Urban Survivalists

This week, we are going to continue the progression of building the water filtration unit. After seeing the pump test completed successfully last week, we decided to put the electrical control box in the filter box and cement the final piping into the system. This week we will complete the piping system. All that will be left is the final half of the electronics system which we have partially underway right now. We are very close to finishing this build and finalizing the design.

Gluing the ball valves on

We are going to start by gluing the ball valves onto the lines going to the RO system and coming from the RO system. Once the ball valves are attached, then we can put the final saddle valve on for the outlet of the RO system.

Materials:

• CPVC cement
• PVC primer
• 2 one inch ball valves rated for 100 PSI.
• 3″ segment of 1″ CPVC line.

Steps:

1. (Pictures 1 and 4) Primer one side of each of the two ball valves, both ends of the 3″ segment of pipe, the end of the pipe coming from the sprinkler solenoid valve to which you have previously attached a saddle valve, and the threaded adapter of the top silcock.
2. (Picture 2) Apply CPVC cement to both ends of the 3″ segment of pipe, to the primered end of one of the ball valves, and to the threaded adapter of the top silcock.
3. (Picture 3) Quickly put the 3″ segment into the threaded adapter and then press the cemented end of the ball valve into the end of the 3″ segment. You should now have a completed segment for the saddle valve attached to the output of the RO system to attach to. Hold for 30 seconds.
4. Apply CPVC cement to the end of the pipe segment coming out of the sprinkler solenoid valve and to the primered end of the last ball valve.
5. (Picture 5) Press fit the two pieces and hold for 30 seconds.
6. (Picture 6) Done!

Notice, please, the orientation of the ball valve for the silcock. The valve lever should ideally be placed as shown so that you are guaranteed to have enough room for whatever type of electrical box you install. For us, that box used up all of our available space so this was important.

Another thing to note is that you can easily use pipe end caps in place of the ball valves. The goal is to simply have them blocked. We went with ball valves as we didn’t really know if we would want to upgrade or change the system later. We like having the flexibility this gives us so we opted to go with the ball valves even though it is more expensive.

Also, it is very important to make sure the silcock and threaded adapter are screwed together as tightly as possible. We didn’t do this and had to re-tighten them after our pipe segments were installed. A pain, to be sure, and easily avoided with a pair of vice grips and a pipe wrench. Save yourself our trouble and do this to all of the valves BEFORE you glue anything to them. THIS IS CRITICAL!!!!

Attaching the second saddle valve

Next we need to place the second and final saddle valve onto the piece of pipe that we just glued to the threaded adapter and then attach the 1/4″ OD pipe to the clean water outlet of the RO system.

Tools:

• Pliers
• Utility knife

Materials:

• Self tapping saddle valve. We used a standard compression fitting kind but we recommend the easier to use EZ-Quick Connect variety. This is the same connection that your RO system most likely uses.
• ~3′ of 1/4″ OD pipe.

Steps:

1. (Picture 2) Unscrew and attach the saddle valve to the pipe segment coming from the top silcock valve. Orient the saddle valve as shown in the picture.
2. (Picture 1) Run the 3″ segment of 1/4″ OD tube through the hole in the filter box with all of the other tubing running through it and connect it to the clean water outlet of the RO system. This will mostly likely be after the carbon filter segment.
3. Measure the length of pipe needed to get to the saddle valve we just installed and cut off the 1/4″ OD pipe at that length.
4. (Picture 3) Install the saddle valve pressure fittings as per the instructions on the packaging and then attach this to the saddle valve.
5. (Picture 4) Tighten this pressure fitting with a pair of pliers. Don’t over tighten it as it is only brass and is thus very malleable.
6. Done!

Make sure you don’t pull the tubing too tight as it may kink going through the hole in the box. Get it snug but not tight. You just want it to be neat and tidy and not flopping around.

Mounting the electrical box

Now we are going to show you how the electrical component box is mounted to the inside of the filter unit.

Tools:

• Hammer
• 3/8″ center punch
• 3/8″ drill bit
• 60 degree counter sink bit
• Two 2″ C-clamps
• Hand drill

Material:

• Electric box of the size you want and that will fit.
• Four 3/8-16 x 1″ counter sink screws and nuts.

Tools:

1. (Pictures 2-4) Clamp the box to the outside of the wood panel exactly opposite of where you want it to be on the inside. Make sure there is enough clear space around other objects once it is placed inside the box. We did this by first clamping it inside the box and making sure the door opened and we had clear access to all equipment. It was a tight fit but do-able.
2. (Pictures 2-4) Use the center punch to mark the four hole locations for drilling.
3. (Picture 5) Clamp a board behind were you will be drilling through the filter box so that you do not “blow-out” your holes and create a nasty edge on your holes.
4. (Picture 6) Drill out the holes that you just marked with the center punch.
5. (Picture 7) Use the counter sink bit to counter sink the holes on the outside of the filter box. This will make the bolts sit flush with the outside of the wood panel and make it look nicer.
6. (Picture Mount the electrical box and tighten the nuts well enough that the box won’t be rattled around.
7. Done!

This is where you will need to think about doing some of your wiring. The two wire bundles from the motors need to enter your electrical box and attach to a barrier strip that you will have in there. From this you get your power from the power supply we hacked together last week. We will also need to make arrangements for an extra 12V line to go to our control circuitry. We are choosing to house this in a smaller project box outside of the main electrical box. We simply want to eliminate any possible interference from the large transformer and heavy currents.

You’ll notice we’ve taken the time to sheath our wiring in nylon braided mesh and to run it nicely around the filter box using coaxial cable staples. This helps keep things neat and looks more professional and tidy. Take your time with the wiring and make it nice.

Next week and the future

Next week, we really have nothing left to show you but the electronics and finishing the box enclosure so that’s its fully self-contained. This all sounds quick and easy but we know stuff goes wrong so lets call it two to three more weeks for this project.

After that, it’s directly on to the aeroponic growing system we have planned. Since we have a steady source of water, as steady as your local rain-fall at least, we need a steady source of food. Our aeroponics system will use an ultrasonic nebulizer or fogger unit to create a fine-particle fog which we will apply directly to the root systems of plants. Read more on aeroponics at wikipedia.

P&S

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