After locating some furniture grade PVC online at Home Depot, I started assembling my drain and return lines. I have to admit that plumbing is one of my most hated chores. I always try to get everything exact and accurate, but I've always found it a challenge with PVC and it never looks clean enough in the end. There are just so many adjustments with rotation at the joints and pipe length tends to disappear once the cement is applied.
I tried a few new approaches this time around. I employed the use of a cheap miter saw instead of the previously poor results I was left with using a hacksaw. This really helped square up my cuts and gave me more precision with my measurements. The cuts made a bit of a mess, but the vacuum made quick work in comparison to similar run-ins when cutting wood as there is no dust. I wouldn’t recommend cutting wood inside.
Another method I tried was to use tick marks on the dry-fitted pipe to give me an idea of how far to push the pipe in and how far to rotate different joints once the cement was applied. This ensured results very similar to my dry fitted pieces.
Due to the size of the drain section of the sump it took some effort to locate unions that would fit the metric pipe but also wouldn't impact the neighboring union. After sourcing a few parts and assembling different components, I ended up with a clean 32mm to 1” union that fits in a very tight space.
I plumbed three drain lines, but only one has a gate valve to dial in a beananimal style siphon. The fourth drain stub on the sump is 40mm and that allows a 1” pipe to slip in nicely with a coupling as a stopper. I ran this 1” pipe up above my ATO reservoir and capped it off with a drilled hole to accept the ATO tube. Having it at this height allows for a siphon break after the pump runs. This line should also ensure my limewater mixes thoroughly at the drain compartment before getting to the pumps. Here is the result.
