There are no valves, skimmer/main line drain comes out of the ground and straight into the pump.

Tank is around 6-12 inches above the water line.

Here are the drip buttons that I use from Home Depot. Not all button designs seem to work for this application.

Also, what size pump do you have and what is your filter pressure? Larger pumps will create more suction and have faster draw rates so may just need more buttons.

I bought these from Lowes http://www.lowes.com/pd_248988-1029-MLD-.5PC_0_?productId=1172847&Ntt=drip&Ntk=i_products&pl=1&currentURL=/pl__0__s?Ntk=i_products$rpp=15$No=30$Ntt=drip$identifier=

1 1/2 hp pump. Cartridge filter running around 10 psi.

I'm not sure if those buttons will work or not but as I said before there are some that others have tried that don't seem to work well in this setup. The Raindrip buttons use a very restrictive channel to control flow rate and that works well with low pressure as well as high pressure.

However, a 1.5 HP Super II pump with only 10 PSI, would indicate that the suction head is probably pretty high. I have about 10 PSI with a 1/2 HP pump. So my suspicion is that your suction is very high and causing the flow rates to be high and you will probably need many more buttons to get the flow rate down. I can't explain why the flow rate would increase with more buttons but you might try to double the number and see what happens. If it doesn't help, then the buttons are probably the wrong kind for this application.

Is your plumbing 1.5" by chance and do you only have a single suction line?

Yes and Yes!

Heading to Lowe's shortly and will pick up 8 more drippers, unfortunately this is the only brand they have. Being only 1.5 miles away I prefer Lowe's, but may have to try the Home Depot if 16 drip buttons doesn't get the flow down(although using your link, they appear to be unavailable in my area.)

Thanks for the Help!!

I have built one of these mostly according to Mark's plan, and I thought I'd share my "mods" in case it helps someone else. So far it seems to be working well, but I'm still testing:

Buttons: My Home Depot doesn't carry the red/black buttons, and Lowes didn't have anything similar. I bought "Dig" brand 1/2 gal/hr buttons at Home Depot. They are solid brown and come in a pack of 25. I used 10 and hot glued them on the stem side.

Jug: I used the same 7 gallon blue jug as in Mark's initial post. Instead of running the tubing down into the jug, I used a rigid toilet/sink "down tube" which I connected with hot glue.

Valves: I used the same push fittings and valve as Mark. I added an aquarium check valve between the buttons and the jug. This stopped the backflow, but I don't know how long it will last.

I filled the tank with 6 gallons water, 1 gal MA. It is drawing about 4 oz/hr. Running 12 hr/day it should empty in about 18 days. It has been keeping my pool steady at 7.2, which is quite low considering it's borated and tends to stay at about 7.5-7.6. On my next refill I will add only 1/2 gallon of MAand see what it does.

After a week of reading this thread I have gathered all the parts needed, except for the drippers. I have no idea the specs on my pump, all I know is if I put the the 1/4" line into a bucket of water and plumb it into the suction side of my pump, it draws a gallon in under a minute. This got me to thinking about how many drippers I would need to get the flow down to 4-6 oz. per hr., probably lots!

Anybody try a simple needle valve? Something like this?

http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories ... edle-Valve

I think a few people have tried valves like that and I believe some were successful. As long as it is completely plastic and made of acid resistant plastic, it should work ok. That is definitely a better way to go if it works out.

I have a question about using a similar set up for chlorine, but with once a day injection instead of steady stream.

What I'm thinking is the hose into the pump drain fitting connected to some type of valve with a timer and from the valve with more hose to a container filled with 6% bleach. Timer set so that after dark it opens and venturi suction causes bleach to flow for a set period of time then the valve closes, to mimic manually adding bleach all at once.

Would this work? Any leads on a chemical resistant timer valve that might be up to the job?

Thanks

You could use a sprinkler timer and 24v NC solenoid valve to achieve this. The ones they sell with sprinklers won't work because the bleach will corrode them in short order. The only valves I know of that will work with bleach are Plast-o-matic and they are not cheap.

The timer would power/activate the solenoid valve? Any idea how much "not cheap" is, ballpark?

You're looking at a few hundred bucks for one valve. Also, the plastomatic valves are made for laboratory applications and won't work with a sprinkler timer, since they typically are 110 or 220v, not 24v like a sprinkler valve. IMO, not worth your effort.

The plastomatic valve or the whole idea?

I think you might as well buy a peristaltic pump/tank or a liquidator. Am I missing your point?

Any reason as to why you wouldn't want a steady stream? Having a steady stream is much easier and less costly to implement not to mention better at keeping the CL levels constant.

No, I just wasn't sure if you meant from a total cost standpoint or just about the plastomatic valve. Thanks




Only reason is that I have no experience with steady as I've been manually dosing my pool in the evenings since going BBB 3+ years ago. I know it works, so I figured I'd try to emulate it if possible.

If my pool uses 2ppm FC daily and I run my 2 speed pump on low 24/7, is this the amount of chlorine I should target with steady stream?

If one is only looking at using the drippers for chlorine, is there any advantage besides cost over the liquidator? Less maintenance? Drippers don't get the same white build up that plagued (plagues? Been awhile since I looked at them or the mods you guys may have come up with) the liquidator?

The dosing should be about the same per day either way so yes, target adding 2 ppm per day.

Cost is the primary advantage over the liquidator but also simplicity. Less parts means less things to go wrong. I built this for acid dosing but I think a few have used it for chlorination successfully. Check through the thread and see who is using it for chlorine and then PM them to see if there have been any problems.

Will do, thanks

I found another valve that would probably work pretty well. This one is made out of polypropylene which has fairly good acid resistance.

The PVC version of the valve can be found here and has a little better chlorine resistance but would probably work for either.

Those look similar to what Mcmaster Carr has, but at a better price. Of course I ordered the one from the aquarium link, all it says is plastic, hope it holds up ok to bleach.