Now its time to put it all together. I will begin with the holding tank modifications.
On the tank you can see three changes.
Water from the tank comes directly in to the pump via the 1/2 inch line. The pump then goes directly up to the manifold on top. The copper riser on the gauge is there for dampening the gauge. Before I installed that the first water pressure gauge actually shook itself apart. This is a "problem" with high pressure diaphragm pumps. They can "hammer" quite severely each time they cycle.
The first ball valve feeds the filter unit. The second ball valve was originally to feed a sink with the same pump. Its main purpose now however is to "bleed air" out of the pump intake line and the filters. In the photo, you can barely see the "Tee" I mentioned earlier on the return line to the tank.
You can use the bleed valve for two conditions.
Now we look at the cabinet.
Here you can see why I recommended the "all in one" unit in the last paragraph of the last posting. The only thing you cannot see is the UV unit behind the pump. It is tie wrapped to the filter bracket. One other thing to keep in mind, if you will notice the little black box on the right. This is the ballast for the UV unit. Keep this someplace where you can see it. There is an LED on this box. This LED indicates that the bulb is ok and working.
One thing I cannot stress enough is treatment for parasites and bacteria. KEEP THEM OUT OF YOUR FILTERS! I would recommend keeping on hand unscented pure bleach. If for some reason the UV sterilizer goes bad, and you do not have a replacement bulb, then pretreat the incoming water with the bleach. It will be a bit harder on your filters, but in a pinch it is a whole lot better than getting sick!
On the tank you can see three changes.
- I added a coupling to the tap to the filter unit. This was done so that I can easily connect to another water source.
- Added a return line. This is a water return for the RO filter. It is also "Tee'd" at the filtration/pump unit so that I can bleed air out of the system. The ability to bleed out air was something very important that I overlooked in my original design. DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID AND OVERLOOK THIS!
- At the cap is the hose coming from my aquarium aerator pump. This goes to a large air stone in the bottom of the tank. I cycle this a couple times a week to keep the water "fresh".
Water from the tank comes directly in to the pump via the 1/2 inch line. The pump then goes directly up to the manifold on top. The copper riser on the gauge is there for dampening the gauge. Before I installed that the first water pressure gauge actually shook itself apart. This is a "problem" with high pressure diaphragm pumps. They can "hammer" quite severely each time they cycle.
The first ball valve feeds the filter unit. The second ball valve was originally to feed a sink with the same pump. Its main purpose now however is to "bleed air" out of the pump intake line and the filters. In the photo, you can barely see the "Tee" I mentioned earlier on the return line to the tank.
You can use the bleed valve for two conditions.
- The first is when you get too much air in the intake line. If this is the case, you will hear the pump running "fast" and not actually pumping water or see that there is no water in the intake tube at the pump. At that point, open the bleed valve completely until most all of the air has been pumped out of the line.
- The second condition is with initial commissioning or changing filters. You will know there is air in your filters by frequent cycling of the pump. The other indication is the pump running close to full speed and then slowing as it approaches its pressure set point. The best thing to do after you have changed the filter or are commissioning the system for the first time, is to simply "crack open the valve" and let everything run until you see only water coming out of the return line. Your pump will tell you by the way it behaves if you have air in the system.
Now we look at the cabinet.
Here you can see why I recommended the "all in one" unit in the last paragraph of the last posting. The only thing you cannot see is the UV unit behind the pump. It is tie wrapped to the filter bracket. One other thing to keep in mind, if you will notice the little black box on the right. This is the ballast for the UV unit. Keep this someplace where you can see it. There is an LED on this box. This LED indicates that the bulb is ok and working.
One thing I cannot stress enough is treatment for parasites and bacteria. KEEP THEM OUT OF YOUR FILTERS! I would recommend keeping on hand unscented pure bleach. If for some reason the UV sterilizer goes bad, and you do not have a replacement bulb, then pretreat the incoming water with the bleach. It will be a bit harder on your filters, but in a pinch it is a whole lot better than getting sick!
Here is a site from the CDC that gives water information including instructions for disinfecting with bleach.
If you have to resort to this, you can use the pump to "mix" the bleach in your holding tank. To do this:
- Add the proper amount of bleach to the holding tank.
- close the valve to the filters
- open the bleed valve
- turn on the pump
- Run the pump long enough to completely recirculate the water in the tank 2-3 times
On my unit, I assume I am only pumping 1/2 gallon or so a minute. I have a 30 gallon storage tank. I wish to run this water through the pump twice. that would give about 30 gallons per hour. With this in mind, if I run my pump like this for two hours my water should be thoroughly mixed (especially since I "draw" from the bottom and return to the top). When finished the chlorine will be removed again in the filters. I would also recommend that during this time and for a day afterwards you do not run the aerator (this will "dilute" the chlorine).
If there is any interest, I will add a post with the actual plumbing diagram.
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