Is the RO system leaking at the air gap? The only way water should be coming out of the airgap is if there's too much water entering it or there's a restriction on the drain line side. Either way, it's not something you want do have going on so let's go through some ways to troubleshoot this and see how we can prevent it.
Troubleshooting Steps
1. First, take a look at the drain line for loops and kinks. You want to make sure the drain line is running straight down from the faucet to above the P-Trap, as we're using gravity here for the water to drain.
2. Now, check that the Flow Control is in place. If the flow control is missing, it allows a high volume of water to the faucet which can cause a leak at the air gap.
3. You'll want to confirm the drain line isn't restricted – could garbage disposal be causing drain line to clog? Sometimes if you have a garbage disposal it can get into the outside of the pipes, including the hole where the RO drains into. Disconnect the black drain hose from the faucet. Go ahead and gently blow through the black hose into the drain. There shouldn't be any restriction. Reconnect if you've confirmed no restriction.
4. One more thing to try would be to disconnect the black drain hose from the drain pipe (above the P-trap) and let it run into a cup or bucket. If the water stops coming out of the air gap it means there's something else restricting it when it's connected to the drain line.
Tips to Prevent Air Gap Leaks
You want to have a clear unobstructed drain line (black line). Read the tips below for how to do that:
- After you've connected the black tubing to the faucet, but before connecting it to the sink drain, you'll want to blow through it up to the faucet and make sure that air is coming out the air gap hole on the faucet.
- Keep the black line as short as possible and make sure it has a constant slope to the sink drain. You don't want loops or kinks.
- If you're using a saddle drain adapter:
- Place it as close to the bottom of the sink as possible. You want to make sure that the sink drain piping is clear and that you aren't trying to drain the RO into a full sink P-trap or partially clogged sink drain pipe.
- After installing the saddle drain, use a pen or screwdriver and insert it through the drain push to connect fitting to confirm that the hole drilled in the pipe of the sink piping didn't accidently get blocked by spinning the saddle adapter during install.
- Make sure the sink piping is clear.
- If you continue to have an air gap leak, you can try swapping out the faucet.
- We don't recommend using the faucet air gap if installing an ERO Tankless 485 - it will flow too fast and the faucet won't be able to keep up.