New passive DWC sytem/ first hydro grow… lots of questions???

PJ Diaz said:

How does the drip ring lift water out of the column? Is it like a siphon? How does the air pump help in that process? Pushes up tiny water bubbles to the drip ring? It sounds cool, but I'm still confused.

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Sounds like the same principle as a GH WaterFarm which uses an air pump to force water up to the drip ring.

Billy the Mountain said:

Sounds like the same principle as a GH WaterFarm which uses an air pump to force water up to the drip ring.

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Interesting.

In the reservoir type system I wonder how much it actually exchanges water between the bucket(s) and the res vs just recirculating within the bucket itself.

PJ Diaz said:

Interesting.

In the reservoir type system I wonder how much it actually exchanges water between the bucket(s) and the res vs just recirculating within the bucket itself.

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It's a passive system relying on gravity alone to move water around, so its slow. It takes about 4 hours to circulate ~30 gallons of water through an 8 container WF system.

Billy the Mountain said:

It's a passive system relying on gravity alone to move water around, so its slow. It takes about 4 hours to circulate ~30 gallons of water through an 8 container WF system.

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Yes, I'm starting to understand, however the water is percolating from the bottom of the bucket, up the column, then out the drip rings and down back into the bucket. I'm wondering how much movement is between the res and buckets. It seems like not much, and that the roots would potentially clog a passive line very easily.

I'm a former WF junkie; they seemed pretty slick for the time and worked well.
Roots would constrict the opening from time to time, they only use 1/2" tubing to connect the WFs.
I would just cut 'em with pair of scissors; brutal but effective.

The dripring is an air driven water pump.. A GH dripring will pump about 5-6 gal an hour.. It will be drawn from the reservoir not from the grow bucket.. It may be that the simplicity of the process that's confusing.. RDWC doesn't need a river of water running thru it.. This slow circulation changes the water in the grow bucket about once an hour.. It's gonna be a slap your forehead moment when you get it. The flow rate is so slow it will not draw the roots into the return flow.. A simple filter, made from paint bag filter is used to insure that.. Here's a thread using Waterfarms modified the same way. Mixed Hydro - Water Culture - Coco/Perlite | 420 Magazine ®

mytwhyt said:

The dripring is an air driven water pump.. A GH dripring will pump about 5-6 gal an hour.. It will be drawn from the reservoir not from the grow bucket.. It may be that the simplicity of the process that's confusing.. RDWC doesn't need a river of water running thru it.. This slow circulation changes the water in the grow bucket about once an hour.. It's gonna be a slap your forehead moment when you get it. The flow rate is so slow it will not draw the roots into the return flow.. A simple filter, made from paint filter is used to insure that..

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I'm not sure I follow. The Waterfarms move water from the bottom of the individual bucket and drip it over the top. Only the first and last buckets are connected to the reservoir, in and out respectively. The flow is generated by the difference in water level between the first and last bucket in series.

They don't seem to be very popular nowadays but they worked well

The water is not being drawn thru the buckets.. Each bucket is drawing its water from the reservoir.. Each bucket is connected to the reservoir by a common supply line.. Each bucket is also connected to a common return.. The water column in each bucket contains reservoir water.. The column it higher than the water level.. That water is refilled, by gravity, from the reservoir as it's pumped out by the dripring into the grow bucket.... The reservoir has a float valve to keep the water level at a predetermined level for the system.. .. The feed back reservoir sets on top of the reservoir to feed the float valve.. GH has stopped making and selling Waterfarms..

mytwhyt said:

The water is not being drawn thru the buckets.. Each bucket is drawing its water from the reservoir.. Each bucket is connected to the reservoir by a common supply line.. Each bucket is also connected to a common return.. The water column in each bucket contains reservoir water.. The column it higher than the water level.. That water is refilled, by gravity, from the reservoir as it's pumped out by the dripring into the grow bucket.... The reservoir has a float valve to keep the water level at a predetermined level for the system.. .. The feed back reservoir sets on top of the reservoir to feed the float valve.. GH has stopped making and selling Waterfarms..

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No, the reservoir is only connected to the first and last bucket, the other buckets are connected in series to each other.

Forget about the way an 8 WF setup that pumps water thru the buckets from the reservoir using a pumping column in the reservoir... That pumping column in a WF reservoir is the same as in a drip ring.. Thats why the flow rate is so slow in an 8 WF setup.. That job is now done by the dripring in the grow bucket.. Its the water column in the grow bucket that makes for faster flow rate.. It makes reservoir water available to the dripring in the grow bucket.. Each grow bucket pumps its own water from the reservoir from the water column.. 4 grow buckets will move close to 500 gallons a day and gravity returns it.. When I say reservoir I'm not talking about water in the grow bucket itself. A common feed line connects to each water column.. The water pumped by the dripring exits thru to a common return line connected to ea bucket, then back to the reservoir.. The pic. of the modified WFs in the mixed hydro thread show the remote reservoir in the foreground without the fed back reservoir on top...

I understand it now, but I think I would want a water pump to ensure more/better circulation. I'm not convinced that the air pump system recirculates between the buckets and res as much as I would want it to. It's just one more part, but seems simpler to me.

Water pumps add heat, something I'm trying to avoid.. I live 35 miles from downtown Death Valley.. This pic 3:00 pm on a July afternoon.. Pavement was the same temp..

Downtown Death Valley?

Learn something new everyday!

mytwhyt said:

Water pumps add heat, something I'm trying to avoid.. I live 35 miles from downtown Death Valley.. This pic 3:00 pm on a July afternoon.. Pavement was the same temp..

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Totally, I get that. It's why I would be looking for an external pump, as opposed to submersible. My understanding is that there is far less heat transfer to the hydroponic solution in that situation.

Dad-grows-best69 said:

Been growing in dirt for a long time now am about to be trying hydro for first time and am setting up a DWC. I got a 4 bucket system with a 5th bucket reservoir with “ passive” exchange. My grow area is 3.5ft x 3.5ft and my light is a Spider Farmer Se3000. Carbon filter/ ac infinity exhaust fan. Wall mount oscillating fan, 2 intake vents. First question.., does this sound ok for setup? Next.. how does this “passive” exchange work? It says to just check reservoir? How will ph down get to last bucket just adding in reservoir?Wouldn’t a water pump work better? Can I add one? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

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Did this setup end up working for u?