I want to stack two tanks and share a central sump that would be below the bottom tank. I was thinking of drilling the tanks for overflow and returns. I was thinking that back flow valves before each tank on the return would keep from flooding the house in a power outage. I was also thinking that ball valves would allow to adjust flow enough to even out flow between tanks. I know someone has done this and would have some pointers.
Sharing sump between stacked tanks? Anyone doing this without issues?
- Thread starter Minnow
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I used ball valves to regulate the water flow to both tanks, but did not use check valves. The key is to plan the size of your sump to account for the additional volume that backflows when the power is shutoff.
My system is set up like that. Standpipes will prevent the drain from filling the sump, and a hole drilled in the return above the water line will prevent it from back siphoning.
Some problems I've dealt with: check valves reduce flow by a lot. Also, when you have two different returns at two different head pressures (tank heights) on the same pump, it has a hard time balancing out on restart. Basically, the pump has a hard time getting the air pushed out of the higher return and ends up overloading the lower tank. Once the air is eventually pushed out, it will balance, but sometimes that doesn't happen before there is water on the floor.
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Some problems I've dealt with: check valves reduce flow by a lot. Also, when you have two different returns at two different head pressures (tank heights) on the same pump, it has a hard time balancing out on restart. Basically, the pump has a hard time getting the air pushed out of the higher return and ends up overloading the lower tank. Once the air is eventually pushed out, it will balance, but sometimes that doesn't happen before there is water on the floor.
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Thank you guys for your replies. I will have to look into it more before I get started. Drilling a hole above the water line in your return would be great to keep it from back siphoning like frnchjeep mentioned. I was planning on drilling the tank using bulkheads for the returns. I guess I could still do that if my bulkheads where closer to the top and drill a hole in my outlet near the water line to prevent the back siphon. Does anyone have pictures of your setup that has done this?
You could also drill the bottom and just run a standpip up to the desired water level.