uv sterlizer question

[TheDuude]

Simple, no matter what you do your are retreating some of the same water with a sump return. The uv is simply not as effective because of that.

I disagree.. water is not flowing " backwards" in my sump.

If your feeding the uv and returning to the same sump chamber then yes you will be recycling some water

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I disagree.. water is not flowing " backwards" in my sump.

If your feeding the uv and returning to the same sump chamber then yes you will be recycling some water

The way the OP was running it, he was retreating the same water, looks like he replumbed it. That's for him not you.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

even if the uv pump is in the first sump chamber or right after the filtersock chamber and the exiting uv water is in the return chamber?

i do agree with you based on my orginal photos/ setup above. but i have now moved the uv's water pump to the front of the sump and its exit point is in the return chamber... the uv i have is 48" long. so that long of a span is possible.

Now that your changed the layout, its a improvement. Your still not treating all the water but its better.

 

[ddc0715]

im so confused lol.

Your still not treating all the water but its better.

how is the all the water that is passing thru the uv not getting treated... here is the revised setup.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Because at 240gph, your not sucking up ALL the water that's entering into the sump, prolly isn't as much as you think with head height being included...Some water will bypass the UV except in the case of running the entire return pump through the sterlizer.

As I said its better, but its not all the water.

Not that difficult to understand.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

End game is that your only treating what the 240gph pump is pulling through, all that other water isn't being treated. Will it eventually see the uv, probably but your end goal may not be met (depending on what it is: algae or parasite control).

 

[REEFRIED!]

What you did by moving the UV pump certainly helped. Like others have said, returning directly to the tank is best, although even then there is an argument to make that even that water could go right down overflow and right back to UV thus recycling some of its own freshly sterilized water. But forget that for a moment.

You solved your original problem. Having the input and output too close to one another in sump is not effective. Now your UV pump is drawing in fresh (salt) water from the tank and your return pump is adding newly sterilized water to the DT. Problem solved.
Another way people do this is without a manifold, or by directly pluming a UV into the return plumbing, is to have a pump feed the UV, and to have the output of the UV go right to the tank with a hang on return, using tubing. Obviously it adds another return to your display and may be unsightly.