Been a while since anybody said stuff on this thread. But…i bought dwc 5 gal buckets. They have a drain/ level /inspection hose installed. Basically it’s just a rubber grommet with a 90 degree elbow and a dark colored 1/2 inch hose. You can twist them down to drain about 96% of the bucket. My room is in my basement with the concrete floor and a floor drain. However…waiting for my buckets to drain simply using gravity is slow. Even when the girls have drank it down. I picked up a cheap fountain pump (about $20) and 6 foot of half inch hose. To empty i simply drop the pump in run the hose to the drain plug it in and a few minutes later bucket only has a tiny bit left. To access the water in the bucket i simply slide the lid to the side. The bonus to getting the pump is 3 fold. I drain, then using an empty 5g bucket i fill with fresh water, pull the hose off my pump and drop it into the fresh water and turn it on. Now my pump is my mixer. Add my nutes with the pump on and ph nute mix. Then i pause the pump, replace the hose and use it to pump water back into my buckets. I also have a 27g tote with 2 nets and empty and refill it the same way. Had 3autos going in buckets and 2 in the tote just 7 weeks in and a friend gave me 2 clones of a fantastic genetics gsc photos. Made a 5 gallon tote for one and put the other in my empty bucket. (Lost an auto right after germ) water days now require about 10 gallons of flower nute water and about a 5 of veg for the clones. I can change everyone out in about an hour using this method with little to no mess. This is my 2nd and 3rd grow(clones are vegging still) and im sure ill find better methods but this works well for me as of now. Just my 2 cents on the subject. And here are some current pics of my room!
I have a single bucket DWC in a custom made stainless steel box, it holds 8 and a half gallons of water to be at optimal level (inch - inch and a half below the bottom of the net pot. The SS is a great heatsink and my res stays at a constant 67-68 degrees. For draining, my lid easily comes off and I raise my lights, lift the whole plant into a temporary plastic tote and drain out the 1/2 ball valve welded into the bottom and then take the SS box out for a wash down, fill back up woth water and nutes and good to go. The whole process takes about 20 mins, and i do it weekly.
Here she is out of the box
Her she is in the box
pop the top and use a wet vac its a lot faster than a aqua pump. When buckets are empty clean and replace your girls. Spare buckets with water from syphon until system is clean, less shock on the girls. Cat