Haaaaallllpp! Desperate! Reverse Osmosis Faucet Question!

15 years ago

In the final stretch of the kitchen remodel and my plumber just told me that my bar faucet (Cucina Acqua) will not work with my Whirlpool Gold Reverse Osmosis Filtration system!

The filtration system comes with a faucet that has three tubes. My Cucina faucet has only one "tube" so he's telling me I have to chose one or the other!

Does anyone have any information about this? I'm assuming that all Reverse Osmosis devices require the three tube connection, so does that mean that you're limited to the basic faucet? Is there any kind of a modification kit?

These instant decisions makes me NUTS! I don't want to chose! I want them both, dammit! If the Cucina doesn't work with the RO system, what does it work with?

Please HELP! They want to DRILL A BIGGER HOLE IN MY NEW GRANITE! I can't breathe (ha ha).

Thank you, as always.

Tina

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Comments (4)

amy2202
15 years ago
Tina, I just installed my r.o. faucet last night and I only used one hose from the filter outlet to the larger middle tube on the faucet. I think the other lines are optional feature.
Hope this helps
kaseki
15 years ago
I have a pressurized RO system using a Spectrapure peristaltic pump driven by the waste water feeding a pressure tank. The tank feeds a standard chrome-plated brass bar faucet. (There are other configurations where no waste-driven pump is used and the pressure available is less, as well as atmospheric tank systems in which the RO water is stored at atmospheric pressure and a different type of pump is used to pressurize the water to the faucet. None of these require three tube faucets.) There may be other RO configurations that require the three-tube faucet, but I don't know the reason.

What do the directions for the Whirlpool show the other tubes connected to?

kas
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Asolo, No need to shout... just read the posts... take a break... chill out. We are discussing two different things here. 1. You and I are in agreement that either something in the tubing connections are wrong or the ASV is defective or another problem that the OP can't spot because water does not constantly come out of the line the OP has disconnected from the tank. The OP should be dealing with GE or returning the RO to where he bought it. Got it? We agree and I've already said that we agree. 2. When the OP mentioned he couldn't find a valve I said that if it wasn't a WOW tank and there was no valve that there was no way for the OP to know if the tank was properly pressurized and that was a design omission that would be a bad choice down the road. Regardless of the original problem as noted in #1, when installing an RO with a bladder tank the installer needs to make sure the tank is pressurized properly. With no valve that can't be done but as it turns out Robert posted he has the same model RO and it does have a valve in the tank so I repeated my advice to check it... that's all, just to check it in general. With respect for your long term and intimate experience with your Kinetico ROs you wouldn't believe how many have odd RO problems are caused by low or no pressure in the bladder tank... some ROs brand new and some ROs after years of reliable service. It is prudent and easy to check the bladder pressure ANYTIME there is a problem to rule that out so it should be done.
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I suspect the air gap was required because it was there originally. I've seen many RO installations that have a non air gap faucet when code clearly calls for an air gap faucet. When questioned, the installers are reported to say "it's OK" and if/when inspected the plumbing inspectors say "NO WAY". An air gap faucet is a safety requirement not just required for the fun of it. There is no down side using an air gap faucet when it is not required but it can be dangerous using a non air gap faucet. That's why most quality RO units come with an air gap faucet now days. Cheap, anonymous ROs tend to come with non air gap faucets. I am curious, who said "they could adapt a non-air gap faucet to work"? Was it a licensed plumber or a Culligan employee?
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It looks like this question is a few months old, but I am going to answer for future searchers. :) We are on well water so we installed 2 RO systems. One under the sink and one for our refrigerator. If you are concerned about your water, I would think a sink is good because you will probably use that water for cooking. The water from a refrigerator usually doesn't comes out as fast as faucets (even RO faucets, which are slower) so that is another reason for an RO at the sink. When we first installed the RO to the refrigerator, the water came out extremely slow. Painfully slow. We removed the refrigerator's filter and now it is faster. Still slower than getting water from the sink's RO faucet, but acceptable. We still mostly get the water from the sink, but it is nice to have the two systems for ice and backup water when we are using a lot. We are using the Brondell H2O+ Circle RO system. It is very easy to install and changing the filters is a breeze. It looks nice also.
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hdbarrera is right on this one; they are not compatible. BUT there is a solution if you are handy! I built a new low waste (not zero waste) system by purchasing a new membrane from Pentair (the GRO-50EN) on Amazon for about $50 that is 1 to 1 instead of 1 to 5 permeate-to-waste. I re-used my filter carriers and tank and just had to buy a variety of fittings and some tubing to build the new system (less than $100 total). If you go this route make SURE you get a 150 ml/min (10 GPD) flow restrictor on the waste line - this is what keeps the system efficient (its all the membrane needs). If you go this route, you'll also need: an Automatic Shutoff Valve a Check Valve Misc 1/4" fittings (you can buy them individually once you know what you need, but this is very inexpensive) an air gap faucet (or you can install an air gap adapter, but this faucet is REALLY nice and a HUGE upgrade from the Watts unit). A drain saddle (attaches to your sink drain to dump the waste water) A 10 GPD (150 ml/min) flow restrictor You will also need some 1/4" tubing for the main lines and some 3/8" line for the drain from the faucet to the sink's drain. The downside of this system is that it does create some waste (1 gallon waste for every gallon of drinking water) but it is MUCH better than all the other systems out there which waste from 4 to 6 gallons for every gallon of drinking water. The upside is that it is MUCH more compact and also absolutely silent. A complete list of the parts I ordered on Amazon for this build is here A system diagram that I created after a LOT of research is here The only tricky part is making sure you make the high side connections (red on the diagram) on the ASOV correctly. The low side connections don't matter.
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tinahollywood
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks so much for your replies. I'm probably an idiot to have gone for the "look," but I couldn't bear to part with the faucet, so I let the plummer go without installing the Whirlpool RO so now I've got a dummy faucet which is silly. Am going to try to find another solution fast (thanks for the suggestions kaseki!)so I don't have to park those giant bottled water casks in my new kitchen!

To answer your question: The Whirlpool RO tubes connect as follows: Two tubes connect to the RO device -- one to fetch the product water from the post filter and the other to collect waste water from the osmosis membrane. The third tube runs from the faucet to the drain to dump the waste water. The faucet contains an air gap and control value. Whirlpool claims that backflow through the osmosis membrane will damage it whether the air gap is required in your state or not.

It's all too complicated for me.
astridh
15 years ago
I can't help you make your Cucina faucet work. It is possible you could do it with a separate, dishwashter-type air gap. Faucets need two things to work with RO. One is an air gap. The other is they have to be able to withstand the RO water, which is corrosive to some faucets. You could call the Cucina company and ask them.

I can tell you there are at least two faucet companies that do make faucets that are compatible with RO filters. One is Everpure and the other is Waterstone. They both require you to buy a separate air gap, which is mounted directly underneath the faucet in the same countertop hole. If you like, you can buy an instant hot and/or cold water chiller to mount with these. They both make contemporary and traditional styled faucets. My local plumbing store says the quality is about the same.

Haaaaallllpp! Desperate! Reverse Osmosis Faucet Question!

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amy2202

kaseki

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Haaaaallllpp! Desperate! Reverse Osmosis Faucet Question!

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