Sump question

[aquaholic]

Hi guy's and Girls

Just wondering if there is any relation the the size of the sump needed compaired to the total amount of the water in the system?

[ant265]

Hi guy's and Girls

Just wondering if there is any relation the the size of the sump needed compaired to the total amount of the water in the system?

Needs to be capable of holding overflow if power goes out or pump is turned off/ stops working

[aquaholic]

Yes and how would you figure that out?

[noxious_nasties]

If you have a hole in the back corner or a pvc riser you just multiply the

length x width x height above the lowest point of drainage.

[CThompson]

If you have a hole in the back corner or a pvc riser you just multiply the

length x width x height above the lowest point of drainage.

That's it exactly. Just pretend from the bottom of the plumbing outlet of the sump (this can be inlet or outlet, which ever is lowest in the tank), is the bottom of a tank. Measure from here to the water's surface. That gives you the hight of the total "overflow" amount. Now take the length and width (front to back) of the tank and you have the three dimensions noxious is talking about to calculate a three dimensional volume (LxBxH/1000=total litres).

However, this is NOT the whole answer to your question. You asked;

Just wondering if there is any relation the the size of the sump needed compared to the total amount of the water in the system?

The sump is used as a filter. So it's first design aspect is to ...filter. A bigger tank will need for example a bigger pump to get the 4-6x per hour tank turnover than a smaller tank. As a generalisation, a bigger tank will have a bigger filtration area = bigger sump. Not taking the filtration design into consideration, how ever this be configured, in addition to this size, there must be enough space left over (ie no water in it) to handle the total volume of water that flows out when the power is off (calculated as explained above).

In essence, what ever sized sump you use MUST be able to handle this overflow when the power is off.

You could have a six foot sump on a six foot tank, and if the six foot sump is so designed to run with the water level at the top, it is in effect too small as it will over flow when the pump is off. A smaller sump will be sufficient if it is designed correctly, and can handle the overflow.