An overflow alarm? Do I need one? Yes........

[Sk8r]

Oh, yes.
It's commonly called a water alarm. It's pretty cheap, under 10, a lot like a fire alarm. Get it at your hardware store or look online. It runs on small batteries, has two tiny pointy bits you insert through carpet or just place on the bare floor near your tank, and if the floor is dry, the two pointy bits don't complete a circuit. Add water, the pointy bits complete the circuit and set off an alarm that screams like a banshee.

Since spilled water can ruin your floor, damage your carpet, violate your lease, annoy your downstairs neighbor, not to mention your spouse---a water alarm is a rather cheap insurance against a hose clamp that rusts through, a topoff hose that slips its clip, a fill hose left running, or a crack that, if you find it late, may spell doom for your tank---not to mention the slow spray type leak that you don't even see, until you find the whole area is just a wee bit damp.

Worth the investment. And as another post this morning reminds us, having a smoke alarm in the area of your tank is another good idea: electrical things can fail, and if they fail catastrophically --- best find it fast.

[shaginwagon13]

....Again another good and informative post by Sk8r.

My alarm used to be phone calls from my fiance saying 'Get home now.... there is water everywhere' haha.

[gone fishin]

I have a couple water leak alarms. One around the DT and sump and the other around the RO/DI rubbermaid in another room.

[den75]

I have water sensors that are tied into my household alarm system. If there is a leak the alarm company is notified and I get a text/e-mail as well.

[Sk8r]

If you haven't yet had a two-gallon leak---you're still a novice. I think my most epic was about 30 gallons when the topoff reservoir's hose slipped its clip. That, fortunately, went down the basement drain---mostly.
OTOH, having the landlord pounding at your door asking why there's water pouring down the inner wall of the utility closet of our downstairs neighbors (the ro/di overflowed)---this was what prompted me to look up water alarm on the internet.

No matter how secure you think your water lines are---have an alarm; never use a check valve; never trust a new bulkhead, don't have a vertical topoff hose that isn't very, very, very well secured, and no matter how undistracted you are when you START filling your ro/di bucket---learn how long that job takes and set your kitchen timer a few minutes short of that, eh? The best thing about water alarms is avoiding having them go off.

[Breadman03]

I put my RODI container over my basement drain. My water pressure varies so much that my 38 gallon container might take 20 hours or as little as 10 hours to fill. This town's water supply is pathetic.

Can you put a water alarm high up inside the sump?

[Sk8r]

For that application, rig a float switch. This is how an ato [autotopoff unit] works. Your toilet tank has a float valve, which is one way to handle it. Consult your hardware store about a float switch, which basically uses a float to mechanically close a circuit and turn on a topoff pump, or look on line. I use a float valve (a Hudson valve) to keep my koi pond topped off, and that could work---one would have to look at your situation.

I have a philosophy about topoff reservoirs: I think they're better than linking your ro/di topoff to the city water supply, because if something goes wrong, the topoff reservoir will only empty a certain number of gallons onto the floor while you're on vacation; one linked the city water supply depends solely on a valve to stop it, and since that's fresh water, it can first kill your tank and secondly, make you a swimming pool in your basement.

That's why I use a Hudson valve and a hose on the koi pond, but not on my tank. THe pond is freshwater, so that's no harm; and I just run the risk, with a housesitter to look in on the situation. On my tank---no, no, no, I use a float switch to fill from a 32 gallon reservoir via a Maxijet 1200, and the pump comes off and on via the float switch. So far that's been safe.

[biecacka]

@ sk8r w a 2 gallon leak still being a novice.......IM A PRO. Lol
Had one last night, my skimmer cup drains into a bucket....days no skimmate( weird issue I've had off and on) the woke up this morning to 4-5 gallons on my floor. Good thing the carpet is here to help absorb it!!
I like the overflow alarm, but does it shut off? Like if I'm at work or will it go on for hours and upset my neighbors?
Corey

[Sk8r]

The cheap one would go on until the battery runs down, though you might be able to mute the thing somewhat by putting some insulation around it on top. I'm sure you could rig (or buy) one that would call you...den75 above has his tied to his regular alarm system, and that sort of alarm will phone you, your aunt Polly, or the person of your choice.

[Spyderturbo007]

Originally Posted by Sk8r

No matter how secure you think your water lines are---have an alarm; never use a check valve; never trust a new bulkhead, don't have a vertical topoff hose that isn't very, very, very well secured, and no matter how undistracted you are when you START filling your ro/di bucket---

I'm curious why you would never use a check valve?

[biecacka]

Check valves are prone to clogging problems then they become the problem. They are repeat offenders is the general consensus
Corey

[Stomkat]

Have to add this to my list. Twice now something happened that caused my sump to end up overflowing, and I'm not sure how long it had been sitting overflowed before I figured it out. I have wood floors and saltwater is a HUGE no-no. This would really help me!

I did have it set up so that I THOUGHT the sump could handle all the water that would drain from the DT, but those 2 times I had filled a bit too much. It wasn't more than a gallon, but 1 gallon of salt on the wood floor for who knows how long isn't good.

[Sk8r]

RE CHECK VALVES: Marine water is just different than freshwater: look at how much solid chemical goes into it---and can come out again, if the ph shifts, or the heat increases and water evaporates. The stuff you can't get off your shower head in your tub, that clouds the clear glass, etc, is calcium carbonate, the backbone of the saltwater tank. Check valves are where water slows down, has time to deposit crud, etc: you can, if you get your alkalinity screwed, get deposits in your hoses, coating inside your pump, but none of those can cause the sheer mayhem of a check valve that suddenly has a chunk of calcium carbonate break free and end up screwing up the valve---sort of like a heart attack in a living creature; or that just gets worse over time, sort of like hardening of the arteries. White vinegar can dissolve this stuff, and you can cure it, but check valves, doing the job they do, can clog and fail, and then water doesn't go where you want, to the unhappiness of all concerned. They're not so bad in fresh water (you can say that, eg, of metal fasteners and other no-nos for salt water) but they're a disaster waiting to happen in a salt tank.