If your tap water is unsafe to drink, or you’re tired of refilling ginormous water jugs at the store, you need a reverse osmosis water filter in your life! It’s really easy to install and it will save you so much money and toilet paper.
One of the benefits of living in the middle of an almond farm, is that if you drink the well water long enough, you’ll eventually get diarrhea and it will make you feel like you are enjoying a nice Mexican vacation.
Having lived in town before, this had never happened to us, and it took a good month of mysterious illness to realize what was happening. We had our water tested and it turned out to be high in nitrates and some other nastiness, so after a year of refilling and carrying very heavy water jugs with very weak arms, we finally decided to install a reverse osmosis water filter.
We were spending about $250 a year refilling water jugs, and this APEC water filter only cost $199.95, which is way less than $200.
In order to install this water filter, we used the following tools:
- DeWalt ½” corded drill
- DeWalt cordless drill
- DeWalt cordless work light
- DeWalt gyroscopic screwdriver
- Teflon Tape
- Milwaukee drill bit set
- Kobalt combination wrenches
- Dewalt phillips #2 screwdriver
- Lenox diamond drill bit
Attach drain hose to sink drain
The filter has a waste hose where it discharges water with some of the impurities. The kit comes with a drain saddle that attaches to the sink drain. Stick the foam seal onto the drain and drill a hole for the hose. Then position the drain saddle over the hose and tighten.
Tip: place the drain saddle as low on the drain pipe as possible or on a horizontal drain to minimize the noise of the drain hose.
Mark and drill counter for RO faucet
For granite, tile and marble countertops you need a special diamond drill bit to drill a hole safely through the surface. I am drilling into granite, so I put tape across to mark the center of the hole. The faucet requires a ½” drill bit, which I picked up from Lowe’s. Start drilling and spray water on the drill bit to keep it cool.
Attach the faucet to the counter
Tighten the nut under the counter to the faucet. This is where your work lamp will come in handy! Also, this is a lot easier to do if you aren't trying to take a picture at the same time...
Install feed water fitting
The system comes with a feed water adaptor to attach to the sinks water shutoff valve. This allows you to turn the RO system off without turning the sink supply line off. Turn off the shutoff valve and attach the fitting with a bit of Teflon tape.
Connect the hoses
The instructions include a diagram that shows the correct locations of all the hoses. Follow the diagram exactly. You just push the hoses in and they snap securely.
Turn the water on to supply the system
Turn the water supply on at the water shutoff valve and let the system run. Check all connections for leaks and tighten any valves or filters and push all hoses in until they are secure. You should let the tank fill 2-3 hours and then drain it completely to flush the system. When the tank refills, the water is ready to drink!
That’s it! That’s all it takes to install a water filter. It was a quick, affordable project, and a year later we are still very happy with our reverse osmosis water filter! Now our only explosive poo stories actually take place in Mexico…
We’ve changed the filters once, and they weren’t expensive at all. You can find the replacement filters HERE, and the super cool APEC water filtering system HERE.
We hope this tutorial has been helpful! Let us know if you have any questions in the comment section 🙂
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