Reverse Osmosis Troubleshooting - Little or No Flow from Faucet

Reverse Osmosis Troubleshooting - No Flow from Faucet

At first glance Reverse Osmosis drinking water systems can appear somewhat complex. It helps if you know how they work, so I suggest you view my How a Reverse Osmosis drinking water system works video before watching this one on troubleshooting.
One of the most common concerns is very little or no water flow from the drinking water faucet, but when you check, the tank is full, which you can tell by how heavy it is. The usual cause is the tank is low on air pressure or has a torn bladder.

To remedy this situation, follow these suggestions:

1) Turn off the water flow from the source, shut off the tank and disconnect and remove the tank, I usually take it outside at this point.
2) Find the blue or black plastic cap on the bottom or side of the tank and open it to expose the metal air stem valve. If there is water leaking out of this valve or air is coming out of the shut off, the bladder is torn and the tank needs to be replaced.
3) You need to check the pressure within the tank when it is empty, so open the valve and let the water run until it is empty. If it does not empty fully, connect a tire pump or compressor to push out all of the water before proceeding.
5) Carefully re pressurize the tank with a bicycle tire pump or compressor to whatever it says on the tank or if nothing is noted on the tank to 6-8 psi. Do not over pressurize as you may burst the bladder!

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Thanks for watching!
Gary the Water Guy. #garythewaterguy #reverseosmsosissystems #waterfiltration

[theaajourney]

This guy is the man! I would only be able to a get pitchers worth of water out of my 5 gallon RO tank. I drained it all out, adjusted the PSI and now all the water in the tank comes out. Thank You!

[mimicotom]

I had this problem and did exactly what this gentleman said. The whole operation took 20 minutes. Now I have almost unlimited water gushing out instead of a trickle stream. Thank you. You saved me a service call and $$$. Greetings from Cambridge, Ontario.

[wcfelton]

I've had my system for several years and just recently the system would bring my flow to a stop after 6 or 7 oz. After watching this video I was able to drain tank and bring the PSI to 6.5 and life is all good. I was thinking about buying a new system, thanks for saving me a few bucks.

[jhowlett]

long time ago, you couldn't find this information on the internet. back then my tank had lost its capacity and so i searched the internet with no success. ended up throwing away the entire RO system and installing a new one. I tried your method on my current system and worked like a charm. Thank you

[marymayo]

Thank you so much for this video! I was nervous about changing the filters and the membrane on my RO system. Following the directions for start-up and waiting 6 hours to test the system, I was so disappointed with the flow of water. I got a neighbour handyman to check out my work and he approved my work. I told him it was probably the tank and this morning I followed the steps in the video and all is working perfectly with my system. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

[michaelellias]

Very helpful and well presented. The manual for our GE Reverse Osmosis water filter system had absolutely no information on servicing the storage tank. We would have never known how to diagnose, drain and re-inflate the tank.
Thanks.

[videoguy]

After 10 years, my flow decreased. This video was exactly what I needed. If saved me so much money! I feel deeply indebted to Gary (the Water Guy).

[mikeho]

I thought I had to call someone or get a new system but this video changed it all. Simple instructions to follow and my family and I can drink safe water again without waiting 30 minutes in between!

[jack]

This is exactly how a really good how-to video is made. Excellent! Thank you

[richschmitt]

This was a lot of help. The water service company we had used wanted to charge us over $1000 to service our reverse osmosis filter system. We bought new filters and membranes for $300, then followed Gary's video here to bleed and recharge the tank and the system works like new. Thank you! And no, I won't send you the $700 we saved🤔

[linnealafave]

I did it myself!!! I followed the steps in this video and the other video about the quick connect and I am now back in action with great tasting drinking water!!! THANK YOU so much this saved me a bunch of money!!

[noHandle]

This solved my RO tank problem! When I opened up the valve outside about 8 cups of water came out and the tanks was nearly full (by weight). Once I drained it with air pressure, set it to 6psi, 8 hour later its as good as new! thank you sir!

[brianasquith]

GARY! THANK YOU! I wish I watched this before I changed out all of the filters, but you saved me a huge headache! Only took 10 minutes

[louisel]

I love this guy! He is precise and to the point. Not a lot of fluff ~ just meat and potatoes and I like that! Very detailed!

[angelnoel]

Had to use your expertise with my osmosis tank. After 4 years of use I could barely fill a cup. But watching your video helped me how to fix the problem.
Now the foucet has the pressure needed.
Thanks again for your help

[papthegamerofficial]

Just installed a new RO system. Kept the old tank. Couldn't get any water out. Swapped the new tank in that was pressurized and its working perfectly. Great video. Was trying to save the new one as a backup, LOL! Thanks for the awesome video!

[CanhTran]

Thanks Gary! . This is a common problem. You helped out a lot of people. Add me to the list. I thought my filters needed replacement and was planning to change them all out. Your video saved me the grief of discovering new filters wouldn't have helped.

[rolandxiong]

Awesome video! Far more insightful than my local culligan store. When I called them with this same issue, the only thing they told me was to replace all the filters (which I did) and to make sure the tank was at 8 psi. Your video showed every necessary steps to fix this issue. I was just about to buy a new tank. Thanks!

[denniswilson]

This was very informative and is very likely the issue I'm facing with my Home Master system. The tank is very heavy and full of water yet only delivering a small amount of water from the RO faucet. I will be following this procedure tomorrow to see if I can resolve the issue.

[bretmoore]

I am NOT mechanically inclined, but I was able to resolve my RO low flow problem with this information. Thank you so much!