Comment

Comment by Kent Biswanger on March 13, 2012 at 6:25pm

@ Jacques

I'm with you on the KISS method, my last 2 postes were ment to be facetious. The point is to use a reliable design with a sensible back up and regular maintenance to avoid disaster. 

Comment by David Schwinghamer on March 13, 2012 at 5:38pm

Hey Jacques, 

Are you talking about the chop 2 system that is actually what I have been planning for a year?

Comment by Jacques L. on March 13, 2012 at 3:59pm

@Kent

Call me old fashioned.. but I'm thinking that eliminating the additional complexity of the system by going to the original self leveling design with the modular sumps is a better way to go. Having one fixed point, that if it should go bad having 1 or possibly two additional backups to back up a back up seems a little bit much.

Comment by Kent Biswanger on March 13, 2012 at 3:47pm

I guess you would also need to install an emergency shut off switch to the pump that is feeding your grow beds. Safety first I always say.

Or maybe you could install an electronic diverter valve that diverts the water to your back up barrel then shuts off the pump when the water level reached a safe level. I think I'm letting my inner design demon loose don't tell my wife. 

Comment by Kent Biswanger on March 13, 2012 at 3:37pm

John I'm guessing that since the flood valve you linked to is designed to prevent sewage back-up that it should be fairly durable and not too likely to fail. If you are really concerned though install a safety pump in the fish tank that is connected to a float switch and would pump excess water to a back up barrel.

Comment by John Malone on March 13, 2012 at 3:27pm

OK, on the wild assumption that the flood valve would work, here's new look at the modular design with in ground fish tank.

The down side to this is, if the flood valve fails for any reason, you're going to have a LOT of water overflowing the fish tank.  Hmmmmm.....

Comment by Kent Biswanger on March 13, 2012 at 3:21pm

@ Sherri

Very cool ideas and I think the design would probably work, my concern would be if something goes wrong then fixing it becomes a major ordeal because both tanks are buried in the ground.

If your willing to do the work of sinking your sump in the ground then a simpler solution would be to build a low intake overflow that would pull waste from the bottom of your tank and a direct overflow to skim the top. This would make maintenance much easier and would probably be safer in the long run. You would need to calculate flow rates to ensure you install large enough overflows so they keep up with your pump.

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on March 13, 2012 at 2:42pm

Oooh, just saw the flood valve.!!

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on March 13, 2012 at 2:39pm

Jacques, feeding neighbors is a great way to make certain you have someone to lean on when you want to take a weekend off!

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on March 13, 2012 at 2:37pm

Kent, I did stick an overflow between the tank & sump in case of a valve fail. If we meet on the tour, you and Bob will have to converse about wheeling, dealing, and dumpster diving...I mean...re-purposing. :)

I attached images with my thoughts. The first is TeamJJ's...trying to decide if it would work for us. The second uses a weird float system. In our world, I come up with ideas and Bob brings them down to earth, so he has to decide if it's even feasible, and if so, how.  Let me know what you all think. If you toggle between the last two images the float opens & closes the valve. Sunk%20Sump%20Systems.pdf

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 473
• 474
• 475
• 476
• 477
• …
• 558
• Next ›
• Page