I originally set the filter (above) up, per the online video, cut into the cold water line to the sink faucet. I had quite a drill figuring out what the necessary fittings were and rounding them up because my sink is plumbed with 3/8" Pex (which is not so common as 1/2") and the filter uses 1/4" tubing and fittings. For the input side of the filter I ended up screwing 3/8" to 1/2" pipe thread and 1/4" x 1/2" pipe thread couplers together because a 3/8" to 1/4" reducing coupler is not made. This allowed a transition from the 3/8" feed line to the 1/4" filter input tube. For the faucet side I used a 1/4" to 1/2" female faucet fitting. The 1/4" filter output tube plugged directly into this fitting. Incidentally all the fitting used were Sharkbite brand push to fit fittings. The tubing is pushed into the fittings and they seal. They can be undone and reused.
The above setup worked fine but the drop from 3/8" to 1/4" tubing reduced the water volume from the cold faucet significantly and I did not like the idea of paying to filter all the cold water I use for purposes other than ingesting. It occurred to me that a separate filtered water faucet would be the way to go. I quickly located and ordered one from Amazon. The listing says it uses 1/4" tubing. When it arrived I saw that it is 1/4" tubing but outside diameter and not inside which seems to be a more standard way to talk about plumbing pipe and tubing sizes although it appears that water lines are referred to by ID and small things like water filters, ice makers and so on are referenced by OD. Sharkbite fittings are referenced by ID with a couple of exceptions which I do not understand and the other commonly available brand, Watts, are all called by OD. I will refer to all tubes and fittings by ID in this document.
All this means that to hook up the new faucet and restore the sink cold water volume I would need a "Tee" to go from 3/8" (feed) to 3/8" (to the sink faucet and 1/4" (to the filter) and a reducing coupler of 1/4" to 1/8" to go from the filter output tube to the filter faucet input. On the Home Depot web site it appeared that both fitting would be available at my local store. When I got there I found the 1/4" x 1/8" coupler with no problem. Sadly there was no 3/8" x 3/8" x 1/4" "Tee" to be had. They did have a 3/8" x 3/8" x 3/8" "Tee". I realized I could use this fitting and cut a short piece of 3/8" tubing from my current setup with the 3/8" to 1/4" reducer attached and stick the 3/8 tube into the side of the "Tee" (see photos).
When I got home and the dust had settled and I decided to proceed with this project I indentified the spot on the sink for the new faucet and drilled a hole using my new DeWalt 12 volt lithium drill. Contrary to what I had read on some web forums I had no issues drilling through the porcelain. I put masking tape over the site and started with a small pilot hole and used progressively larger bits until I had the required 1/2" hole. I almost purchase a $10 "tile" bit at Home Depot but decided to wing it with the old 1/2" twist drill bit I have on had and it worked fine.
It was no problem to fasten the faucet to the sink using the supplied washers and nut.
Next I turned off the water then cut the feed line about 2" before the reducing coupler. Next removed the fitting from the sink faucet and re-installed the original fitting and piece of 3/8" pex I had saved from the original filter install. I then plugged the new 3/8" x 3/8" x 3/8" "Tee" onto the feed line and plugged the sink faucet tube and the filter input tube (the piece of tube with the 3/8" to 1/4" reducing coupler on it). In the photo below the white line on the left is the 3/8" pex going to the sink faucet, on the righr is the feed lin coming from the back of the trailer and the blue is the 1/4" tube going into the filter.
All that remained was to plug the 1/4" x 1/8" reducing coupler onto the 1/4" filter output tube and plug the 1/8" faucet line into the other end then fasten the other end of the 1/8" tube to the filter faucet using the supplied compression fitting. The dark blue line is the 1/4" tube coming from the filter. The light blue is the 1/4" filter input tube (the camera makes them look like different sizes) and the white tube is the 1/8" tube going to the filter faucet.
I went outside and turned the water on. When I got back inside I could see water coming from 2 of the 3 joints on the 3/8" x 3/8" x 3/8" "Tee". This is of course the big nightmare on a job like this. If I could not get the leaks stopped I would have no water until I could find a better fitting (this "Tee" is a Watts plastic fitting and does not seem as robust as the brass Sharkbites) and/or new less rigid 3/8" Pex tubing. I got down on my knees and (no I did not pray) pushed on the leaking tubes and manipulated the fitting until as if by magic the whole thing stopped leaking. So far so good.
Filling the coffee pot with filtered water (and I do have full flow to the sink faucet again too).
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