posted 9 years ago
I've been installing an irritation system, erm, irrigation system for our garden.
Water comes from a submerged pump(3/4HP, 220V) in our pond feeding a pressure tank. Lots of algae and a bit of other debris.
We bought the stuff from dripworks, who suggested that an Arkal disc filter would be the best choice based on the mucky water and usage amounts described. They suggested the filter would need cleaning seasonally, and should last multiple seasons. We bought one with twice the suggested capacity, as this sounded a bit optimistic to us. (an 1" Arkal Super Filter 200 Mesh FA1200SUP)
We're not even done hooking up the hoses, most haven't been run at all; the filter has seen maybe 300 gallons through it. The filter is completely 100% clogged, 0 psi downstream of it. On opening, it's crammed full of green slime. Yes, we can clean it... but it will need to be cleaned out literally every day if this is the performance we can expect. Not going to work for us.
The system will mostly be used by my mother, who needs to avoid tasks requiring much strength, and won't tolerate a convoluted maintenance process.
So, back to the drawing board.
If we want a filter that can go months without much maintenance or any disassembly, what do we need? A worst-case monthly usage would be about 9500 gallons; to feed the emitters we need safely over 15PSI downstream of the filter, at a flow rate of at least 2.5GPM.
So far it looks like a sand filter and keep the arkal for backflushing... but I want to be very sure that said sand filter is big enough, and as simple as possible to maintain. Any suggestions on capacity, source, or best DIY design would be very welcome.
'Theoretically this level of creeping Orwellian dynamics should ramp up our awareness, but what happens instead is that each alert becomes less and less effective because we're incredibly stupid.' - Jerry Holkins
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