A check vavle prevents water from syphoning back from the main tank into the sump. Not always needed if the sump is set up propperly. A ball valve can be used to restrict the amount of flow going up to the main tank. Also not always needed. You just need to match the overflow GPH with the pump GPH. Sometimes it is not possible to do so you use a larger pump and "dial" it down. IMO, if you can find a PVC gate valve, use that. They are much easier to fine tune but they do need more room to use than a ball valve. When you set up the sump, fill the main tank with water until it starts to drain into the sump. Then fill the sump to about 1 inch from the top. Turn on your return pump. Let the system run for a an hour or so. Then mark the level in the return section of the sump. This will be the "FULL" line. As long as you dont put more water in the tank than this line, the sump will not overflow in a power outage. Make sure the return section of the sump is large enough to accomidate evaporation since this is where it will show up.

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