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  • Results 1 to 12 of 12

    Thread: purging bottom drain

    1. #1
      achappelear is offline Junior Member
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      purging bottom drain

      lowest point in my filter room is likely 5 feet lower than where my 4 inch line enters the ultrasieve III. I have a knife valve where the 4" line comes up out of the floor to stop flow when I need to. I believe the manual says to have a purge out line as low as possible to flush the bottom drain. This is recommended even if my pond is a bare bottom pond? Also I guess my main question is, I could always just install a T as low as I can get it in the filter room and open it up flooding the room then suck it back out yet the rest of the time when the bottom drain is not being purged, it would be running past that T and wouldn't that cause tremendous turbulence/friction and slow down my flow?. I was considering making a removable section of pipe to take out when I want to purge the bottom drain, that way when im not purging its just a strait smooth shot to the sieve. I may use a short piece of pipe with ferncos on each end or a union on each end of the short piece of removable pipe.

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    2. #2
      tbullard is offline Senior Member
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      Just close the valve and let the pump remove all of the water from the sieve and then shut it down. When you open the valve you will get a rush of water to fill the sieve which should purge your line. If you are moving enough water thru the line you shouldn't have much settling.

    3. #3
      achappelear is offline Junior Member
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      so water velocity in the bottom drain pipe will increase significantly if gravity feeding into an empty aquasieve compared to one that has water in it?

    4. #4
      tbullard is offline Senior Member
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      Yes, With it full of water you are limited to the flow of water that your pump is moving. With an empty vessel it can fill as fast as gravity will allow.

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      For an even easier purge on a regular basis you can simply push the weir to the bottom with your hand and let the sieve fill with water. Just make sure and slowly let the float rise back up or it will float up fast.

    6. #6
      achappelear is offline Junior Member
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      thank you for all the advice and sorry for all my questions. . so you don't think the 5 foot vertical rise to the sieve is abnormally tall enough to make it worth while bothering with installing anything down low in the filter room for purging, especially if there is a chance it could cause turbulence/friction? do you ever run sewer snakes or anything similar through your bottom drain lines?

    7. #7
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      Quote Originally Posted by tbullard View Post
      Just close the valve and let the pump remove all of the water from the sieve and then shut it down. When you open the valve you will get a rush of water to fill the sieve which should purge your line. If you are moving enough water thru the line you shouldn't have much settling.
      This is what I do with my RDF. With the filter chamber empty, the difference in pressure creates a huge surge in water when you open the valves and in comes all the heavier crud.
      ~ Jose

    8. #8
      two_wheeled is offline Senior Member
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      Me too, but I have a settlement bin instead of an RDF. I close the valve from the BD, let the filter barrels drain down, then open it up. I get a big rush of water and lots of sediment from the BD. It often takes two or three flushes before the sediment stops.
      -Steve in Phx.
      Novice Extraordinaire

    9. #9
      icu2's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by achappelear View Post
      lowest point in my filter room is likely 5 feet lower than where my 4 inch line enters the ultrasieve III. I have a knife valve where the 4" line comes up out of the floor to stop flow when I need to. I believe the manual says to have a purge out line as low as possible to flush the bottom drain. This is recommended even if my pond is a bare bottom pond? Also I guess my main question is, I could always just install a T as low as I can get it in the filter room and open it up flooding the room then suck it back out yet the rest of the time when the bottom drain is not being purged, it would be running past that T and wouldn't that cause tremendous turbulence/friction and slow down my flow?. I was considering making a removable section of pipe to take out when I want to purge the bottom drain, that way when im not purging its just a strait smooth shot to the sieve. I may use a short piece of pipe with ferncos on each end or a union on each end of the short piece of removable pipe.
      I'd say if you can put a wye at that low point where your BD enters the filter pit to waste, do it there. I'd also use a ball valve or other valve that
      has a positive seal so there's no chance of it leaking since it's at such a low point and going to waste.

      The one thing I liked about my settling chamber is, like two wheeled said, that if you empty it with the valves closed, when opened it creates
      a tremendous amount of flow and allows the BD pipes to be cleared. The drawback of sieves and RDF's is that even when "empty" the water
      difference between pond level and the level of water in the filter isn't anything like the amount you can get in a SC.
      So if you can run a wye for a purge line to waste as it comes into the filter pit at 5' below pond level, I'd do that. I don't think you'll ever have
      a problem keeping your BD pipes clear.
      Here's a simplistic drawing of different mechanical filters with arbitrary numbers that show typically what might be achieved for water level
      differences and consequently how well each would allow you to purge the BD pipes attached to them.

      Name:  depths of different mechanical filters.jpg
Views: 295
Size:  21.0 KB
      --Steve



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    10. #10
      achappelear is offline Junior Member
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      thanks steve. I figure the difference in water level of the pond compared to the lowest point in my filter pit would be 7 feet, so that should provide a ton of differential to increase purging. Due to how cold we are, I was going to shut down everything in winter as low to the floor I can get and put heat tape and lay a role of insulation across where the bottom drain pipes come up through the floor of the pit. To do this I would remove at least a section of pipe downstream from the knife valves. My only concern about having a T to let water out instead of a short removable section of smooth pipe, would be the drag it would cause. How would one know if that is a dramatic increase in friction? Clearly a t just downstream from the knife valve is the simplest option and if simple/fast I would be more likely to purge my bottom drains more often. How often is it recommended to purge the bottom drains? depending on how often it is, I may go with a simpler plan and just not worry about the turbulence the T would cause when I'm not purging.

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    11. #11
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      I'm not sure how you'd measure the head a closed clean out would cause but I can't
      imagine it'd be much. I clean mine out when I notice a reduction in flow from the BD's...
      usually once or twice a year.
      --Steve



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    12. #12
      hacnp's Avatar
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      When flowing freely, a 4 in line can carry around 11 K GPH. I pump down my 1500 Gallon settlement a couple of times a year. 4 feet of water is pushing on this when I reopen the valves. That will flush most anything out. I would not worry about additional friction from the tee.
      Regards, Ken

      The most powerful point of suction in the pond occurs at our checking account. It's all Marges fault!

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