How to size a remote ATO Pump

[greg683x]

So I'm considering buying the Tunze switched outlet for their Osmolator ATO so I can use a different pump for their ATO system. I wanted to have to new pump in my large 40 gallon RODI container which is in the next room.

The pump will be sitting, lets call it 7', below the sump. and it will also be about 7' to the left of it. So we could call it about a 15' tube run.

Is there a formula or a way to figure out the GPH pump I would need for this to maintain roughly the same flow I had with the original Tunze pump. Or a reasonable pressure for an ATO without having an oversized pump shoot a ton of water in my tank at once when it turns on?

 

[BrettDS]

How to size a remote ATO Pump

There's a lot of flexibility in an ATO pump really. It will work fine if water just trickles in and it will work if water gushes in (as long as you don't let it splash anywhere). If you wind up with too much gushing you can always put in a valve and partially close it to slow down the flow.

The biggest thing is going to be your 7 feet of head... a lot of little pumps won't work with much head pressure at all. I'd look for a pump that will do maybe 10 feet of head pressure and you should be fine. I know a lot of people like the aqualifter pumps for ATO, but I've never used one, so I don't know much about them. If you have an apex the Neptune PMUP could be a good choice too (or even without the apex with the DC adapter)

As a side note, make sure the tube ends above the water line in your sump so it doesn't siphon water from your sump down to your ATO reservoir.