Leakless RDWC

Hey everyone!

I’m starting a new grow soon, and I was wondering if anybody had ideas on how to create an RDWC system that doesn’t involve drilling holes in buckets. I’ve been down that road before, and it usually leaks. Don’t want to chance it I my new apartment! I was thinking some kind of top feed system would be best, but I’m not sure how to drain each bucket. Thoughts?

Use square buckets, proper bulkhead fittings and 3m 4200. No chance of leaks.

Agreed-unless you want to step up to a 2"+ fitting, it's always a battle keeping returns clear of roots.

If you cant drill a hole maybe stay away from diy?

tbf said:

Hey everyone!

I’m starting a new grow soon, and I was wondering if anybody had ideas on how to create an RDWC system that doesn’t involve drilling holes in buckets. I’ve been down that road before, and it usually leaks. Don’t want to chance it I my new apartment! I was thinking some kind of top feed system would be best, but I’m not sure how to drain each bucket. Thoughts?

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Here's the problem with dwc, you will experience spills regardless of the fittings. It's just the nature of the beast. When you're dealing with a large volume of water, steps can be taken to minimize the outcome of a spills or leak. For instance, I built an enclosed frame and pond liner around my tent/dwc to catch up to 120 gallons of water.

Let me give you a real life example I experienced about a month ago. I built my rdwc rock-solid, with 2" pipes and bulkheads. A leak was the furthest thing on my mind. However, I walked in to my room to find my reservoir overflowing. I use frozen water jugs in my water during the summer to help keep the temps down. What happened was the jug floated over to the reservoir bulkhead, and blocked it. So, water was being added back to the reservoir with none going out. Now I tie my jugs to the reservoir.

Being in an apartment adds so many other variables, with a dwc. My advice would be to grow in Coco coir, which is still technically "hydroponics".

tbf said:

Hey everyone!

I’m starting a new grow soon, and I was wondering if anybody had ideas on how to create an RDWC system that doesn’t involve drilling holes in buckets. I’ve been down that road before, and it usually leaks. Don’t want to chance it I my new apartment! I was thinking some kind of top feed system would be best, but I’m not sure how to drain each bucket. Thoughts?

Click to expand...

This fear is why I'm still low tech DWC.

tbf said:

Hey everyone!

I’m starting a new grow soon, and I was wondering if anybody had ideas on how to create an RDWC system that doesn’t involve drilling holes in buckets. I’ve been down that road before, and it usually leaks. Don’t want to chance it I my new apartment! I was thinking some kind of top feed system would be best, but I’m not sure how to drain each bucket. Thoughts?

Click to expand...

If you have a second bathroom, you can set up a small rdwc in the tub.

DWC requires holes. Single bucket sites is your only option. And F that...

I am building a RDWC right now.
I hate the idea of holes but my solution is leakproof so far

Square buckets instead of round
2" uniseals are $4 ... soak them in hot water and it makes insertion easy
if you follow the uniseal instructions and drill exactly the right size hole, it's super tight, almost impossible to remove once rubber is cool and mine passed the leak test
2" bulkheads are $10 and can crack rather easy
2" heavy duty bulkheads are $25, so...

easy for me to say, my RDWC is going in the backyard
i don't think i would put 50 gallons inside without trying it out


little hijack
Anyone have problems with roots clogging the piping? i got 9" 4gal buckets and 2" schedule 40 PVC

You could run RDWC on top of a flood tray or catch tray.

Even if you build it right root clogs in return pipes can cause flooding.

I'm running a lower-GPH pump to hopefully help prevent root clogs.

fridayfishfry said:

I am building a RDWC right now.
I hate the idea of holes but my solution is leakproof so far

Square buckets instead of round
2" uniseals are $4 ... soak them in hot water and it makes insertion easy
if you follow the uniseal instructions and drill exactly the right size hole, it's super tight, almost impossible to remove once rubber is cool and mine passed the leak test
2" bulkheads are $10 and can crack rather easy
2" heavy duty bulkheads are $25, so...

easy for me to say, my RDWC is going in the backyard
i don't think i would put 50 gallons inside without trying it out


little hijack
Anyone have problems with roots clogging the piping? i got 9" 4gal buckets and 2" schedule 40 PVC

View attachment 4135536
View attachment 4135537

Click to expand...

I never had problems with uniseals, the key is accurate hole size and no burrs. I prefer bulkheads for tear down and cleaning. There are sch 40 fittings out there but not cheap.

i just built my first system and my leaks are very minimal.

i believe i can solve most of them next time i flush the system.

btw, i use bulkheads...

