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#1
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Bottom Drains and Empty Ponds
For those of you with a bottom drain...how do you protect yourself against
emptying your pond if there is a failure somewhere upstream from your bottom drain? Originally I was going to sit my pump on a shelf to protect against this, but now that I plan to have a bottom drain, I am concerned. I am routing my water to a veggie filter that may or may not be attached to the main pond via a stream. If it is, I am concerned with the stream getting blocked and emptying my pond. I am seriously considering not having a stream and routing the water back via pipes to prevent this. -- BenignVanilla tibetanbeefgarden.com x-no-archive: yes Remove MY SPLEEN to email me. |
#2
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Bottom Drains and Empty Ponds
My bottom drain empties into a settling/veggie pond and is pumped from there
into a bio-filter where it falls back into the main pond. The pump intake from the settling/veggie pond is above the bottom of the main pond so I never risk emptying the main pond. Over this winter, I had a leak somewhere in my underground plumbing and my water level did drop but when it got below the intake of the pump, the pump just shut off. "BenignVanilla" wrote in message ... For those of you with a bottom drain...how do you protect yourself against emptying your pond if there is a failure somewhere upstream from your bottom drain? Originally I was going to sit my pump on a shelf to protect against this, but now that I plan to have a bottom drain, I am concerned. I am routing my water to a veggie filter that may or may not be attached to the main pond via a stream. If it is, I am concerned with the stream getting blocked and emptying my pond. I am seriously considering not having a stream and routing the water back via pipes to prevent this. -- BenignVanilla tibetanbeefgarden.com x-no-archive: yes Remove MY SPLEEN to email me. |
#3
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Bottom Drains and Empty Ponds
"Dan" wrote in message
... My bottom drain empties into a settling/veggie pond and is pumped from there into a bio-filter where it falls back into the main pond. The pump intake from the settling/veggie pond is above the bottom of the main pond so I never risk emptying the main pond. Over this winter, I had a leak somewhere in my underground plumbing and my water level did drop but when it got below the intake of the pump, the pump just shut off. That never occurred to me. I have been thinking the whole time I would have bottom drain to pump to VF. I guess I could have bottom drain to VF, to pump back to main pond. Does that make sense? Pump FROM the VF to the main pond where the BD is? BV. |
#4
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Bottom Drains and Empty Ponds
My bottom drain and surface skimmer are gravity fed into the VF and then
pumped from the VF into a bio-filter where it then falls back into the main pond. The only problem I have, is my make-shift prefilter on my pump gets clogged and needs to be cleaned about once a week. However, the prefilter is necessary on the pump intake so that the pump doesn't get clogged which is a much bigger job cleaning. Any suggestions for a good pump prefilter? "BenignVanilla" wrote in message ... "Dan" wrote in message ... My bottom drain empties into a settling/veggie pond and is pumped from there into a bio-filter where it falls back into the main pond. The pump intake from the settling/veggie pond is above the bottom of the main pond so I never risk emptying the main pond. Over this winter, I had a leak somewhere in my underground plumbing and my water level did drop but when it got below the intake of the pump, the pump just shut off. That never occurred to me. I have been thinking the whole time I would have bottom drain to pump to VF. I guess I could have bottom drain to VF, to pump back to main pond. Does that make sense? Pump FROM the VF to the main pond where the BD is? BV. |
#5
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Bottom Drains and Empty Ponds
Dan wrote:
My bottom drain and surface skimmer are gravity fed into the VF and then pumped from the VF into a bio-filter where it then falls back into the main pond. The only problem I have, is my make-shift prefilter on my pump gets clogged and needs to be cleaned about once a week. However, the prefilter is necessary on the pump intake so that the pump doesn't get clogged which is a much bigger job cleaning. Any suggestions for a good pump prefilter? Hi Dan, I use a slotted planting basket filled with bioballs, put in the pump and then put all into a meshed laundry basket (with a slide closure). Then I lower the laundry basket into the pond. It is easy to raise, just get a pole and hook the rope closure. I rarely have to clean this filter. Others have filled the basket with lava rocks, but I found them too heavy. -- Bonnie NJ |
#6
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Bottom Drains and Empty Ponds
Bonnie, thanks for your suggestion. I have an external pump that is
connected thru the side of my Veggie Filter by a 2 inch PVC pipe. I may be able to run the pipe into a basket type set-up like you mention. "Bonnie Espenshade" wrote in message ... Dan wrote: My bottom drain and surface skimmer are gravity fed into the VF and then pumped from the VF into a bio-filter where it then falls back into the main pond. The only problem I have, is my make-shift prefilter on my pump gets clogged and needs to be cleaned about once a week. However, the prefilter is necessary on the pump intake so that the pump doesn't get clogged which is a much bigger job cleaning. Any suggestions for a good pump prefilter? Hi Dan, I use a slotted planting basket filled with bioballs, put in the pump and then put all into a meshed laundry basket (with a slide closure). Then I lower the laundry basket into the pond. It is easy to raise, just get a pole and hook the rope closure. I rarely have to clean this filter. Others have filled the basket with lava rocks, but I found them too heavy. -- Bonnie NJ |
#7
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Bottom Drains and Empty Ponds
If I was to do this, this will be my setup.
