How Your Reverse Osmosis System Works - Whirlpool WHAPSRO Installation And Operation Manual

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. Impurities are filtered
out. Delicious tasting drinking water goes to the stor-
age tank-ready for your use. 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. 24. The prefilter is a replaceable
sediment cartridge with activated carbon in its compo-
sition. The cartridge reduces taste, odor, sand, silt, dirt,
other sediments, and up to the amount of chlorine
shown in the specifications.
Reverse Osmosis Cartridge: Filtered water flows
from the prefilter to the Reverse Osmosis membrane
cartridge. See Fig. 24. The Reverse Osmosis cartridge
is a tightly wound special membrane. The membrane
reduces the dissolved solids and organic matter. High
quality product water (about one ounce per minute)
exits the Reverse Osmosis cartridge. The product
water flows to the storage tank, postfilter or Reverse
Osmosis faucet. Drain water, with the dissolved solids
and organic matter, is routed to the drain.
Storage Tank: The storage tank holds product water.
See Fig. 24. A diaphragm inside the tank holds water
pressurized to about half of supply water pressure
when the tank is full. This provides fast flow to the
Reverse Osmosis faucet. When the tank is empty of
water, the pressure at the air valve is 5 - 7 psi.
Postfilter: Water goes through the postfilter before
going to the Reverse Osmosis faucet. See Fig. 24.
The postfilter is an activated carbon type filter. Any
remaining tastes and odors are reduced from the prod-
uct water. Clean, high quality drinking water is avail-
able at the faucet.
Reverse Osmosis Faucet: The sink or countertop
faucet has a hand operated knob to dispense drinking
water. See Fig. 24. An air-gap is built into the faucet
drain water connection to comply with plumbing codes.
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. 24.
Check Valve: A check valve is located in the Reverse
Osmosis manifold above the center cartridge. 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. 24.
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 inside the fitting on the Reverse
Osmosis manifold drain port. See Fig. 24.
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