I think uniseals have more give to the angle the pipe can be at. I need this because of unlevel dirt outside.

Uniseals might make a tighter seal than Bulkheads.

Bulkheads make it easier to clean..

My solution is use PVC unscrewable unions mid-pipe in various places for dismantling (slip slip used with primer and PVC cement).

Use 3m marine 4200.... it stops most boats from sinking... so.....

Don’t use 5200, it’s bomb proof

fridayfishfry said:

I am building a RDWC right now.
I hate the idea of holes but my solution is leakproof so far

Square buckets instead of round
2" uniseals are $4 ... soak them in hot water and it makes insertion easy
if you follow the uniseal instructions and drill exactly the right size hole, it's super tight, almost impossible to remove once rubber is cool and mine passed the leak test
2" bulkheads are $10 and can crack rather easy
2" heavy duty bulkheads are $25, so...

easy for me to say, my RDWC is going in the backyard
i don't think i would put 50 gallons inside without trying it out


little hijack
Anyone have problems with roots clogging the piping? i got 9" 4gal buckets and 2" schedule 40 PVC

View attachment 4135536
View attachment 4135537

Click to expand...

2" uniseals are $1.99 at www.allied aqua.com. DO NOT USE EBAY.

fridayfishfry said:

I am building a RDWC right now.
I hate the idea of holes but my solution is leakproof so far

Square buckets instead of round
2" uniseals are $4 ... soak them in hot water and it makes insertion easy
if you follow the uniseal instructions and drill exactly the right size hole, it's super tight, almost impossible to remove once rubber is cool and mine passed the leak test
2" bulkheads are $10 and can crack rather easy
2" heavy duty bulkheads are $25, so...

easy for me to say, my RDWC is going in the backyard
i don't think i would put 50 gallons inside without trying it out


little hijack
Anyone have problems with roots clogging the piping? i got 9" 4gal buckets and 2" schedule 40 PVC

View attachment 4135536
View attachment 4135537

Click to expand...

I hope you don't get root rot with those white buckets bruv. Black is SO IMPORTANT.

fridayfishfry said:

I am building a RDWC right now.
I hate the idea of holes but my solution is leakproof so far

Square buckets instead of round
2" uniseals are $4 ... soak them in hot water and it makes insertion easy
if you follow the uniseal instructions and drill exactly the right size hole, it's super tight, almost impossible to remove once rubber is cool and mine passed the leak test
2" bulkheads are $10 and can crack rather easy
2" heavy duty bulkheads are $25, so...

easy for me to say, my RDWC is going in the backyard
i don't think i would put 50 gallons inside without trying it out


little hijack
Anyone have problems with roots clogging the piping? i got 9" 4gal buckets and 2" schedule 40 PVC

View attachment 4135536
View attachment 4135537

Click to expand...

Also, you don't bevel them like that, you keep the cut straight and ANGLE the ends down. Not cut a 45* angle.



My system requires no air pumps or stones. I actually use a 1600gph pump to a manifold FROM the res to each bucket site (will be done shortly) and the 2" pipe is there to bring the water from the filling buckets back TO the res. It needs to be 2" at least or the res drains too fast. The massive size of the pump creates a LOT of pressure out those 1/2" waterfalls therefore needing ZERO air pumps. I can't stand my current setup anymore using 1" returns. The waterfalls aren't pressured enough and I'm forced to still use an air pump. A very NOISY, HOT AND ANNOYING air pump.
My mini setup using 2gal buckets though is setup with no air pumps, with 1 1/2" pipe and uniseals and is showing me faster results than I have EVER had. Hands down.

Airwalker16 said:

I hope you don't get root rot with those white buckets bruv. Black is SO IMPORTANT.

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Haters gonna hate

White absorbs much less heat from light which is the #1 issue OUTSIDE
HEAT causes root root not light
Light causes algae

Try building a sprayer out of 360 cloner heads to aerate without heat. Like this

I got a chiller. Keeping light out is too important to me. I'll show you my mini system in a bit.
Go to the store and buy rustoleum black paint. It says on the can, Bonds To Plastic. Spray your buckets outside at least. I'd sand em once over for good measure to help the paint stick better though.

Airwalker16 said:

I got a chiller. Keeping light out is too important to me. I'll show you my mini system in a bit.
Go to the store and buy rustoleum black paint. It says on the can, Bonds To Plastic. Spray your buckets outside at least. I'd sand em once over for good measure to help the paint stick better though.

Click to expand...

If it becomes an issue I'll just make panda film cozies for each bucket. I'll be using h2o2 anyway. Panda goes white to outside, black to inside.

Yes upload, I'd like to see it