One common question we're asked is, "do I need an air gap or a non-air gap faucet for my RO system?"
Both Air Gap and Non-Air Gap RO faucets have their advantages and disadvantages. First let's define what "air gap" means.
The air-gap reverse osmosis faucet design came about so that in the event of a sink drain being clogged and backed up, the air gap installed in the RO discharge line would pull a small amount of air rather than the dirty water back into the RO unit.
Similar to how a dishwasher air gap ensures dirty water never re-enters the clean water supply of a dishwasher, an RO air gap faucet prevents dirty water from backflowing into the reverse osmosis filtration system.
Generally, reverse osmosis drinking water systems come standard with an air gap faucet, but many RO system manufacturers will also offer the non-air gap option.
