Shared 1/4 lines for ATO, AWC ?

[ScooterV]

I hope I can even explain this question well

I'll be running an ATO and AWC from a distance from the tank. It will be about 10 feet up, 20 over, and 10 back down.

I'll be using Stenner pumps for both. Single head for ATO and a dual head for the AWC. As long as I make sure they never run at the same time is there any reason I can't tie the ATO and fresh saltwater line from the AWC together and a single line to the sump? Besides saving one additional line I plan to try keeping the kalk reactor in the remote location as well and the few gallons of just saltwater each night can maybe help make sure the line doesn't clog. I'll obviously have a little RO/DI left in the line from the ATO when the AWC kicks on, but the reverse would also be true when the ATO comes back on. Total system volume will be about 300 gallons, so the little in the line which would always alternate and balance back out I wouldn't think would be a huge difference.

So, any huge issues anyone could foresee? I could also add check valves from each before the tee tying them together.

On a related note, could the old saltwater from the tank via the stenner and the RO waste lines also be tied together for a single run to where I need to run the waste?

 

[Reeferdood]

What is AWC?

 

[ScooterV]

Auto Water Change. The Stenner will draw 3 gallons a night from the sump while simultaneously adding 3 gallons back from fresh salt mix storage.

 

[ScooterV]

After the ATO is done each night of course.

 

[Reeferdood]

Let me guess... auto water change or something like that..?

 

[Reeferdood]

Due to lack of knowledge, I'll gracefully bow out of this one.....

 

[chet31]

To clarify... You want to AWC and ATO everyday? If you are doing AWC... Wouldn't it be sufficient to keep water level?

 

[Kentech5]

If you only do AWC then salinity will slowly creep up from evaporation. Need the ATO to balance it out

 

[sinekal]

I can't comment on the shared AWC / ATO line, but I can say that I wouldn't run kalk that far either way if you have the option, it seems to me like it would eventually clog. When I ran kalk it ran a short distance and the line seemed to need cleaning every so often. My top off was feeding a kalk reactor that gravity fed into the sump

 

[chet31]

Got it Kentech5

 

[Adamc13o3]

I am not 100% sure about this, but you may have an issue with siphoning. Since the line is going up and then back down it may keep siphoning out even though it's going through a pump head.

 

[MTWiley]

How exactly are you planning on keeping the fluids separated and making sure that your pumps are pulling from the right reservoir? It might be possible, if you are planning on "T"ing off near your reservoirs, the each peristaltic pump sits between the T and your reservoir. That would ensure your peristaltic pumps are pulling the correct fluid from your reservoirs and should also prevent them from mixing/going into each other's reservoir(since peristaltic pumps are meant to prevent back siphon). But I'd made sure I was using a dosing pump that had at least 3-4 rollers since the 2 roller pumps can occasionally wind up in a sweet spot that allows back siphoning. Or did you have something else in mind?

 

[ScooterV]

Yeah, clogging is my worry so hoping a shared line would help prevent that, with the NSW flushing it out within a short while after use each night. MTWiley, I have two stenner pumps. A single head will draw from an RO reservoir and pump to the tank for an ATO. I also have a dual head Stenner. One head will pull from a NSW reservoir and pump to the tank, while the other head pumps from the tank to waste. Each line and pump head would be drawing from different sources and nothing shared there. It's the two lines going to the tank I'm considering teeing together, after the two pumps and before the line goes up into the attic.

For siphoning the Stenner is a pretty heavy duty pump and does have three rollers. However, the garage is slightly lower so to be safe I'm making sure the end of any discharge line is higher than the water level of the source, and also including check valves where I can. I still need to figure out where to terminate the end of the saltwater waste line though since my original plan would have been to low

Oh, and if teeing them together on the return I think is what you are asking about to ensure nothing goes the wrong way? I hadn't thought of that Besides relying on the pumps I'll need check valves between each pump and the Tee as well to ensure I don't end up with NSW going to my RO resovior. It was possible back pressure on the pump not running at the time I think I was mostly worried about, so I suppose a simple, cheap check valve was the elusive answer, lol.