Ideas on DYI water cleaning? Want to reduce waste water...waste

Hey everyone,

I’m kicking around some ideas for winter projects, and I stumbled across this article from Royal Queen Seeds about reusing water in hydroponic systems (link: https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/blog-how-to-clean-and-reuse-the-water-from-your-hydroponic-system-n1030). It got me thinking about DIYing a system to clean and reuse water—maybe using ozone or UV light.

I did some Googling, but didn’t find much on how to build something like this yourself. I’ve seen some UV systems out there for $200-300 CAD, and some higher end for much much more. I’d rather put that money (or less if possible) into making my own setup if I can, learning new things has been a major part of this new hobby.

Here’s what I’m thinking, but this is from my experience as a pump room guy for the community pool (the RDWC concept is so similar to how a pool filter room would work):

1. Filtration:
   • Start with a basic mechanical filter to catch bigger stuff—thinking layers of mesh, carbon, and gravel.
   • Add a biological filter with some beneficial bacteria to break down organic gunk. (I have done zero research into this, chlorine and biological...).
   • For sterilization, maybe a DIY UV-C light setup (around 254 nm) to zap bacteria and algae.
   • Or, go with an ozone generator and a DIY injector to oxidize and clean the water—just need to keep the ozone levels in check.
2. Recirculation:
   • Figure out how to connect it back to my hydroponic setup, either straight to the reservoir or a holding tank.
   • Maybe something i could disconnect and only connect when i need it or need to sanitize the whole system.
3. Automation (Optional):
   • If I’m feeling ambitious, maybe add some sensors to monitor water quality (pH, EC, ORP) and automate things using Arduino or Raspberry Pi.
4. Safety:
   • Make sure I handle ozone and UV light safely—keep everything contained and well-ventilated.
   • this is my biggest concern both those things can be super dangerous if you are being stupid.

This is just the early planning stage, so I’m wide open to ideas. Has anyone here tried something similar? I’m all ears for any tips or experiences. The goal is to reuse as much water as possible and keep things running smoothly with my current hydroponic setup.

Thanks in advance!