Preventing a back siphon to sump?

MarineGirl411

MarineGirl411

New member
Hi,
Sorry again, I have another very important question. I will be running a sump and I am wondering how do I prevent a back siphon durning a power outage? Won't it flood my sump? Won't it ruin my pump? Please let me know. I'd really appreciate any response. I am starting plumbing this weekend. Thank you.
 
drill a small hole (1/8 inch) in your return line just below the water level. The water will back siphon down to that point and then suck air.
 
Yup thats what I did, works good. I did the same on my reservoir for makeup water that sits above the sump. It sprays when the pump is one, but its all contained within the reservoir, with a lid on it.
 
Yep that is what I did as well. Assuming that you have an over the back return. There are different configurations for returns. I have (and I believe Bill Z and Sailor_jon) #3.

return_types.png


There will be some water that drains back to the sump no matter what you do. You will need to design your sump such that this extra drainoff won't cause an overflow.

Having the water run backwards throught the pump wont hurt it.
 
My overflow is going to be drilled onto the back if the tank. The return is also going to be drilled. I am going to be using loc-line. Should I drill a hole in the loc line? My sump is going to be around 25 gallons. I am making it this weekend and also drilling the tank. Everything is going to be drilled in the tank. CL will be loc-line and sea swirl. Then return from sump will also be locline. Please let me know if it's safe to drill that. Thank you. =)
 
dang, I never thought of that. I myself am going to do that also. We have a typhoon comming in this weekend, so I wanna be ready...
 
you could also use a check valve on the PVC from the sump pump to the display tank. That way water will only flow in one direction.
 
well that sounds like a good idea. Would they have those at home depot? Hey vest I just got my typhoon. The di resin came wet. Let me know if yours does. I don't know why they had to do that. I am a little worried it isn't going to work now. It started to smell mildewy so I wiped out the canister it was in.
 
Hey a question on the typhoon. I was wondering, if I want to use my tap water, is there something that will shut off the RO DI production? No one can seem to answer this question. What would I need to get for this?
 
Re: Preventing a back siphon to sump?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8120160#post8120160 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MarineGirl411
Hi,
Sorry again, I have another very important question. I will be running a sump and I am wondering how do I prevent a back siphon durning a power outage? Won't it flood my sump? Won't it ruin my pump? Please let me know. I'd really appreciate any response. I am starting plumbing this weekend. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Marinegirl, make sure all of the water return lines is not too far down below the water line so that when you turn off all of your pumps and watch to make sure the water won't drain down down and flood your sump. Once you have that part dial in then you can do additional safeguard by drilling siphon break holes like some have sugested and also install a check valve. This will ensure your sump will never be overflowed.

The siphon break hole works well, but sometime it does get clogged up so don't count on it 100%, you will have to keep the siphon break holes clean. And the check valves sometime can get some sand in it and doesn't stop the water 100% of the time either. But the combination of these thing will work great.
 
Dave,
I am kind of a well, airhead when it comes to things sometimes, if I do a siphon break like that, wouldn't water end up coming up the siphon break once the pump starts up again? I just want to make sure to be extra cautious about everything. I don't want to loose any inhabitants and also there is no way I could cause a flood without being in big doo doo. I live in an apartment. I have renters insurance of course, but I need to be safe. If I drilled the returns up closer to the surface of the aquarium, would it jeopardize the tanks strength at all? So far I am drilling 1 for the corner overflow then 2 for the closed loop. There will be T's with loc line in the back, with one loc line on each side of the tank headed towards the front then bent inwards to get the front of the tank. Then one on each sides of the back to get behind the rocks. Then with the closed loop there will also be a 3/4in Sea Swirl. Since it can only handle 850 GPH that is why I am using T's to direct other flow behind rocks and in front etc. How does this plan sound?
 
MarineGirl411,

I agree with northbay-reefer, Drill your returns as high as you can manage. Then figure all the water above this is going to have to have a space for it in the sump when the power is off.

So if a siphon break hole clocks and if the checkvalve fails you wont have a flood.

In practice however it's still nice not to have so much drain ever power cycle.

Since you have configuration #2, drill a siphon break in the pluming at the highest point possible. And install the check valve as suggested.

Over the back returns (Config #3 above )don't have as much impact on your sump design.
 
For my returns via bulkheads I drilled a small hole in the top of the return (the part inside the tank) and put in a piece of the black airhose (comes with some powerheads) that goes to about a half inch below the surface. It's below the surface so air doesn't get sucked in like a venturi during normal operation, but high enough that it breaks the siphon on backflow before much water drains out.

On the drains, in the pipe outside the tank, the pipe goes UP to a point about a half inch below the normal waterline. If the return pump is off, water will only drain until the drain pipe is even with the water level in the tank.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8135288#post8135288 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MarineGirl411
Dave,
I am kind of a well, airhead when it comes to things sometimes, if I do a siphon break like that, wouldn't water end up coming up the siphon break once the pump starts up again?
Click to expand...


dont feal like an airhead over that because i was thinking the same thing. ive been around this hobby for a long time now and never seen anything like that done and i dont think it would work but hey you learn something new everyday so who knows. but i dont see it working and wouldnt even want to test it lol.
 
use a real over flow in wich the outer box is watertightly divided in 2 parts so the intake utube is separed from the drain to the sump just make sure the divider isnt too high
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8140891#post8140891 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by devildij
use a real over flow in wich the outer box is watertightly divided in 2 parts so the intake utube is separed from the drain to the sump just make sure the divider isnt too high
Click to expand...

im lost on this one. is it just me???
 
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