My pond build thread

[Fresh2o]

Great. I'm never drinking chocolate milk again.

I was being considerate while describing swamp smelling, debris and feces laden waste water. I used to find snails, worms, leeches, and juvenile fish while flushing the filter.
OP - If you could somehow design a gravity fed filter, then fish waste and particulates will not be churned into oblivion. Waste will be collected intact with less chance of getting dissolved into the water column.


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[enrgizerbunny]

You can check here for ideas: http://www.koianswers.com/discussion/1868/diy-drum-filter/p1
IMO sand, gravel, lava rock might be too heavy for air pressure back washing. I've used expanded shale and lava rock in biolfilters in the past. Very heavy and hard to clean. What I found that worked better was floating plastic media (Google search "Pall Rings"). I would shut off the filter, take a stick and stir up the media, open the drain, and let the chocolate milk colored waste water flow out.


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I would be back flushing with the pump and simply reversing the flow of water like an RO unit. This is why pea gravel topped with lava rock (our other bio media) sounded like a solution, but I didn't know what role the sand really played if I just had a ton of gravel in a drum flowing bottom up, drain is essentially gravity, but with three valves I could force water in through the outlet and out the former inlet to a drain pipe instead of the pond. Do you think this would sufficiently catch the solids and would simply reversing the flow clean it out?

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[Fresh2o]

Pea gravel and lava rock should catch quite a bit of the particulates but it depends on flow rate and how well settling occurs. Not sure how much force you would need to effectively backwash them.
Sand should filter it out but at a cost (difficult to clean) plus water challenging can occur (leading to dead spots).
You should check out Matala filter sheets. Lightweight, easy to work with, and durable, they come in a variety of densities. You can custom cut them to you filter's dimensions.




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[enrgizerbunny]

Update: ran into a bit of a snag when I stopped and had my utility lines marked. Nothing I can't work around, so I expanded my footprint a little bit to roughly 6x12 with my new shape.

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[Fresh2o]

Update: ran into a bit of a snag when I stopped and had my utility lines marked. Nothing I can't work around, so I expanded my footprint a little bit to roughly 6x12 with my new shape.

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Just be prepared for a little leeway with the markings. I had lines drawn when I moved into my current home and found that the phone line was about 12" off the marking. This may not be typical.


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[Delapool]

Just be prepared for a little leeway with the markings. I had lines drawn when I moved into my current home and found that the phone line was about 12" off the marking. This may not be typical.


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We found extra cables as well when we put in the telephone line

My father ended up trying divining to find the septic tanks...

 

[jlk]

So, what are your plans for all the dirt that's removed?


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[enrgizerbunny]

So, what are your plans for all the dirt that's removed?


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My yard has several spots that need fill dirt.

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[enrgizerbunny]

Update:

I've started on my new foot print, you can see the outline of the old in the middle there. I made it to 24 inches in one spot, so I'm making decent progress. I'm currently looking for a way to source flat stones for relatively cheap.

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[Delapool]

Geez that must be some work? Is the dog supervising or helping??

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Geez that must be some work? Is the dog supervising or helping??

The hardest part is trying to get through the roots. Even when I break it up with the mattock there can be roots that get in the way of the shovel. The dog is off playing or going next door for treats the whole time.

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[Delapool]

The hardest part is trying to get through the roots. Even when I break it up with the mattock there can be roots that get in the way of the shovel. The dog is off playing or going next door for treats the whole time.

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It looks really, really hard work! I'm pooped just looking at the picture.

Do you have to worry about the roots growing into the pond or anything?

 

[forzaazzurri]

It looks really, really hard work! I'm pooped just looking at the picture.

Do you have to worry about the roots growing into the pond or anything?

The roots will travel to the path of least resistance. As long as you have water in the pond the roots will grow around it.

 

[Fresh2o]

I feel your pain. I dug out a 10'x12'x22" pond with a pick axe, shovel and wheel barrel. Ouch.


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[enrgizerbunny]

I think I've hit my target depth in one area. I'm 6' tall.

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[enrgizerbunny]

Took the whole outline down about 6-8 inches. Found a root about 2 inches in diameter running across the whole pond. I'm slightly concerned for my trees, but I think they'll be okay.

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[fish wrangler]

Took the whole outline down about 6-8 inches. Found a root about 2 inches in diameter running across the whole pond. I'm slightly concerned for my trees, but I think they'll be okay.

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Unless it is a young tree there shouldn't be an issue, older trees should have a lot of roots that size and bigger. I wouldn't worry about it to much.

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[enrgizerbunny]

Unless it is a young tree there shouldn't be an issue, older trees should have a lot of roots that size and bigger. I wouldn't worry about it to much.

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They're probably about a hundred years old each

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[enrgizerbunny]

Slowly but surely moving along.

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[Delapool]

Wow! Found any treasure?