Installing a reverse osmosis system may seem overwhelming, especially when you open the box and see tons of tubing, canisters, a tank, and a bunch of paperwork. Some say it is as easy as simply following instructions, however in this case, we had to add ANOTHER step to the process, which was to create a location for the faucet:
We could have eliminated the air gap, however that comes with many issues, and is required by law in many states. The only option we had was to create another hole by drilling through 1/16″ of ceramic, and 1/2″ of cast iron. To do this, we had to make a trip to the local hardware store to pick up a ceramic hole saw and a steel hole saw. One of the hole saw packages included an arbor, which is the adapter used to hold the saws your cordless drill.
To start the hole, we first created a jig for the location where we wanted to start the hole. Templates can be purchased, however I figured a simple piece of scrap wood would do the job. We placed the wood over the location where we wanted the hole, and marked a center cross-hair in pencil. We then used the metal hole saw to create a hole at this location, wobbling it around to create more of a clearance hole. This jig was used to start the hole drilling process, as we figured the drill would walk around the ceramic surface without some type of guide to hold it in place. In the image below, the hole on the left is the air vent hole, as we removed the vent and used the hole for referencing the new location.
Below is the hole being started. We used the diamond dust drill bit to get through the ceramic, then switched to the metal hole saw. One person was drilling, while the other was keeping the saw cool with water from the kitchen faucet. Keeping the saw cool prevents it from overheating and becoming dull.
Below is the newly created hole, using almost two full charges of a cordless 18-volt DeWalt drill, and about 20 minutes of drill time.
The next hole we had to drill was the drain hole for the water system. Since this hole was drilled through plastic, it seemed too easy. We were extra careful not to drill through the back side of the pipe. With the hole drilled, we added the stick-on gasket, then the plastic clamp with the hose clamp.
The next steps were to mount the filters and place the tank, making sure they were all within reach of the faucet tubes. we ended up moving the faucet to the “air gap” hole location, and moving the “air gap” to the newly drilled hole in the ceramic sink. With the items placed, we connected the hoses together according to the instructions to complete the installation. Below are pictures of below and above the sink.
Once installed, we turned on the water system, and waited a few hours for the tank to fill. We then checked for leaks and flushed the system three times, waiting a few hours between each cycle to allow the tank to fill. The third tank was drinkable.
Plan for a good half-day of work to get a system like this installed, and another half-day to flush the system. As like most things, the system will require maintenance. Keep up on the maintenance and you will have clean drinking water for many years.
I hope I have helped you to build your confidence enough to install one of these systems yourself. Let me know how it turns out!