Question:
How do you clean a reverse osmosis unit?

I take mine apart when I am changing filters or membrane and scrub it with amix of bleach. Just be sure you rinse it out with very hot water and get ALLthe bleach out before you put the membrane back. Bleach will fry membrane. Ifyour water is not really nasty you probably don't have the same crud buildupthat we get here in Florida. I have to clean my aireator tank and all thefilter housings a couple times a year to keep them clean enough that I want todrink the water.

Answer: Now when you do this you really should use sterile rinse water.Otherwise there's little point in sanitizing and then using thecontaminated water to rinse things out with. You also need to allowproper contact time for the chlorine to work. You also need to run thatwater throughout the system, all the way to the faucet and drain (on airgap faucets). And no one should be using RO when they know they have aColiform bacteria problem. Biofouling (from any type of bacteria) is thenumber one cause of membrane failure.

Anyone can check on the proper equipment to treat bacteria contaminatedwater. You'll see RO is not listed as an option with the EPA or anyState environmental agency.