rosystemfail
New Member
Hello everyone,
In the past few days I've had a plumbing issue that has lead me down a rabbit hole of concern about my under-sink RO system. I'm hoping some of you professionals will have some more insight than what I've gained so far from the residential plumber and the RO system manufacturer. Needless to say, knowing what I know now, I will be getting a air-gapped RO system.
I have an iSpring RCC7AK under-sink RO system that I installed myself according to the instruction manual (here). All was working well, until this weekend when my wife told me that the sink wasn't draining and the disposal was backing up. I first tried a sink plunger, hot water, and finally a gallon of Drano, which did not work. The stagnant water would be propelled downward by the sink disposal, then would regurgitate back up. It would slowly drain over several hours.
On sunday I bought a 50 ft snake and snaked about 40 feet through the sink drain line, and hit a blockage that I couldn't clear. On Monday a plumber was able to come out and clear it with a heavy-duty snake.
Midway through this project, I noticed that the drain line for the RO system is in continuity with this column of standing water (I had forgotten about this little fact). We had been using the RO faucet for the past day during this ordeal. I'm concerned that my family and I may have ingested the standing water/Drano mix via the RO system. The plumber told me that this wasn't a concern, since the system has a check valve on it. Likewise, I called the manufacturer, who told me that the AFR regulator on the drain line would prevent backflow. This didn't seem right based on my limited understanding of the system, so disconnected the system and checked the AFR by applying a standing column of water through the outflow port, and sure enough, it will trickle back through without a problem.
Furthermore, If I apply constant back pressure to the drain line via a syringe, I can push water through the distillate output. I can also push water all the way through the system back to the intake line--which shouldnt be possible with the ASV valve. Mind you, this is for a system disconnected from the source water supply.
So my questions are:
1. wtf?
2. Did we drink contaminated water for a day?
3. Is my experiment totally flawed because it is not hooked up to intake water pressure?
4. How much water pressure is generated by the sink disposal? Would that be enough to propel water far against the pressure of the inflow when connected?
4. Does backflow through an osmosis membrane still filter the liquid?
I have some pictures/video of my setup, I can post them tomorrow if that would be more helpful.
Thanks guys.
In the past few days I've had a plumbing issue that has lead me down a rabbit hole of concern about my under-sink RO system. I'm hoping some of you professionals will have some more insight than what I've gained so far from the residential plumber and the RO system manufacturer. Needless to say, knowing what I know now, I will be getting a air-gapped RO system.
I have an iSpring RCC7AK under-sink RO system that I installed myself according to the instruction manual (here). All was working well, until this weekend when my wife told me that the sink wasn't draining and the disposal was backing up. I first tried a sink plunger, hot water, and finally a gallon of Drano, which did not work. The stagnant water would be propelled downward by the sink disposal, then would regurgitate back up. It would slowly drain over several hours.
On sunday I bought a 50 ft snake and snaked about 40 feet through the sink drain line, and hit a blockage that I couldn't clear. On Monday a plumber was able to come out and clear it with a heavy-duty snake.
Midway through this project, I noticed that the drain line for the RO system is in continuity with this column of standing water (I had forgotten about this little fact). We had been using the RO faucet for the past day during this ordeal. I'm concerned that my family and I may have ingested the standing water/Drano mix via the RO system. The plumber told me that this wasn't a concern, since the system has a check valve on it. Likewise, I called the manufacturer, who told me that the AFR regulator on the drain line would prevent backflow. This didn't seem right based on my limited understanding of the system, so disconnected the system and checked the AFR by applying a standing column of water through the outflow port, and sure enough, it will trickle back through without a problem.
Furthermore, If I apply constant back pressure to the drain line via a syringe, I can push water through the distillate output. I can also push water all the way through the system back to the intake line--which shouldnt be possible with the ASV valve. Mind you, this is for a system disconnected from the source water supply.
So my questions are:
1. wtf?
2. Did we drink contaminated water for a day?
3. Is my experiment totally flawed because it is not hooked up to intake water pressure?
4. How much water pressure is generated by the sink disposal? Would that be enough to propel water far against the pressure of the inflow when connected?
4. Does backflow through an osmosis membrane still filter the liquid?
I have some pictures/video of my setup, I can post them tomorrow if that would be more helpful.
Thanks guys.
