Durso standpipe overflow to sump plumbing

[MacGyver]

I had the same problem with the stand pipe. Good idea, just didn't work quietly enough. I think my return pump may have been too strong (mag 9 on a 110 gallon).

Those that don't like additional biological filtration won't like how I fixed my problem, but it worked like a charm. My internal overflow drains right into my sump. I filled my overflow box with bio balls. It's whisper quiet now.

The additional biological filtration is minimal because most of the water stays against the inside of the overflow box. Oh yeah, my drain hose in submersed in my sump, this helped to.

 

[AnotherGoldenTeapot]

The surges are being caused by the pipe being too small for the volume of water running through it.
Air is getting trapped in the pipe and this gets forced out once there is enough head pressure. You could try a syphon break to fix this - this would give the air that is getting trapped somehwere to escape more easily.

 

[bradwent]

Thanks for the replys.

AnotherGoldenTeapot,

Where would you suggest a syphon break? And I am assuming that you are talking about drilling a small hole.

Thanks,

 

[bradwent]

Two issues:

Too much noise from water entering the sump.

And, temporary surging because of the Durso standpipe.


I was curious as to how people have plumbed from their overflow to their sump. More specifically, how is the connection made into the sump? Does the water flow vertically down into the sump, under or above the water line? Or do people use a bulkhead to plumb into the sump, again above or below the water line?

I have a 72 gal with an internal overflow that has recently been modified with a Durso standpipe. I am looking to cut down on the flowing water noise incoming to the sump, (here is the important part) that is located mine and MY WIFE'S bedroom.

I seem to be having a little problem with the Durso standpipe I built. I have a 1" bulkhead in the overflow and made my standpipe from 1 1/4" pvc. It will work fine until I need to get my hands in the tank and the water level raises. The overflow compartment will raise about 1" and then quickly drain down to the lowest level intake of the standpipe, causing the dreaded sucking sound. It will continue to raise and empty until I cut the return pump and let the levels calm down and then restart the return pump. Sometimes I need to cut the return pump 2 or 3 times to get everything functioning again. The hole I drilled, in the top of the standpipe, was 1 size larger than 1/16". I have tried to restrict the hole a bit, temporarily with a toothpick, to see if too much air is being let into the standpipe. The only way I can seem to get the water level in the overflow to stay static, without surging, is to provide back-pressure to the overflow-to-sump hose via a sponge, which I would prefer not to use.

I have searched on this site and have come up empty.

TIA,

 

[reefland]

A non-stable water level in the overflow chamber is almost always caused by air buildup in the pipe as stated above. However, by design a Durso Standpipe has a siphon break already (the vent hole on top).

Usually, this is a sign that the drain in the sump is submerged more than 2 to 3 inches. Make sure you don't do that.

If you can have the pipes entering at an angle and not perfectly up and down that will help but is not required.

If you used PVC pipes all the way to the sump as drains and have 90's that can cause problems. Just use flex tubing from the bulkhead to the sump.

You should be able to get the overflow system quiet enough that you can't tell a tank is in the room. The only sound you should here is the hmm of your water pumps or fans.

As to pumps being to powerful, doubtful. Most of the time the limiting factor is the teeth opening on the overflow grates. The pipe can handle much more flow than the grates will allow to enter.

I've pushed the pipes as far as about 800 GPH to 1,000GPH per 1 inch bulkhead using a Iwaki MD70RLT and MAK4 return pumps. I wouldn't recommend running them that hard full time, but the pipes handled it just fine during a 2 week test.

 

[bradwent]

Directly from the source...Thanks for the reply.

I thought I had it taken care last night and then my wife called today and said it has happened a few times not long after the lights started up. Coincidence? Don't know. I do have lights that go over the overflow compartment and probably heat up the overflow area a couple of degrees.

I have been using flex tubing from the bulkhead to the sump, but what I did last night was remove some of the length of the flex tube and then make a nice gradual slope that ends about 1/2" into the sump water line. Since it seemed to work well last night, I went ahead and increased the flow through the ball valve on the pump and got the water flowing at a higher rate again. Worked great through the night but now...I will look at it again when I get home but will not give up on it. When it is working right, it has reduced the noise a lot, and like you said, I can only hear the pump and fan noise.