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20-01-2019, 03:58 PM #1
Question for Nexus / Gravity Fed filter owners
Looking for some ideas as to how people manage the wastewater from their Nexus or similar filters.
I fitted a 50 litre sump in my filter pit with a sump pump installed. When cleaning/draining the nexus I use a reel of 1.5" hose attached to the sump pump which I have to unravel each time and run around the garden watering everything.
The downside is that the Sump Pump pumps slower than the water drains from the Nexus so I have to manage the flow carefully to avoid flooding the filter pit, which I've managed to do twice now. (It holds water surprisingly well and has had me wondering why there's any need to fibreglass block built ponds!).
I've been thinking about having fixed pipework with holes drilled running around the edge of the garden which will save dragging 20kg of hose around, but doesn't solve the problem of flooding the filter pit.
Also considering a drop-in drum at a later date so any solution to managing the wastewater needs to work with that too.
How do other people manage this wastewater?
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20-01-2019, 08:03 PM #2
Hi I dug a trench and run a soil pipe to main drain. I.d prefer to use the waste but not doable for me, as filter lower than the garden. Possiblle problem with a perforated tube is it’ll block with the crap that comes out from the flush, specially in summer..
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20-01-2019, 09:53 PM #3
Thanks Scamp,
Sadly running to a drain (80 feet and 2 patios away) is not feasible and unlikely to get enough slope on the pipe to prevent muck eventually blocking it. Also on a meter and don't want to waste the water.
If I fitted the drop-in drum I'd also need something more reliable than the existing sump pump - sometimes the float gets caught on the side of the sump and doesn't trigger, or keeps running after the water has drained.
Does anyone have other solutions?
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21-01-2019, 12:08 AM #4
just fit a normal pump pond and let it suck direct from after waste valve and pump wherever you want,all you need is a switch fitted so when you open valve to empty when cleaning you switch pump on,mine just goes from valve about 20m to drain in 1 1/2" waste pipe,my drums empty into a bit of guttering with a fallpipe connector and this also connects into same pipe as nexus,andi
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21-01-2019, 08:05 PM #5
Cheers andi,
I understand the pond pump part for cleaning the Nexus, which would work better than the sump pump, but not quite understood the part about the drums.
Are you saying your drum waste goes to the drain via gravity or does the pump kick in to pump drum waste to the drain as well?
With a Nexus drop in drum I guess the drain tap is constantly fully open, so I'd need a method of automating the pump to kick in when the drum cycles. Maybe my solution here would be to opt for a more compact pump with a more reliable float switch, ideally a float switch that is attached to the pump itself so it can't get caught on the sides of the sump and just triggers once the water level reaches it.
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21-01-2019, 08:11 PM #6
Aha... This is probably what I need - Pump with integrated float switch so it can't get caught on anything. Didn't know they existed.
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21-01-2019, 09:00 PM #7
all my waste is gravity to drain mate,well it is now,i did at one point have a pump on nexus waste before rebuild,my drum waste and nexus waste are all piped in together,thinking about your situation it easily solved,put a pump onto waste outlet of nexus with an off switch for when your cleaning,you could put the switch near ball valve on waste so you turn ball valve and flick switch,then when you fit drop in drum ask tony at draco if the cleaning pump supply can be split between cleaning pump and your waste pump,so both come on at same time, andi
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21-01-2019, 09:18 PM #8
Cheers Andi.... Sounds like a good solution for the Nexus cleaning.
The drum solution sounds good in theory. In practice it will probably take some tweaking as 10k pump will likely only run for a few seconds for each drum clean.
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21-01-2019, 10:22 PM #9
you could have a smaller pump like a car screenwash pump as the draco will only use about 1liter of water per wash,then pump this to a barrel for watering the garden with,put a non return valve after pump and you can actually fill the barrel from bottom up,andi
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22-01-2019, 07:52 AM #10
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22-01-2019, 02:32 PM #11
the reason i mention the screenwash pumps is because most drum motors are 12v and so is a car wash pump,plus they are used for short bursts like the drum motor,andi
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22-01-2019, 03:32 PM #12
Yes I guessed that might be why and I like the idea, just need a 12v pump man enough to deal with sludge and debris especially if it's filling a barrel up from the bottom up.
I also like the thought of having fixed pipework around the garden so it becomes self watering, more so now I've discovered sump pumps with integrated floats that can't get tangled or caught on anything.
Drew from Koi Waterlife has 4" pipework round the circumference of his garden that waters when the filter self cleans. I visited him at the height of last summer's heatwave and it was the greenest garden in Kent!
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