Pipe from Bottom Drain will have a backflow device in line, then to a pump that empties into a biofilter that is elevated, then by gravity into my veggie filter, then by gravity back into my pond. Should the pump fail, the backflow device will stop the water from the biofilter from going back into my pond thru the bottom drain. With this setup if your pump fails then there will be no backflow into the pond. The pipe breakage issue is a different problem that can be corrected with a level switch similar to what you have in your fuel pump. Get this type of switching device from your local plumbing supply store, connect the switch to your pump. If the level goes below a predetermined level, then your pump will shut off. (I will do some research into this myself soon and will report back to the group) Good luck, and keep your questions coming as I am learning a lot from the answers you are getting. -- _______________________________________ "Architecture is the ultimate erotic 'object'." Bernard Tschumi, "Architecture & Transgression" http://community.webshots.com/user/godwino "Dan" wrote in message ... My bottom drain empties into a settling/veggie pond and is pumped from there into a bio-filter where it falls back into the main pond. The pump intake from the settling/veggie pond is above the bottom of the main pond so I never risk emptying the main pond. Over this winter, I had a leak somewhere in my underground plumbing and my water level did drop but when it got below the intake of the pump, the pump just shut off. "BenignVanilla" wrote in message ... For those of you with a bottom drain...how do you protect yourself against emptying your pond if there is a failure somewhere upstream from your bottom drain? Originally I was going to sit my pump on a shelf to protect against this, but now that I plan to have a bottom drain, I am concerned. I am routing my water to a veggie filter that may or may not be attached to the main pond via a stream. If it is, I am concerned with the stream getting blocked and emptying my pond. I am seriously considering not having a stream and routing the water back via pipes to prevent this. -- BenignVanilla tibetanbeefgarden.com x-no-archive: yes Remove MY SPLEEN to email me. |
#8
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Bottom Drains and Empty Ponds
Check with a good plumbing supply store for a product called spaflex.
It is a sturdy by flexiable hose that you can use between the rigid pipe and the pump. "Dan" wrote in message ... Bonnie, thanks for your suggestion. I have an external pump that is connected thru the side of my Veggie Filter by a 2 inch PVC pipe. I may be able to run the pipe into a basket type set-up like you mention. "Bonnie Espenshade" wrote in message ... Dan wrote: My bottom drain and surface skimmer are gravity fed into the VF and then pumped from the VF into a bio-filter where it then falls back into the main pond. The only problem I have, is my make-shift prefilter on my pump gets clogged and needs to be cleaned about once a week. However, the prefilter is necessary on the pump intake so that the pump doesn't get clogged which is a much bigger job cleaning. Any suggestions for a good pump prefilter? Hi Dan, I use a slotted planting basket filled with bioballs, put in the pump and then put all into a meshed laundry basket (with a slide closure). Then I lower the laundry basket into the pond. It is easy to raise, just get a pole and hook the rope closure. I rarely have to clean this filter. Others have filled the basket with lava rocks, but I found them too heavy. -- Bonnie NJ |
#9
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Bottom Drains and Empty Ponds
It is better to pump the water after it passes through the last filter.
Gravity feed all the filters and then pump the clean water back to the ponds. Howard "Dan" wrote in message ... My bottom drain and surface skimmer are gravity fed into the VF and then pumped from the VF into a bio-filter where it then falls back into the main pond. The only problem I have, is my make-shift prefilter on my pump gets clogged and needs to be cleaned about once a week. However, the prefilter is necessary on the pump intake so that the pump doesn't get clogged which is a much bigger job cleaning. Any suggestions for a good pump prefilter? "BenignVanilla" wrote in message ... "Dan" wrote in message ... My bottom drain empties into a settling/veggie pond and is pumped from there into a bio-filter where it falls back into the main pond. The pump intake from the settling/veggie pond is above the bottom of the main pond so I never risk emptying the main pond. Over this winter, I had a leak somewhere in my underground plumbing and my water level did drop but when it got below the intake of the pump, the pump just shut off. That never occurred to me. I have been thinking the whole time I would have bottom drain to pump to VF. I guess I could have bottom drain to VF, to pump back to main pond. Does that make sense? Pump FROM the VF to the main pond where the BD is? BV. |
#10
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Bottom Drains and Empty Ponds
"Just Me "Koi"" wrote in message
... snip Should the pump fail, the backflow device will stop the water from the biofilter from going back into my pond thru the bottom drain. With this setup if your pump fails then there will be no backflow into the pond. The backflow valve is only needed if the VF is above the pond right? If they are at the same level, they should equalize, correct? The pipe breakage issue is a different problem that can be corrected with a level switch similar to what you have in your fuel pump. Get this type of switching device from your local plumbing supply store, connect the switch to your pump. If the level goes below a predetermined level, then your pump will shut off. (I will do some research into this myself soon and will report back to the group) I'd love to hear what you find out. BV. |
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