How to Sanitize Reverse Osmosis System

It is necessary to clean or sanitize your reverse osmosis or RO system at least once every six months or annually depending on its use. The best time to cleanse it is when replacing both the filter and the membrane canisters. Cleaning ensures that you get pure and quality water free from pathogens or any potentially harmful micro-organisms. This process is usually simple and straightforward, so you can do it yourself if you have the time. Otherwise, you could hire a plumber to do it for you. According to watersafetylab’s report Here are the simple steps to take to clean your RO.

1. Wash Your Hands

Before touching any part of the system, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. Ensure that the system is not exposed to any dirt, grit, or dust when you start the sanitization process. Alternatively, you could wear latex gloves when handling the parts of the system and make sure they are clean.

2. Cleaning Agents

Have some warm dishwater ready and some cleaning agent. You need about two or three teaspoons of this agent. Ideally, you can simply use household bleach or chlorine.

3. The Process

Turn off the faucets to avoid flooding your working area and remove all the cartridges. Chlorine could easily damage them. If your system is connected to an ice maker or a refrigerator, make sure your turn that off.

Next, take the canisters and fill them with water within an inch of the upper opening. Take the cleaning agent or bleach and add about two tablespoons into the canisters. The bleaching agent should not be scented.

Before re-installing the filters and the membrane, clean the housings with the dishwater, and rinse thoroughly. You can then reinstall the canisters, ensuring that your turn them gently until they fit in. Do not tighten them too much. Once you confirm the canisters are in place, turn on the water supply and open the faucet. Wait till you see water drip out of the tap, and then turn off the water supply. At this point, ensure there are no leaks. Allow the system about 10 minutes and then turn the faucet on again. Run the water for about 20 to 30 minutes until the bleach odor disappears.

4. Draining the System

After this odor disappears, turn the faucet again to drain the system. Once the system is drained completely, turn off the faucet and remove the canisters. Be careful when removing these canisters. The next step is replacing the filters and the membrane. Keep in mind that the filters come separate from the membrane. While the filters can go either side of the RO housing, the membrane must be in the middle. To avoid any confusion, check the labeling on the packaging. The filters have the images colored on either side, while the membrane has a canister colored in the middle.

The membrane also comes with a flow restrictor that you should replace with the used one. You do this by removing the black drain line, pulling the existing restrictor out, and then gently pushing in the new one. After completing this process, you can turn on the water supply and then empty the storage three to four times.

You can also check if the timer and monitor function on the faucet is functional and determine whether to change the battery or not. If all is fine, you can now reconnect your ice maker and refrigerator.

You can test for water quality to determine if your system is cleaned sufficiently. Tap water will have the heist mineral content, while the post cleansed water will have significantly fewer minerals.