Basement Sump?

[Ocicat]

How difficult is it to run a basement sump?

Would I need some expensive, super-powered return pump?

It would be nice to have all that room for hooking up the RO/Di unit w/an auto top-off, storing water right there by where I need it, mixing SW, etc... Plus from what I've read here, it seems like if anything floods it's almost always the sump, and I'd way rather have that happen in the basement than the living room.

Also, if anybody has pics of their basement sump I'd love to see them.

TIA!
Ocicat

[greenmaji]

you would need high head preasure pumps.. you would need to measure how high it is from the location in the bacement up to the display tank to have an idea how powerfull the pumps need to be (the gph drop off the higher then need to go)
I would think the biggest advantage would be to naturally cool your system.. FWIW

[luckycat]

Originally Posted by Ocicat

How difficult is it to run a basement sump?

Would I need some expensive, super-powered return pump?

It would be nice to have all that room for hooking up the RO/Di unit w/an auto top-off, storing water right there by where I need it, mixing SW, etc... Plus from what I've read here, it seems like if anything floods it's almost always the sump, and I'd way rather have that happen in the basement than the living room.

Also, if anybody has pics of their basement sump I'd love to see them.

TIA!
Ocicat

I have a sump in my basement - and love it! Little water spills, etc. don't bother me at all on the basement floor..it is like my little science lab down there. I use a Mag18 return that is split off into two 3/4" returns (1.5" most of the way then split just below the tank). There is a "head loss calculator" on another site..I think www.reefcentral.com, that you can use to try to determine final gph that you will have with a given pump and configuration. I think mine is about 900 gph when all said and done...

To make it easier on the pump you can elevate the sump as much as you can..mine is about 4' off the ground (less height to deal with).

Good luck!

[ellisz]

I use a Mak4 for my basement sump. It is one of the cheaper externals. It supplies close to the max my overflow can handle with about 16+ft of head height.

I would not say it is hard but takes a bit of planning. I plumbed mine and have never plumbed before. Hardest part was drilling the holes in the floor. Hated doing that to new carpet

[Ocicat]

I would not say it is hard but takes a bit of planning. I plumbed mine and have never plumbed before. Hardest part was drilling the holes in the floor. Hated doing that to new carpet

I know what you mean!! We just moved into a new house, and our pride and joy is our maple hardwood floor....... The thought of cutting holes in it makes me shudder! That's why I was trying to think of how to run it through the wall rather than the floor, but from what I have heard here and elsewhere, that would be much harder than the floor. (And I've never plumbed before either!)

[ellisz]

I considered the wall but drilling through the wall plate(2x4) with a hole big enough for the pipes scared me away. Plus anything I do I would like to be reversible. I considered putting a double outlet box in the wall so I could later cover that up if needed. Even with hardwood floors, I thought about cutting a rectanglar hole that could be covered up with a vent cover.

I ended up putting the tank in the office with a carpet floor so who knows what that will look like if I move it Smashed I bet.

[greenmaji]

I have done some home plumbing and I would think that it really would depend on how big the pipes needed to be to plumb them through the walls base plate, if its 1inch pipe or smaller It could be done. you would need to cut into the drywall to get at it though (and on an exterior wall youll be dealling with the insulation as well.. I would think 4- 30degree angle bends would make it into the wall and out the basement wall without cutting down on flow too much.. I hope you can picture that.. I have no cad type program and well I dont think I could make a very good diagram of it in ms paint. (maybe I should look for some cad type freeware)

[BillyZ]

one way to make the plumbing through the wall a little easier, IMO, would be to use flexible tubing, rather than stiff PVC. This will also improve your GPH as the slight twists in tubing doesn't cause as much head pressure as PVC elbows and PVC joint turbulence.

[greenmaji]

ahhh yes.. spa flex from HD.. good call BillyZ.. :P