max flow of 1/4" poly tubing under pressure?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Ran a few tests and got a range of results around .60 - .65 gpm with a 6' run of 1/4" poly tubing at 50psi. This is after running through a sediment and 2 carbon filters.

So I may give this idea a try where I will do a small backwash of my pressure filter and then have the 1/4" tubing run through sediment and carbon filters and hooked up to a float valve in the tank.

When the pressure filter is backwashed, the water level in the tank will drop and trip the float valve, and open the flow of .60 - .65 gpm of cold clean water into the tank as an automated refill. One main problem I need to look at beforehand is the effect a 75-100 gallon change of cold water (over the course of an hour) will have on the heating system.
 
So... I was searching 1/4" flow rates, for a water change system/idea and got directed to this thread.
Freshwater tanks, Tap Water and dichlorination in mind I plan to setup a 55 gallon drum (in my basement) with a float valve to refill, an air stone to aerate and gas off chlorine, a heater, and an on demand pump into a manifold for filling (water change) multiple tanks with independent control.

I plan to use a 60 GPH 110 volt pump with a max 10' rise on suction side. Pump hard mounted above holding tank with 1/2" inlet and outlet. Outlet tube will include 1/2" 'T's' to four (4) solenoid valves reduced to 1/4' outlet with gate valves to control flow rate, if needed. (with provision for expansion) Quarter inch copper tubing will be fished in wall cavities to Freshwater tanks on first and second floors. Each solenoid will be wired to a timer to turn on & off.
I will adjust the outputs to restrict flow to 1 Gallon per minute. [Really shouldn't need to adjust, 60 GPH = 1 GPM]

Each tank will be outfitted with a 1/2" siphon overflow (max flow rate of 7 GPM) The overflows will feed down through the walls back to the basement.
Ultimately the overflow water will be pumped to a small greenhouse and used in hydroponic gardening.

with a 1 GPM flow rate it will be simple enough to determine the duration of opening and closing the solenoid valves.
For a 5 Gallon per day water change to my 29 gallon (heavily stocked planted Tank the solenoid will open for 5 minutes.
For 6 gallon change in my 40... 6 minutes.
For 8 gallons to my 50, 8 minutes,
and for 10 gallons per day to my 75 the valve will open for 10 minutes. (Thinking about discus, if so, then timer will run for 5 minutes 3-4 times a day)

I anticipate between dilution, heating (80 degrees Fahrenheit) and aeration the 55 gallon holding tank will effectively gas off the Sodium Chloride in the tap water. That will be 29 gallons of preheated dechlorinated water per day.

Obviously, I will need to confirm the actual flow rate at each tank due to drop in flow from length of tubing and rise. So actual duration of flow per tank will take a little fine tuning.

When I open walls to plumb I will also include some high pressure tubing for a possible (future) central CO2 system.
 
I tried water change under pressure but found far too many problems. My advice is to use low pressure over 24/7 to achieve the same volume. The slower flow will be better for chlorine extraction, water temperature differences, much cheaper on parts, easier installation and less disaster when if a blow out happens, especially if you are not home for several hours.

I use water displacement to remove old water so no drainage phase is required.
 
I can foresee two issues here the first being that the carbon filter works better with slow flow especially if u plan on removing chlorine with it...the 2nd issue is that even if u find the flow to be adequate the flow will slowly derease over time when the carbon filters get old and dirty. I have pressure gauges in front of all my sediment and carbon filters on my drip system to let me know when to replace. It does take a while though so i dont think will be as much an issue as the first. If you are thinking the float valve option you can always slow drip into a reservoir and just pump out during waterchange. This way u can let the slower drip properly work and even throw a heater in the reservoir and basically waterchange with good pretreated water
 
Reedmaster16 said:
Does anyone know the maximum estimated flow rate of 1/4" polyethylene rigid tubing?

Under pressure at around 50psi.

I am asking because I want to determine if its feasible to do a water change (~100gallons) and let the tank refill with fresh water run through a carbon filter via 1/4" poly tubing. In essence a fast fill drip system. Any insight would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Reed
Click to expand...
Carbon filters remove less chlorine etc. At faster flow rates. Need to research the filters you are using at desired gpm.
 
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