Howdy,
I'd like to start with thanking Neo for the inspiration (--> ARTICLE <--) and his specific and helpful advice while I was setting up my system.
Here is the beauty:
Tapped into a cold water line in the laundry room, flow is regulated with a regular faucet. Next in line is a whole-house 25 micron water filter (Whirlpool WHKF-GD25BB). This will hold back any particles that I do not want in my tank and that could damage the pump mechanism of the following HN55 Chemilizer (featured --> HERE <--). Both are connected with flexible faucet connectors to allow easy handling. Water then travels thru 1/2'' PVC pipe ... behind the dryer. A 5 gal transparent Lowes' bucket holds Prime (12.5 ml Prime/1 liter water). I also installed a drain valve for easier maintenance.
Thru the cinder block wall (bottom is inlet, top is return)
And out it comes in a corner of the family room (I still need to patch the drywall). A hard 1/2'' OD tubing reaches to the PVC inlet.
You can hardly see the inlet in the tank...
... or the outlets
All right, here are my overflows in detail. I decided to go with three to have two built-in back-ups. The overflow arms are 1/2'' PVC pipe with 1/2'' ID clear vinyl tubing bridges over barb to MIP adapters. The clear tubing allows me to quickly see if an arm is accumulating air. Obviously, an air-lock would render it non-functional. I added filter baskets to keep the overflows clear of large debris (e.g. plant material).
The overflow containers are mounted on a drilled board with heavy-duty cable ties and are adjustable for height. The board is mounted on my custom background (1''x2'' boards frame) behind the tank.
And they work
Behind the tank is also where the three overflow hoses join together into a 1/2'' PVC pipe, again via barb adapters. All hoses are secured with hose clamps. (view from above)
Here is a view of the back of the tank. Very neat and clean-looking structure. Inlet in the front, overflows in the back of the pic. Parts were spray-painted with Krylon Fusion, I saw on this board that many other members used it. Again, MFK was a great source of information.
From there the waste pipe goes back thru the cinder block wall and into the adjacent laundry room. In there, it first enters a sump pump valve and then a trap before it joins the waste pipe. I added the valve (held by radiator hose clamps) to prevent backwashing by laundry efflux, because tank and laundry machine drain into the same waste pipe. Better safe than sorry.
It's great to have all the hardware in a different room, to keep the family room nice and clean, and not cluttered with technology.
The tank this drip system maintains is the 200 gal shown --> HERE <--. My five Pirayas are getting bigger and hungrier and I couldn't keep up with water changes. Despite almost weekly routine including gravel vac, nitrates spiked to 200 ppm
. That should be taken care of now: The Chemilizer is clicking happily, and I just got my Saturday mornings back
HarleyK
I'd like to start with thanking Neo for the inspiration (--> ARTICLE <--) and his specific and helpful advice while I was setting up my system.
Here is the beauty:
Tapped into a cold water line in the laundry room, flow is regulated with a regular faucet. Next in line is a whole-house 25 micron water filter (Whirlpool WHKF-GD25BB). This will hold back any particles that I do not want in my tank and that could damage the pump mechanism of the following HN55 Chemilizer (featured --> HERE <--). Both are connected with flexible faucet connectors to allow easy handling. Water then travels thru 1/2'' PVC pipe ... behind the dryer. A 5 gal transparent Lowes' bucket holds Prime (12.5 ml Prime/1 liter water). I also installed a drain valve for easier maintenance.
Thru the cinder block wall (bottom is inlet, top is return)
And out it comes in a corner of the family room (I still need to patch the drywall). A hard 1/2'' OD tubing reaches to the PVC inlet.
You can hardly see the inlet in the tank...
... or the outlets
All right, here are my overflows in detail. I decided to go with three to have two built-in back-ups. The overflow arms are 1/2'' PVC pipe with 1/2'' ID clear vinyl tubing bridges over barb to MIP adapters. The clear tubing allows me to quickly see if an arm is accumulating air. Obviously, an air-lock would render it non-functional. I added filter baskets to keep the overflows clear of large debris (e.g. plant material).
The overflow containers are mounted on a drilled board with heavy-duty cable ties and are adjustable for height. The board is mounted on my custom background (1''x2'' boards frame) behind the tank.
And they work
Behind the tank is also where the three overflow hoses join together into a 1/2'' PVC pipe, again via barb adapters. All hoses are secured with hose clamps. (view from above)
Here is a view of the back of the tank. Very neat and clean-looking structure. Inlet in the front, overflows in the back of the pic. Parts were spray-painted with Krylon Fusion, I saw on this board that many other members used it. Again, MFK was a great source of information.
From there the waste pipe goes back thru the cinder block wall and into the adjacent laundry room. In there, it first enters a sump pump valve and then a trap before it joins the waste pipe. I added the valve (held by radiator hose clamps) to prevent backwashing by laundry efflux, because tank and laundry machine drain into the same waste pipe. Better safe than sorry.
It's great to have all the hardware in a different room, to keep the family room nice and clean, and not cluttered with technology.
The tank this drip system maintains is the 200 gal shown --> HERE <--. My five Pirayas are getting bigger and hungrier and I couldn't keep up with water changes. Despite almost weekly routine including gravel vac, nitrates spiked to 200 ppm
. That should be taken care of now: The Chemilizer is clicking happily, and I just got my Saturday mornings back HarleyK
