Specifications

18
How Your RO Water System Works
HOW YOUR REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM
WORKS
Introduction: Your Reverse Osmosis (RO) Drinking
Water System uses your household water pressure to
force water through three filters. Minerals and impuri-
ties are filtered out. Delicious tasting drinking water
goes to the storage tank-ready for your use. Minerals
and impurities are sent down the drain. The following
paragraphs will explain in detail how your Reverse
Osmosis Drinking Water System works.
Prefilter: Water from the cold supply pipe enters the
prefilter. See Fig. 25. The prefilter has a replaceable
sediment cartridge with activated carbon in its compo-
sition. The cartridge removes taste, odor, sand, silt,
dirt, other sediments, and up to the amount of chlorine
shown in the specifications.
Reverse Osmosis Cartridge: Filtered, chlorine-free
water flows from the prefilter, to the Reverse Osmosis
membrane cartridge. See Fig. 25. The Reverse
Osmosis cartridge is a tightly wound special mem-
brane. The membrane removes the dissolved solids
and organic matter. High quality product water (about
one ounce per minute) exits the Reverse Osmosis car-
tridge. The product water flows to the storage tank,
postfilter or Reverse Osmosis faucet. See Fig. 25.
Reject water, with the dissolved solids and organic
matter, is routed to the drain. See Fig. 25.
Storage Tank: The storage tank holds up to 2.3 gal-
lons of product water. See Fig. 25. A diaphragm inside
the tank holds water pressurized to about 30 psi when
the tank is full. This provides fast flow to the Reverse
Osmosis faucet. When the tank is empty of water, it is
pressurized to 5 - 7 psi.
Postfilter: Before going to the Reverse Osmosis
faucet, product water goes through the postfilter. See
Fig. 25. The postfilter is an activated carbon type filter.
Any remaining tastes and odors are removed from the
product water. Taste-free, odor-free, clean, high quality
drinking water is available at the faucet.
Reverse Osmosis Faucet: The sink or countertop
faucet has a hand operated knob to access drinking
water. See Fig. 25. An air-gap is built into the faucet
drain water connection to comply with plumbing codes.
See Fig. 25.
Faucet Electronics: Inside the faucet base is a battery
operated 6 month timer. See Fig. 14.
An amber LED indicator is also located in the front of
the faucet base. This LED will flash continuously after
6 months have passed. This indicates that it is time to
replace the battery, prefilters and postfilters.
Shutoff Assembly: The unit has an automatic shutoff
system to conserve water. When the storage tank has
filled to capacity, and the drinking water faucet is closed,
pressure closes the shutoff to stop flow to the drain.
After enough drinking water is used, pressure in the
system drops, and the shutoff opens to allow the tank to
be refilled. See Fig. 25.
Check Valve: A check valve is located in the Reverse
Osmosis manifold, above the center sump. The check
valve prevents a backward flow of product water from
the storage tank to drain. A backward flow could
damage the Reverse Osmosis Membrane. See Fig. 25.
Flow Control: Water flow to the drain is restricted by
the flow control. It maintains the desired flow rate to
obtain the highest quality drinking water. The flow con-
trol is located in the end of the 1/4" red drain tubing, at
the Reverse Osmosis manifold drain port. See Fig. 25.
Questions? Visit www.whirlpool.com or call Toll Free 1-866-986-3223