Draining 6 6x3 trays with 6 inches of clearance from ground, ideas?

[benspie]

I'm almost done with my top feed watering system in my room, which is 10x20 9 ft tall with Gavita's. I've got the trays on wheels which is awesome and very helpful, but I'm trying to figure out a way to have a drain line or 2 running to them all with only 6 inches of clearance. What kind of pump could I use to pull water from them all? I'd like them all to drain to a large reservoir I could pump out every other day.

Has anyone ran into this problem or know of solutions for low clearance flood trays?

Thanks for any suggestions/ideas, tip, and even the smart ass who is about to type "use the search function."

 

[Feijao]

I would drain them via 3/4 tubing to a single container. The I would hook up a sump pump with a float to drain the container automatically. If you want to do it by hand whenever it fills up just plug the sump pump in and drain.

 

[queequeg152]

just get a sump pump.

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Giant-6-CIA-Horsepower-Submersible/dp/B000JG80JS

 

[mojave green]

EcoPlus 727805 Convertible Bottom Draw Water Pump, 585 GPH https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L2L3U08/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_nFe5xbH1GT4FD

 

[benspie]

Ok thanks for the responses so far. I realized I wasn't very clear in what I was looking for.

I know how to drain a resavoir. I guess my concern is, the hose having to travel 20 feet and only 6 inches from the highest point to a lowest pointwhere the res will be in the corner of the room. Its in a garage so there is the slightest iof downhill help from gravity.

6 hoses of water, meet nad join to go into bottom of a 30 Gal tough tote. There won't be enough water pressure to "fill". I guess I'll just have to pump frequently?

Amojave YOU THE MAN! I think that may work. I just glanced at it. lol I'll update with pics.

Just trying to save myself time. Thanks again guys.

 

[TreehouseJ]

Not sure if this answers your question, credit to queequeg and drop that sound on their collaborative efforts engineering my dump/feed system. Wet Vac/Diaphragm pump combo.

 

[Mikell]

Condensation pump, but many are shit and all are expensive.

Is the floor solid? re: if not and it is framed, one could sink a bucket and use a sump.

 

[Snook]

Ok thanks for the responses so far. I realized I wasn't very clear in what I was looking for.

I know how to drain a resavoir. I guess my concern is, the hose having to travel 20 feet and only 6 inches from the highest point to a lowest pointwhere the res will be in the corner of the room. Its in a garage so there is the slightest iof downhill help from gravity.

6 hoses of water, meet nad join to go into bottom of a 30 Gal tough tote. There won't be enough water pressure to "fill". I guess I'll just have to pump frequently?

Amojave YOU THE MAN! I think that may work. I just glanced at it. lol I'll update with pics.

Just trying to save myself time. Thanks again guys.

Maybe this? $40... auto shutoff : http://www.homedepot.com/s/250%20gph?NCNI-5
recommendation courtesy of > yankeetransplnt

 

[queequeg152]

this is literally a non issue, i dont understand why this is hard.

you are just going to gravity drain the drays to a basin and sump pump it out.

just take a bucket... and bulkhead in your main drain at like 1% minimum gradient.
2% is standard for sewer plumbing from what i recall, but 1%... without solids would work well enough if you need that small of a slope.

just get a fucking... plumbers level. they are calibrated such that the bubble floats insiide the left and right brackets at like 1/4" per 12 inches.

even if you have only a 1" wet well, the sump pump i linked will work. it has a built in float so there is no need to do any work beyond that.

this just isnt hard at all.

 

[TreehouseJ]

6 hoses of water, meet nad join to go into bottom of a 30 Gal tough tote. There won't be enough water pressure to "fill". I guess I'll just have to pump frequently?

Are you trying to "fill" your waste reservoir, or "fill" your trays? If I am understanding correctly, you are trying to pull from the drain hoses, and pump into the bottom of a waste reservoir, against up to 30 gallons of water weight, and then have some sort of automatic shut off to prevent backflow, because you don't have anywhere to run a sump pump?

I don't know much about water pumps, but I know there are a million different kinds of 'em, each with it's own unique application, and while there is likely a pump that does exactly what you are describing, there is probably an easier work around, IF I am understanding correctly.

I would personally top drain with my 16 gallon wetvac and simply wheel the waste water to a floor drain. PVC manifolds will completely immobilize your wheeled army, and hose is just.. kinda sloppy, intrusive, and expensive imo. I am no engineer or plumbing expert, but I'll take most any chance to shamelessly promote my wet rigid wet vac. I wish I had thought of using one to drain my buckets years ago.

 

[TreehouseJ]

Sry, I can't read. In a top feed drain to waste, I would do something like this, if I had nowhere else to drain my sub pump to.. And then I would probably drain the 30 gallon tote with my wet vac just because I have quick access to a floor drain and hose is a pita imo. Everything piped at a "quarter bubble".

 

[ganjourno]

condensate pump inside of a larger container to catch overflow.

I've used diaphragm pumps for this but they burn out in a couple months, condensate pump is the way to go.

 

[Drop That Sound]

Plastic corrugated roofing panels slanted at an angle are pretty awesome for top fed systems. At the bottom you can have gutters just like a roof top that run and drain in your catch basin... Maybe you could use your trays as the overflow basins, with 2 sets of panels draining into them directly instead of gutters or something? Just an idea!

Oh ya here is another low cost pump that looks alright: "Superior Pump 91330 1/3 HP Thermoplastic Submersible Utility Pump".
Heck maybe you could run a cheap automatic marine bilge pump in each tray and pump up into a drain instead of down through the tray. Might as well have 2, one a little bit higher, just for insurance. Good luck

 

[billbob]

control bucket works great. Green trees brand with 3/4"