Regarding the water supply...
My original plan was to use mixing valves to regulate the temp of the supplied water to 80 degrees, which would offload some of the burden of heating the water to the cheaper natural gas water heater. After doing some research on the way they work and their reliability, I decided it was too much of a risk for me. If the temperature of the inlet water changes (as it will during winter and summer months) the mix will need to change as well, and I can't be confident it will always be 80. I could get into a more complicated system for monitoring supply water temp, but just decided to give up on the mixers and just supply cold water. Right now on a warm day, that's 74 degrees and won't cause much of an issue. Winter might tell a different story but I will deal with that then.
I'm trying to finalize plans on how to regular the supply water into the tanks as well. I feel it's best to keep this very simple with a needle valve, measuring the output and adjusting until I get the 30 gallons a day I'm shooting for, but then I also found this liquid flow sensor. Combined with a solenoid, it could automatically regulate the fill and shut it off if needed. I'm not sure I want more electronics to fail, but it's a cool concept.
I finished roughing in the plumbing on the wall (hot water supply capped since I won't be using it). I'm not a big fan of hard plumbing the sumps into this drain, so I set it up for dual 1" barb fittings and I will run a braided hose between the two. I doubt the sump will be moving much, but this felt like a better option to me.
Making good progress on the wall, I should be finished tonight and I'm also bringing the stands in tonight/this weekend so that I can hopefully get tanks installed early next week.
My original plan was to use mixing valves to regulate the temp of the supplied water to 80 degrees, which would offload some of the burden of heating the water to the cheaper natural gas water heater. After doing some research on the way they work and their reliability, I decided it was too much of a risk for me. If the temperature of the inlet water changes (as it will during winter and summer months) the mix will need to change as well, and I can't be confident it will always be 80. I could get into a more complicated system for monitoring supply water temp, but just decided to give up on the mixers and just supply cold water. Right now on a warm day, that's 74 degrees and won't cause much of an issue. Winter might tell a different story but I will deal with that then.
I'm trying to finalize plans on how to regular the supply water into the tanks as well. I feel it's best to keep this very simple with a needle valve, measuring the output and adjusting until I get the 30 gallons a day I'm shooting for, but then I also found this liquid flow sensor. Combined with a solenoid, it could automatically regulate the fill and shut it off if needed. I'm not sure I want more electronics to fail, but it's a cool concept.
I finished roughing in the plumbing on the wall (hot water supply capped since I won't be using it). I'm not a big fan of hard plumbing the sumps into this drain, so I set it up for dual 1" barb fittings and I will run a braided hose between the two. I doubt the sump will be moving much, but this felt like a better option to me.
Making good progress on the wall, I should be finished tonight and I'm also bringing the stands in tonight/this weekend so that I can hopefully get tanks installed early next week.
