Plumbing Vertical Farms

You will lose pressure (head) from friction. So one of the easiest ways to reduce head loss in your system is to use larger pipe sizes for the supply line to your towers. We recommend 2x the output of your pump. So if you have a 1/2" outlet, you should use 1" supply lines.

 

Sharp bends (90's) and tees also reduce head, so avoid them if you can. However, sometimes it is a trade off between using 90's and tee's and using a lot of valves to equalize the pressure between towers. Valves can not only result in lots of head loss, but are choke points for any suspended solids. As such valves can introduce the added problem of more clogging. Consequently, we recommend the use of 90's and tee's to balance pressure across towers rather than valves. Example of how to plumb single and double rows are shown in the Common Layouts Section. Another approach is to set up your feed lines so that the supply water comes from both ends of a long run.

 

If you are running an aquaponic system it is important that you have adequate filtration on your system immediately after the fish tank. Gravity based filter systems such as radial and swirl filters should have a retention time of around 20 minutes. Failure to adequately remove large suspended solids will create ongoing maintenance issues in your system.