Reduced water flow.

[Hamish]

Hi all,

The water pressure and flow in my system has been gradually reducing. It is now at the point that there is not enough flow to run all 3 grow beds.

The water delivery system from my pump is plumbed with 19mm pipe. I am thinking that either the pump is wearing out - or (MORE LIKELY) the pipes are blocking up.

As I have a lot of pipe in place I am trying to work out an easy way to clean the pipes without dissasembly.

Thoughts I have had are to isolate the pipes from the grow beds and flush them with something (Vinegar? Bicarb? Peroxide?) to remove biofilm.

Any ideas?

[GaryD]

Hi Hamish,

I use a lot of 19mm hose and it does accumulate bio-film over time.

I periodically unhook it and blow through the lines......although pushing some high pressure water is probably a more appropriate way to clean it.

If you're using the quick release couplings that Murray is fitting to his systems these days, unclip your pump and pipework and give it a good flush with the garden hose. See what effect that has.

It's a good idea to design entry points into your system so that flushing is straightforward. This need be nothing more complicated than 19mm valves with a short length of hose on them. You can open one valve up to allow the hose water to exit the system while pushing the water through another valve from the other end of the system.

Gary

[djs-sa]

hamish,

oxyplus is good to clean pipework etc. but only used it in hydro system not sure about fish safety
also take the pipe off ur pump and check that ur pump isnt blocked or got an air pocket in the pump as this reduces the flow quiet alot

[Murray]

Hi Hamish, Dale has a point, I find that most times it is garbage in the entry way to the impellers in the pump. I stick the hose up the pipe every couple of weeks....it works wonders. Do you have the quick release fittings ? I can't remember if we had started using them when we sent your kit.
If not, I will post some to you.

[Hamish]

Hi Dale, Murray and Gary,

Thanks for your replies.

I have quite long runs of pipe with lots of elbows and T fittings - so it wont be an easy job to push the hose through - will need to do a lot of dissasembly.

I can quite easily put the pump in a bucket and divert the 3 outlets via hoses back into the same bucket - this means I can run water through all the pipes in a circulating system isolated to the tank and the growbeds.

I will need to buy quite a bit of flexible 19mm hose to do this but think it might work.

Just trying to work out the best product to clear the biofilm etc - perhaps chlorine? Might be ok if I can flush the lines well afterwards?

Any other ideas - acid of some sort perhaps?

I know this might sound extreme - but my plumbing will take ages to pull apart - then all those crimp connectors to replace each time.

Murray - my system was prior to the quick connectors.

[fishfood]

Hamish try taking the hose off your pump and back flush it with the garden hose it works on one 15mm line i have

[Hamish]

Good idea FF - ill give that a go.

[Hamish]

FishFood - you my friend - are a legend! I ran downstairs, un hooked the pump and then ran water from the hose bakwards through the pipes from the grow bed to the tank - you should have seen the rubbish that it pushed out into the bucket! I didnt need to disconnect any pipes (other than the pump) - I just held the hose by hand onto the growbed outlet and ran it full blast backwards through the pipe. Think it is the backwards waterflow that did it! Excellent! Very happy :D

[Dufflight]

Sounds like you got it fixed. Just a thought. Would pumping hot water through the pipes get rid of the biofilm any quicker.

[Hamish]

Might do - though the back flush was so successful and quick I think that will be my ongoing fix. I am even thinking of plumbing in a couple of hose connectors so I can click the hose on and backflush even easier next time - perhaps as a weekly or fortnightly preventative maintenance.

[fishfood]

FishFood - you my friend - are a legend! I ran downstairs, un hooked the pump and then ran water from the hose bakwards through the pipes from the grow bed to the tank - you should have seen the rubbish that it pushed out into the bucket! I didnt need to disconnect any pipes (other than the pump) - I just held the hose by hand onto the growbed outlet and ran it full blast backwards through the pipe. Think it is the backwards waterflow that did it! Excellent! Very happy :D
whats the saying the older you get the wiser you get
:D;);)

[Hamish]

FF - you must be well over a hundred then ;)

[fishfood]

some days i feel like it

[Outbackozzie]

+1 for running the water backwards through the pipes - it's one advantage of a timer based system. Every time the pump stops, the water rushes back out of the pipes, flushing them out.

Compressed air works very well also.

[GaryD]

Hi,

If you insert some 19mm Tees and 19mm valves into your pipework, you can connect hoses or air pumps and blow your pipework through.

The attached photo shows my large air pump......this unit will really sock the air into your system and will dislodge anything that's stuck in your pipework.

As has already stated, you can blow back through your pump. While I used to do this by mouth, I'm over the taste of fish poop and I can't blow as hard as this air pump does.

Gary

[djs-sa]

Gary, I think water is the go,
as the air will dry the bio film out making it stick to the pipework

[GaryD]

Hi Dale,

I used to blow through the pipework on my earlier systems and it's actually the pressure of the water that removes the gunk as it gets forced through the pump.

I agree that, if you were going to blow through the pipes for several minutes, that it would be better to use water.

Gary