The tubes, filters and fittings are made from polypropylene, an inert material that does not add anything to the water and is NSF certified (Contact Aqua Safe for details on manufacturer & certification).

This can be added as an option to the Reverse Osmosis system to indicate when the membrane or drainage line has blocked or failed so the membrane can be replaced and the high water quality maintained. Without this you are unable to tell when the membrane has failed or the unit is not operating correctly unless you test the water coming from the membrane with a TDS meter. A handheld TDS meter will test it at that point in time although you will need to disconnect tubing to get a reading from the membrane outlet rather than from the system as this will be after another carbon filter, pH balancing filter, re-mineraliser or Pi filter. The water quality monitoring system displays the quality at the push of a button and monitors the membrane output 24 hours 7 days a week from day 1. It will also alarm you when the quality goes out of specification giving you peace of mind that you are always drinking purified water. The ASRO4R system also has the option of a flow meter as the resin filter only treats a certain volume of water before it needs to be changed. This meter indicates the remaining volume left with filter and alarms when the volume of water has been treated. The filter can then be changed and the flow meter reset.

The tap hole size is the same for all systems. A 10-12mm hole is required.

The simple answer is, No they don’t. Reverse osmosis systems filter down to 0.0005 microns, however many contaminants are smaller than this or are forced through the membrane due to design constraints or poor design. Some contaminants are removed by as much as 99% while many others are removed by only 30-50%. This can be seen by looking at membrane rejection tables. The average contaminant removal by reverse osmosis filter systems is approximately 85%. This will vary depending upon the quality and number of contaminants in the water supply and the system design. The performance of a reverse osmosis system can be checked by using a TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) meter and should be between 7-10ppm. To remove more contaminants an additional filtration stage is required. This involves one or more mixed bed DI resin filters that further purify the water removing 99.99% of contaminants. This Ultrapure water can be provided by the Aqua Safe ASRO4R system.

This depends upon the quality of the incoming water supply but generally sits between 2 & 7ppm with the standard RO system. The ASRO4R produces higher quality water and therefore lower TDS.

A water pressure gauge is installed on each Reverse Osmosis unit to confirm the unit is operating and running correctly with the required minimum pressure. They will also help determine if the sediment and carbon pre-filters are blocked and need replacement. A second pressure gauge can be fitted to the under bench units to let you know when the pre-filters are blocked while a third gauge can be added to show the storage tank pressure as this will need to be adjusted after a few years.

The filters in our reverse osmosis ASRO4 (underbench) system have an effective life of 12 months and the replacement cost is $92 ($46 AS2001-carbon + $46 AS2101S sediment) although the sediment can be replaced every second year. The filters in our reverse osmosis ASBTRO4 (benchtop) system have an effective life of 12 months and the replacement cost is $99.00 ($49 sediment,part # 17420 + $49 carbon, part # 17679). These are high quality K series Omnipure Cartridges. Prices effective August 2016. Check replacement cartridges for current pricing.

It takes approximately 2.0 to 2.5 hours to install the ASRO4 system including flushing the cartridges ready for use.

Part of the water that flows into a reverse osmosis (RO) system flows through the membrane and comes out as treated water. The rest is used to wash away the rejected contaminants down the drain as waste. If not properly designed, RO systems can use large quantities of water to produce little treated water or use small quantities of water and produce low quality treated water while shortening the membrane life.  Most domestic RO systems are designed for a 20-30% recovery up to 50% recovery, i.e. 2-5 litres of water produced for every 10 litres of water used. This can also be expressed as a ratio of 1:4 down to 1:1. Higher recovery rates can be obtained but doing so will shorten the membrane life. RO membranes are easily fouled if contaminants or concentrated impurities are not washed away quickly enough. The higher the contaminant or TDS level the lower the recovery rate of treated water or the more wastewater required.

The performance & efficiency of a Reverse Osmosis (RO) system depends upon the membrane type, flow control, feed water quality (contaminants & quantity, pH, turbidity, total dissolved solids; TDS), pressure & temperature. RO systems require a reasonably high pressure in order to function properly. Most domestic RO systems require 400kPa (60 psi) to operate efficiently and maintain performance. A minimum operating pressure of 350kPa is recommended however the units will operate down to 240kPa although this will affect the quality of water produced. If the water pressure is too low the RO will not be able to overcome osmotic pressure (the bonding between water molecules and the dissolved impurities). The higher the contaminant or TDS level, the higher the osmotic pressure. If the water pressure is too low the treated water production will be less efficient and the contaminant rejection rates much lower resulting in poor quality treated water. A boost pump can be added to an RO system to increase the pressure and improve the quality and quantity of water produced. Bench top RO systems are able to operate at lower pressures than under bench systems due to the fact that they do not have to work against back pressure created in the storage tank as it fills with water and compresses the air in the tank.

The diverter valve that connects to the tap switches between the tap and spout when required.