Does biofilter have to run continuously?

[Telkwa]

OK, here's a pic of the Fiskar's insides. This is one of the two that were in stock at our smallish Home Depot.

The picture shows the ribs that would act as supports for the grid. This container isn't perfect. The absolute lowest part of the base is around the circumference, between the ribs. The center is a little bit higher than that outer ring. Not by much. Also, the ribs would interfere with the swirling effect that some of you have described as being desirable. So the base isn't optimal. Some crud will collect in that outer groove, and you're not going to get an effective swirl.

The center is nice and flat. Got a shower drain at HD (Sioux Chief 2" Solvent Weld Connection) and a 2" ABS street elbow. There were several different kinds of shower drains and it was a bit confusing at first. You want the one with the glue outlet, not the glueless.

Also, the body has those little decorative swirls cast into it, which will make it a little trickier to find a good spot for bulkhead fittings. I think I can make it work, but a nice flat surface would be preferred.

 

[addy1]

Good description and thoughts, a lot to think of when building a filter.

 

[Telkwa]

Hi, addy -
It's the details that trip me up as often as anything else. I figure the forums are a good way to share those details.

BTW, the Sioux Chief shower drain model is 825-2APK.

However, I'm gonna take it all back to HD. My wife and I talked about it for a long time and I think we're leaning back toward the tote. The plan (so far today but it's early) is to cut the top off the 350 gal. tote, go up to the Olympia HD where they have a much larger selection of those plastic light diffusers, then use some scraps of ABS to build a platform for the grid. Won't need to be far off the bottom, just 3 or 4 inches.

I bought a 1000' roll of 1/2" poly tubing. I'm shooting for at least a 10" or so layer of poly tubing in the tote. Might need to buy more tubing...

Then we're going to have to decide the heights for the pump inputs, and the outlet height. Since there's no point in having standing water inside the tote above the poly tubing, I'm thinking we'll have to crib up the tote until it's above the ground a foot or so.

Since there won't be a swirl effect in the bottom of the tote (it's square and it's too darn big anyway) I think we'll just put in a diffuser bar across one bottom side and drill holes in it. We'll place the bulkhead fitting for the outlet on the far side of the tote.

I think I'll probably set the tote up so that it tilts just a few degrees. Swing it around so the drain is on the lowest side.

I'll build a plywood lid for the tote, and attach some rubber gasket material or something similar so that the lid forms a fairly tight seal with the tote.

 

[DrDave]

Even though it is not round, you can still get a swirl going. You need that. The vortex it creates holds the solids in the center. I'm not saying your idea won't work, I think the swirl will be better.

 

[Telkwa]

You know, Doc, the tote has such a nice built-in drain valve that I'm gonna try to make it work even though it's not in the center. I'm considering adding a hookup for a garden hose to the tote's plumbing. The idea is to run a garden hose full blast into the tote's inlet to help flush crud to the drain valve when it's opened. I won't know if that's a dumb idea until I've tried it.

I'll take some digital shots as the tote project commences and share the ups and downs with all of you.