UV Sterilizer Pump

[Mr Cob]

We recently obtained a UV Sterilizer for our 125gal. It is a TurboTwist 3x 9volt. Our delima is that we have a CAP 1800 pump in the garage we were going to use as the pump. We looked it up on-line and the GPH is 650. We plan on hanging the UV off the side of the sump so there will be a short distance of tubing.

My question is...
1. Can I put a "T" on the pump to essentially get about half of the GPH?
2. Or should I put a valve to slow the rate of flow?

Thanks.

Ross, cutting the flow down by half will apply a lot of pressure on that pump. I personally would not do it...who knows what could happen as a result. Now if the water had to travel a longer distance upward to give you less GPH that's a different story, but to manually force pressure is a bad thing.

Personally I would get a pump that is rated with a much less GPH. A mag 3 would be perfect. A mag 5 works with a foot or two of head hieght travel for the water in order to slow the GPH...you'll want about 100-200gph for more water contact on the UV bulb.

Control valves could be used and I have used them on the same sterilizer but the manufacturer does not recommend this type of installation. I would install them so that they are there...but do not install them with the intention of relying on them.

Not sure I answered your question directly but hopefully I gave some useful information for you to make a more informed decission.

Good luck.