Does anyone have a system for using bottled water to supply an ice maker. We are on a well and my better half does not like the ice cubes from the well water. We drink bottled water and use the well water for cooking, bathing and for the dogs(they haven’t said anything yet…). Anyway if we could supply the ice maker with bottled water the ice cubes would come out a whole lot better. Any ideas??? Thanks.
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Huh, ice trays?
Not quite automatic, but you reap what you sow, sow to speak.
My folks and my sister have icemakers that have built in water filters.
Who Dares Wins.
Costco has a reverse osmosis filtration stystem made by Watts for 145 dollars. I installed one two years ago for my grandmother and just picked one up for myself. They are easy to install with a few basic handtools and some common sense. The water is every bit the equal of any bottled source.
If I was in your position I would buy one of these and install it so it supplied both a spigot on the sink and the ice maker.
I don't mind paying for bottled water but I find picking up, disposing of, filling them, etc a complete waste of time. The convenience of having it ready to go at the sink is indispensable.
On my grandmas I also piped the R. O. water through an insinkerator insta hot water heater. Insinkerator has a nice spigot offered with it that has a hot and cold lever feeding a single spout. I picked it up on ebay for half what it retails for.
karl
Hi Chuck,
Try this link http://www.watershed.net/flojet-wp.htm
We usually mount them in a cabinet next to the refrigerator on a roll out tray. We sometimes plumb in a second faucet at the sink for for cooking water etc.
Dennis
Impressive how this forum can generate results so quick. You found exactly what the guy wanted.
funny how it works that it is cheaper to buy a filtration unit than to buy the hardware to pump bottled water.
I have a hard time understanding why anyone would go the bottled route over a reverse osmosis filter. I didn't really investigate but it looks like the bottled water pump is about the same complexity to install as the Reverse osmosis filter.
If anyone is thinking that bottled water is superior should really look into the process of reverse osmosis. It seems to remove virtually all impurities and it tastes great.
If there are any drawbacks to reverse osmosis I am interested in hearing them.
karl
Does anyone know if an RO filter works for high iron? We bought some cartridge filters that are used on the main line coming off the well tank, but before we installed them, were told that they wouldn't work for iron.
One drawback to the RO is that it wastes a lot of water compared to what it filters. I forget the exact number, but IIRC it is something like 3 gallons wasted for every gallon of usable water.
>> One drawback to the RO is that it wastes a lot of water ...
I disagree with the term 'wastes.' Water is a resource. Once you've paid for it, it's yours to spend as you desire to buy the things you want. If you choose to spend three gallons of substandard water to get one gallon of good water, that's not waste.
Would you say it's a waste of money to buy the food you like rather than living on the cheapest food that will keep you alive. Is it a waste of money to buy comfortable, durable shoes instead of Chinese cotton slippers? Is it a waste of gas to heat your house to a comfortable temperature in the winter instead of keeping it just warm enough to keep the pipes from freezing?
Oh, fine, thank you. And you?
Its not wasted water unless you throw it away.
The water exhausted by the RO filter exceeds most 'grey' water and is suitable for a wide range of washing and watering type uses.
I have the Whirlpool RO from Blowes, it too delivers excellent water for about the same money as the Costco unit mentioned.
Good luck.
My R/O dumps into my pool. In the grand scheme of things it is not that much water but it is not wasted.The little bit of salt that goes into the pool does not seem to show up on a salinity tester.
If you would......define " high iron". Have you had the water tested for iron content and general hardness? (Yes, high iron can be problematic with an RO system and will require frequent changes of the membrane)
If you do have a high iron content, it'll plug conventional cartridge filters pretty fast.
Might be time to consider a well chlorinator and a simple backwashing sand filter. (I advise avoiding green sand filters which can filter iron without chlorination of the well, but these units are prone to problems that you won't like and require potassium permanganate to regenerate)
RO also requires your Ph to be within a given range depending upon which type of membrane you buy.
RO works best and the membranes work for a longer period if the iron is removed before the water reaches the RO.
I'd advise getting a comprehensive water test as that's really necessary before you can design and install an effective water filtration sysytem. Get the heavy metals test which includes arsenic. Nitrate test for a private well is also a must if you're located in an agricultural area. It's what you can't see that's the most dangerous.
Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
I did have the water tested. We didn't test for arsenic, but did test for nitrates, and a list of other things. I'll post the test results, if that would help.
The iron level was very high, IIRC maybe two-three times what the state's high limit is.
There wasn'tany indication, that I can recall, that we'd need a chlorinator, unless that's necessary with a sand filter. Oops! Just re-read your explanation for that...
I like the idea of the sand filter, though. Do you have any links to examples of these?
We're being told (without them seeing results) by water-filter sales types that we "need" a water softener. Even though the test did not show hard water.
Exactly what you'll need to remove the iron from your water is about impossible to say from here. Depends on the type(s) of iron, how much of it there is, whether you have turbidity issues, and the Ph of the water. Only a comprehensive test can determine this.
See the link below and notice the explanation concerning the various types of iron and what's required to remove them. Frequently a chlorinator is essential, but not always. However, you could have other issues as well that can also be resolved with the use of chlorinator.
http://www.ohiopurewaterco.com/autobackwash.html#Birm
I'd advise getting that heavy metals/arsenic test also. There are new much lower limits in place for acceptable arsenic levels, but don't panic if the test shows "high" arsenic levels. Since you have iron present, the use of a chlorinator followed by a backwashing iron filter will remove the vast majority of the arsenic.
There are parameters the water must meet before being introduced to the RO membrane if the RO is to be effective and have a reasonable membrane life expectancy. RO membranes can handle relatively little iron, don't function well in the presence of turbid water, have Ph constraints, hardness constraints, etc. Frequently, they are the last component in a treatment system. Folks on city water take much of this for granted as their water arrives to them after already being subjected to these treatment processes. Usually they're then in a better position to simply grab and install an RO and have success with it.
You really need a trustworthy water treatment professional to help you put your system together if you have problematic well water.
Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
I have RO and love it. Our water is pretty hard and high in mineral content. The only drawback to RO systems is that they waste water to make cleaner water. I forget, but I thnk they waste as much as 1.5 or even 2 gallons for every gallon they make.
If you have an air compressor handy you could probably rig a tank that you could fill through a funnel (when not pressurized) and then pressurize with the compressor.
Put in dozens of these in cottage country: big bottle of water sits in a rack (over fridge, in rafters, in over-head cabinets beside fridge, in closet upstairs, even hidden in a chest of drawers on the second floor) higher than the fridge; quick-connect and some flexible tubing from the bottle to the piping to make replacement easy, you can even use plain plastic tubing for the whole thing; remember to put a filter* over the air-relief on the water bottle so that it doesn't suck in a bug/dust/mold into the water supply.
* Can be as simple as some folded up gauze, but I prefer to use an air-mask filter cartridge to ensure that no odours or nasty biology gets into the water.
PS, some people like spring water, I recommend distilled water for this application.
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
Bottled water ice pump
There are two kinds of pumps that can run bottled water to a built in ice maker. One presurizes the water but is known to dump water when power goes out. The second is less expensive and connects to the "solenoid" on the back outside of your refrigerator's ice maker called the "Ice Mate" - Amazon sells them for $60 bucks and it connects to your current bottled water dispenser so you don't have to have two. The site is http://www.bottled-water-ice.com