Zero Waste Reverse Osmosis Installation

I thought this was going to be an epic install. The only space to put the ZRO unit was above the washer/dryer in the laundry room and the water was suppose to be plumbed into the refrigerator in the kitchen. There was of course a wall in between and only a wall where the unit would go.

I figured a whole day may be needed to get this done. The cabinet had been finished up earlier in the week (still needs a top coat of gloss lacquer) and it was installed on Thanksgiving morning. So that much was out of the way.

The cabinet was built to reflect the Shaker style in the rest of the kitchen/laundry room. The only "goofy" thing about the cabinet is that the door is one piece and opens up. That was to provide as much room as possible for the install.

The equipment in the cabinet included a pressure tank, pump and various filters along with the actual ZRO unit on the top. There were hook ups for the cold water intake and hot water return (this is the zero waste part of the unit), pressure tank, water outlet and power for the pump.

For those keeping score at home that is 4 water lines and one electric cord.

Routing the water lines to the utility sink was no problem and all of the hardware included with the ZRO unit worked as advertised. So no problems so far.

Next the line to the refrigerator needed to put through the wall. It needed to go into the lower corner cabinet in the kitchen, then out the side into the space behind the refrigerator.

To keep it from interfering with storage in the cabinet it would need to stay high and out of the way. The lines to the sink are also visible. The white line going into the wall on the left is the one going to the refrigerator.

As you can see a couple of exploratory holes were drilled before the right spot was found, but no one will see them, especially the LOML.

The final hook up to the refrig was pretty anti-climactic. Plugged the ZRO in and by Sunday we had done the start up fill/drain routine and had water. Won't need to buy the bottled stuff anymore as Marlys has given it the thumbs up.

BTW it took about 2 hours to complete, so the rest of the day was devoted to burning slash piles.