I used the "milk bottle" principle on my tank!!!
I built an airtight container out of glass. I put one tank fitting at the
bottom for about 3/4" pipe and 2 at the top for 3/4" pipe.
On the top fittings i inserted a short piece of pipe and sealed them off
with those expandable bottle stoppers. In the bottom fitting I added pipe
and cut it to be at the water level I wanted in my sump.
The operation was quite simple therafter.
1) To fill up, I'd put a bottle stopper in the bottom pipe and open the 2
top ones. I put the water in via one and the other let the air escape.
2) Once full, I closed the top 2 and opened the bottom.
3) When the water level in the tank is above the level of the bottom pipe,
you end up with a vacuum in the water container and no water comes out. As
soon as it drops, some air goes in and lets some water out....just like an
inverted milk bottle (for those who still have them...)
A few points. a) As i made mine out of glass, the top pane must be quite
thick as the vacuum created is big. My first attempt failed as the glass
cracked under the vacuum.
b) When the air enters the container and the water goes
out, you get a gulping noise. My sump was well insulated and so I didn't
hear it - Yours being in the basement means it won't be a problem.
I found that
1) I didn't have to worry about any ball valves, electronic switches,
controllers, pumps etc going wrong.
2) It was dirt cheap
3) By virtue of the fact that it was sitting on my sump, the water took on
the ambient temperature in my sump area and was therefore very close to the
tank temperature.
Mine held over 70 litres (16 Imp gallons) (Can't remember the conversion to
US but I think it's about 23 US galls). It could have been easily made to be
bigger if necessary.
Hope this helps
Peter
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