A Half-inch Is Not Always A Half-inch

This weekend we put in a reverse-osmosis water treatment system. Our well, while deep (210'),has black sulfur water in it. Nothing we've tried in the past has worked very well. Jeff's been reading about reverse-osmosis on-line and he thought it would work and the price of the basic system's been going down so it seemed like the right time to use some of the camp sale money before I get to spend it on yarn! (I've had to use some for the windshield on the car & some to pay some bills, so it was The Time!) Before we went to Lowe's, Jeff went down cellar to check on the size of the pipes he would be cutting (the size of PVC pipe is printed on the length every couple of inches...helpful, huh?) and off we went. We got the reverse-osmosis system and another charcoal filter system to pre-filter the water, extra filters, a length of PVC pipe and the fittings to put things together and headed home to get busy. After a cup of coffee to fortify himself, Jeff went downstairs to install the pre-filter. Soon there was an argument going on down there...and Jeff wasn't happy. Seems that the 1/2" white PVC pipe that would fit into the filter is larger (???) than 1/2" cream PVC pipe that's in my cellar and the fittings he bought wouldn't work. So back to Lowe's...and this time with some help from a clerk who knew what Jeff was talking about...got the right stuff. The pre-filter was installed quickly...none of the joints leaked...and seems to be removing some of the black sulfur. While checking the water for discolor and smell, we noticed that some of the small cracks in the fiberglass sink had jointed to make 'arrowhead points' that were lifting and sticking up, so Sunday we went back to Lowe's and bought a new sink. This time we got the right fittings and Jeff was ready to put the system together. Until he realized that he had to recut the opening for the sink. That took most of the afternoon because he was forced to take thin slices off the counter top on 2 sides coz there wasn't enough room to take more. (The saw kicked back once missing Jeff but gouging the counter top so I'm going to try one of the Formica patch kits. If that doesn't work, maybe that new Rust-o-lum resurface kit.) There was/is sawdust everywhere! The sink...stainless steel, 2 bowls-1 bigger than the other...looks good and the 'clean' filtered water will have it's own facet. Unfortunately, we ran out of time last night so I was washing supper dishes in the bathroom. Today's project is to connect the sink and the reverse-osmosis system. Wish us luck!