Automatic Water Changer: Part 5

[Aaarrrggg]

Now comes the LiterMeter magic! :spin3:

Here's the email Scott at SpectraPure sent me explaining how everything should hook together:

If you want to do both ATO and water exchange, get the LM3, the TCM, one RPM and one WXM. It would be best if they were all installed under the tank.

See the manual here:
http://spectrapure.com/manuals/PRINTER_FRIENDLY/LiterMeter3J-PF.pdf

I'll suggest a different scheme than shown in the manual.

You can run a bundle of three, 1/4" poly tubes any way you want to, generally along your blue dotted line. High, low, inside, under, around, it won't matter. #1 - let's call it white - will take new salt water from the closet and deliver it to the sump. #2 - call it black - will take old salt water from the sump and send it to your sink drain. #1 and #2 are for the water exchange. #3 - blue - will take fresh DI water from the closet and deliver it to the sump for ATO. You could use one color for all three, if you keep them straight.

Install the sensor tube for the TCM in the constant-level side of the sump. It will guard against a sump over-fill, as it will shut off the LM3 if the over-all sump level gets too high. Use the built-in Pump A to take water out of the sump and send it to the drain on the black line. This line is only one-inch into the constant level part of the sump, so it can't possibly accidentally drain the sump.

Use the RPM as Pump B to put new salt water into the sump, using the white line. Set the LM3 to move the same number of liters per day for Pump A and Pump B. Easy Water Exchange!

Use the WXM (with its own sensor tube level control) as Pump C to do the ATO. Set it for a little bit more than you think you are evaporating, and the sensor tube (in the evaporating part of the sump - usually a bit lower than the constant level) will keep that level constant.

I've seen people build a 3-sided wood "cover" for the bundle of tubes to hide them on the wall. Also, a 45-degree piece of wood can cover them up along the baseboard. There are also rubber "doorway sills" for computer cables that you could run in front of the doorway along the floor.

The LiterMeter plugs into the Top-Off Control Module which is then plugged into a power socket.

The funny tube is a water level sensor. It's placed in the constant lvl of the sump to guard against overflowing. If the water rises it will shut off the LiterMeter and all the attached pumps. (Oh, I almost forgot to say... we flipped the sump around so the water now runs from right to left.)

The LiterMeter has a built in pump (Pump A). It draws water from the tank via the white tube and carries it outside through the white/black line. The tip is held 1" under the water by a magnetic clip so if something ever did go wrong, it couldn't drain the whole system.

There is a tiny hole drilled in the wall next to the dog flap so the water can empty into the garden.

The water is replaced by the Remote Pump Module (Pump B). It pulls water from the SW holding tank via the red line and delivers it to the sump.