Cheap ATO

[Merc Dr.]

Just an idea I had. Rather then spend the money on an electric ATO, why not just make one using a "water cooler" jug? If you have the room under your cabinet, make a bracket to support the jug upside down in the return area of your sump at the desired height. You could even silicone a piece of PVC to the jug since it probably won't fit within the sides of most sumps. I know they come in both 5gal and 2 1/2 gal sizes. You can pretty much use any jug of your choice as long as you connect an air tight pipe or hose to it and mount it to the height you want to fefill to. When the water drops below the level, water will flow in and stop when it rises again. Just like the cooler at the office.

I would draw a pic to illustrate, but I'm not too good with computer type stuff.

Any thoughts?

 

[emmett0122]

it could work but the only down side i see is if power goes out and you pump kicks on and drops your water below you jug if you had a few power flickers could put more water then you want and run a flooding risk. best bet is to get a low flow pump on a timer and set the timer to run just enough to put in what you need

 

[Merc Dr.]

If the power shuts off, the water level should raise in the sump by a couple inches. If it kicks back on for a couple seconds, it shouldn't suck the water out that fast. Even if it did, I don't think it drain that much out of the jug. It kinda gurgles out since it has to get an air pocket.

 

[emmett0122]

well what happens if you get an air leak just something to think about

 

[bjohanson1234]

The basic principle is sound. Water coolers work on it. Implimenting it might be more difficult. There are gravity feed ATO kits that are inexpensive and utilize a float valve.

As for the air leak reason not to do it, propperly installed, the failure of your pipework would be as likely as a timer getting stuck on and pumping all the water out. So one way is no better than another. One of the reasons why this hobby is great is because of the different ways available to solving the same problem.

 

[wontonflip]

Yep...in the end, any ATO can fail. Just be sure to check it everyday. I check mine at least once a day....I just pop my head into the sump room to make sure everything is hunky-dory.