I am finally working on the last project for a client of mine from my old business. i am building an in-wall tank that will divide the living room from the kitchen. she just finished the rest of the remodel with the contractor and passed all the inspections. here is the skinny
the first and nicest part is this... because she was already re-doing the kitchen from top to bottom i was able to get in and get a few goodies added for my benefit. I had the contractor install the following.
under the tank (where the sump will go)
- water supply line that runs to the garage
- drain
- 20 amp dedicated breaker
- conduit running through the wall to run the power between the lighting and the ballast
now the idiot didn't listen to me totally when it came to the size of the sump area so we have limited space to work in 14" deep... but we will just build the sump taller to account for the difference.
the goal is to make this system as maintenance free as we can. so here is the plan.
tank will have single overflow on the end. return line will be plumbed through the overflow to the sump. in the sump will be a
filter sock and an ASM G3 skimmer (will empty the skimmer cup straight to the drain)... then the water will return to the tank with a PCX-40 pump.
we will have a spraybar CLS on the bottom to keep stuff moving using a PCX-30 pump.
The tank will be refilled for evaporation using the following setup.
- RO/DI unit in the garage will be plumbed to a holding tank (trash can) in the garage using a float valve.
- In the holding tank we will have a pump attached to the water line that goes under the tank. this will be attached to a float valve in the sump.
- the pump will be on a timer for 5-10 minutes a day during which it will pump from the full holding tank to the sump and refill for evap
I used this method as a protection in case the RO gets stuck on it will only be able to drain the holding tank for the duration of the timer.
on the sump i will install a 1/2" bulkhead towards the top of the sump as an overflow in the case something goes wrong to make sure that the sump only overflows down the drain and not on the carpet.
the builder was kind enough to epoxy the sump so i will seal the bottom and put a 1/4" shim around the bottom to pool the water inside the sump in the case of a leak. this will set off the leak detector before it leaks on the carpet.
The ballast will be suspended from the top of the sump area and the power supply will then be run through the conduit to the top of the tank to run the dual 400W MH setup.
the top of the tank will have acrylic covers to reduce/eliminate the evap. We will be building a wood door to hang from the ceiling that will rest against the tank to act as a psuedo hood and then the tank will be built to be just below the partition wall on the living room side so the owner can frame the tank in and make it look like a picture tank.
the sump openings are actually going to be covered behind the couch in the living room so i will be covering the holes with a basic decorative wood door that will come off completly.
that is the plan in a nutshell... on to the build.
