Finally finished the new reservoir project. Basic stats: 10G res + venturi aerator + filtered fill + Shurflo 55PSI pump + accumulator tank (shock absorber) + pressure reducer.
Got a little helper - part of the reason it's taken so long to get this finished
This is 10G rv reservoir - It is painted black and then covered with a rock finish. Some light still gets in, but it is dark enough to prevent most of the potential algae growth.
1/2" internal thread bulkhead + 2" 1/2" to 1/2" + 1/2" to 1/2" flexible faucet adapter. This is on the low pressure side of the pump. Would have been best to use a 1/2" male bulkhead and some flexible plastic tubing, but this was the best home depot mcguivering I could manage.
The hole is cut for a sock filter. The sock will prevent any big particles from ending up in the res when running organics. Some examples would be Azomite / Rock phosphate / worm castings / barley for bacteria.
This snorkel allows the venturi pump to pull air down into the res. This will ensure that the bacteria have plenty of O2, it will vent out any built up vapours, and will provide very slight cooling.
The venturi pump will keep air in the mixture and will prevent the water in the reservoir from going stagnant.
This is an assembled accumulator tank, pressure downregulator and right angle connector. The accumulator tank has a rubber balloon inside and is set to 30PSI. The regulator drops the water pressure from ~45 PSI to 15 (so I don't blow up the irrigation heads
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The two together allow the pump to only turn on for a second or so every couple minutes. Since this is a ~100 watt pump, that saves a lot of power. The balloon also acts as a shock absorber so that the high pressure pump isn't hammering on the more delicate downstream components.
The heart of the new system - Shurflo 4008 11.3 LPM 55PSI pump - can self prime from dry up to 6 feet - *Tim allen grunts*
The assembled reservoir.
I've removed the herb planter and positioned all of the parts behind. Everything is set - now I just have to connect the 8mm hose feeding the entire system to the end of the pressure regulator.
Back together with all of the pots irrigated once again. You can hardly see the 10G reservoir hidden in the back corner. Now both sides of the deck and all 12 containers are irrigated using Blumat's and a constant pressure system.