! — my system also tees under the sink to supply the refrigerator water chiller and ice maker! (with shutoff valve and around 6ft of line coiled behind the fridge, allowing me to pull the fridge out easily without disconnecting anything in a tight space!)

I also installed one for a buddy with the RO system and accumulator tank in a broom closet; water line run through floor into the crawl space, through PVC electrical conduit (protect your pressurized water line!), back up through floor to undersink area for the faucet connection! — that situation had basically zero under-sink install space; quite like mine!

Frictional flow loss through 1/8” ID tubing is a thing; I couldn’t get any real world numbers from a single company though… in addition I haven’t thrown the money away at a huge roll of tubing/dual flow meters to do the Hazen-Williams calculations myself… But, practical application shows no appreciable frictional flow loss with a 70-75ft run of 1/4” (OD) tubing, particularly at the ~1gpm output rate of the furthest accumulator tank.

Hopefully this helps you make some informed decisions about your plumbing and placement of equipment!

Jack