Drip systems

[DiscusKeeper403]

Hey,

I was wondering how drip systems work? Does the intake of the system have to be hooked up to a tap, or could there be some kind of way to use two holding tanks. One full of fresh water, and an empty one for the out take? Could I use a motor to force water through the intake tube?? Also, if I was to rig one up, would I need to drill a hole in the bottom of the tank?

Thank you,

Connor

[Darrell Ward]

My water comes from a well, so my drip system is pretty simple. I have a tee in the cold water line coming out of the washer box in the laundry room. The line is reduced to 1/4" and ran through the floor, across the basement, and back up through the floor behind the tank. The line is then attached to a normally closed solenoid, and the other end from the solenoid runs to the sump. The solenoid is plugged into a automatic top off controller. The drain side is teed off of the return line, running 1/4" tubing again through the floor back to the laundry room. It drains into the washing machine drain through a 2gph drip emitter. It works like this, the water drains at 2gph 24/7 as long as the return pump is on. When the level in the sump gets below the level switch hooked up to the level controller, power is sent from the controller to the solenoid valve, which opens the valve and refills the sump to it's previous level. The solenoid valve closes, and the fresh water stops, until the level drops again. I've been running 3 different tanks this way for 3 years with no problems. I had to do it this way because the laundry drain was the only place I could drain the waste water, and since water won't flow uphill without pressure, I hooked the drain up to the return line to give it the necessary pressure to make the trip. Everyone doing a system will have to design it to meet their own needs.

[DiscusKeeper403]

I'll keep that in mind Darrel, thank you for the input. Might just have to wait until I get my own house before I rig something up.