what is the best/ easiest way to install r/o system in apartment

[dankpisce]

hello fellow gardeners,
I am living in a 1 bed apartment and am in the process of creating a 36 aeroflo grow. so, do i need a r/o system for sure? and how can i hook it up (draining etc) . i do plan on using a trash can as a res...with a hose attached to it and a overflow device ...but i am clueless about the rest. what should i do...lol.thanks

 

[BigGreen]

Do you have a laundy sink

 

[nephilthim]

if you have an opening in any of your sinks and enough room to accomadate the revoir of r/o system its pretty simple:you thread a new brass fitting onto your sinks cold water line(shut off water first!0which as a branch for your r/o system attach hose from fitting to r/o attach waste hose from ro and put on collar that wraps around drain pipe which you have drilled out to accept waste line.
lastly plumb the r/o water out of your sinks soap dispenser tighten nut with rubber grommet between bottom and top of sink. align dispenser and finish tightening nut 1/4 turn after hand tightening..i as was lazy so mine is hand tightened.which was purahased for 2 bill from costco holds 2 gallons storage and makes over 5 gallons a day says to replace filter once a year for 100 bucks.

 

[Guest 18340]

Whether or not you need an R/O sytem depends on the quality of your tap water.
What are the ppms?

 

[dankpisce]

hmmm that does sound pretty easy...lol soo just to make sure about the waste water....i drill a hole in the drain pipe and attach the drain line. then its all good? ppm is around 400. thanks 4 the help.

 

[ogatec]

hmmm that does sound pretty easy...lol soo just to make sure about the waste water....i drill a hole in the drain pipe and attach the drain line. then its all good? ppm is around 400. thanks 4 the help.

ppm=400- definitely need a good filter!

for the water supply, i would get a garden hose adapter for your sink (less than $5 @ home depot), its usually located with the plastic tubing in plumbing supplies. sometimes its advertised for filling up water beds.
for the drain i would just stick the little hose down the drain of the sink you are using, no drilling needed.

another good idea is to unscrew your shower head and use that connection for the water supply(no adapter needed), and just use the tub drain for waste water.(thanks Snowkitty)

i use the tap/drain for my washing machine, if your apt. has connections for a clothes washer, that is another option.


but come on now, apt growing is dangerous! what are you gonna do about the stench?

 

[sickworm]

Have you thought about a zero water system? http://www.zerowater.com/ I saw these at home depot and now at wal-mart. Theres no plumbing, just fill the top resivor.

 

[dankpisce]

those are all really great ideas. wow. GENIUS you people are. (is that how u spell it...im not a genius haha) i will be using one of those methods..

big inline fan/ big carbon filter/ odor neutralizer/ sealed room= NO stench hopefully...and thanks fellow medicinal herbalists

btw.....what ppm does tap water need to be below in order to not use a R/O system? just curious.

 

[raygun]

that zero water system looks interesting you get 8 replacement filters for $100. don't know how long the filters shoudl last but you can buy a TDS meter for $30 from them!

Dank - as far as where your tap should be well you want it as clean as possible. I would say under 100ppm but then again I ran my bio-buckets with so cal liquid rock water with an ec of .8 and ph of 8.0 to match. It worked OK for me but the Bio-buckets were kinda designed for that.

 

[nephilthim]

if on any sink that you want to use make sure the dimensions are big enough to fit underneath ,and how much water you will need on a daily basis.do your homework read reviews I looked at watts model from costco,and after reading reviews went with an online model that was under 200.
now just make sure to use the sink that has a soap dispenser outlet or an extra opening to allow a r/o fixture.
personally I wouldn't want to run a bunch of hose from below the level of sink to above will have to make the waste water fight gravity and external hoses are prone todamage from unforseen events.
all sinks have whats known as a p-trap basically a sideways S that keeps a constant amount of h2o in pipe @ u point in sideways s shape.
you want to make sure that you put the waste pipe collar above the p trap water level; anywhere between the start of peetrap and top of sink.
simply wrap collar around pipe preferably with waste water slot on collar facing you . after the collar is securely fastned use a drill with recommended bit insert into waste pipe on collar;start drilling use nough force to engage drill into pvc you will feel resistance untill you break thru pvc into drain pipe,stop back drill out while turning off and on to clear out any loose material
now attach waste line to the opening you mad on collar make sure everything is snug .hopefully you have secured everything per manufactures specs the moment of truth you turn the water on: if you are macguyver no sweat no leaks no prob your a hero to your palnst family and stoned anysing compatriots who expected to see that box of crap you purchased still gathering dust. cheers for the handyman hero!
if not and you have leaks:note where and how many leaks there are ,turn off water and check retighten all offending connections.
now you will have to flush the system a couple of times for loose charcol coming thru filter,but its good enough for houseplants and the dog.
a couple of flushes of tank and your off to clear nearly non toxic nice

 

[nekoloving]

Have you thought about a zero water system? http://www.zerowater.com/ I saw these at home depot and now at wal-mart. Theres no plumbing, just fill the top resivor.

omg I'm thirsty now! thats an awesome idea for watering me too /!\

 

[ogatec]

u can probibly grow without 1 for for a few harvests..i grew in water almost as bad for many years w/o a filter, but once i got one i never went back...

u will need allot of ph down!

 

[robotwithdreams]

Its usually a good idea to have a ro system on hand just in case, since the water quality in many areas can change quite a bit through-out the year. When I lived in a major city,also apartment dwelling, the water was good enough, 150-160 ppms. However, in a matter of few months i noticed the water out the tap smelled somewhat like bleach, and around 170ppm. I think during those months the cholrine levels in the tap were elevated and p.h. was 7.5. So i decided on mixing the tap with ro water 50/50. I believe that probably also brought down the excessive calcium in the tap, which I think can reduce the availability of phos. and mag..

 

[Natagonnaworrie]

damn, i have never made the step to R/O and it looks like i'm going to have to.

it does seem complicated. esp with a small sink

 

[Vegan]

having a RO system beats the hell outof letting my tap water sit for 24 hrs, or luggin those 5 gal bottles back and forth to the store, an added bonus is you can cook wiht water with no clorine !!!!!!!!

 

[its.always.420]

If your sink has a vegetable sprayer that makes a good supply line along with the hole obviously for the tap. Just remove sprayer and hose, and hook up r/o! Still have to drain tho...

I know this thread is ancient, just wanted to make sure this approach didn't get overlooked.