One of the greatest shortcoming of a home RO system is the water wastage. No matter which brand you pick among the best reverse osmosis system for 2015, the ratio of waste to clean water will be around 1:2 or 1:3. There is no current RO system in the market that has zero waste.
The only way to achieve a zero waste reverses osmosis system is to enhance your current set up such that the waste water can be channeled to other proper uses. This can be done via a retro system such as the Watts Premier 501026 Zero Waste Reverse Osmosis Retrofit Kit.
Watts Zero Waste reverse osmosis retrofit kit review
Watts had an earlier ro unit with zero waste. However the product did not work as expected. There were many complaints about the frequent breakdown, slow fill rate as well as the quality of the purification itself. Due to such overwhelming negative respond, the stand alone zero waste RO unit had stopped production. In its place is this retrofit kit which is a much better idea and product.
How this retrofit kit works is fairly easy to understand. It essentially channels the wasted water’ to the heated part of your house’s water system via a series of pipes and booster pump. The pump does not affect the pressure for your Ro unit. It is there only to overcome the pressure of channeling the wasted water into the heated side of your home water system.
Understandably, this will require some plumbing works and is not an easy installation by any means. What make it worst is that there is no clear instruction manual that teaches you how to do it. So, if you are going to invest in this zero waste ro unit, either prepare to pay for a plumber or get ready to be busy for a while. However, the amount of water you saved is going to be significant so it is a trade off of a one time complicated set up with years of water saving.
Will water quality remain the same
One main concern about installing this retrofit kit is whether it will affect the reverse osmosis system’s performance. One particular Amazon reviewer said that the TDM of his water increased by 60% after the installation of the kit. However, it was a once off case and there was no other similar complaints being made by customers.
Other complications?
Besides the water quality, another ‘side effect’ of installing this zero waste ro unit kit is that you will have cold water for a instance even if you have chosen the hot water option. It is nothing major as the temperature will soon adjust back but it is something I want to note before you make your purchase decision.
Conclusion
Despite some drawbacks, the Watts zero waste reverse osmosis kit does work. If you can get through the plumbing, you will definitely see a deduction in your water usage. That in itself means you will probably save money in the long run.