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#1
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underwater grid
A comment on a blog I read sparked a thought in mine head.
Somewhere I once ran across a comment about a gal's dad building her an underwater grid. She wanted a water feature in her frontyard, no fence, and this was the solution they came up with for safety and city regulations. Also read about a Hollywood starlet, with children, who had an underwater grid in her koi pond. The regular ponder's Dad, as I recall, made it out of rebar? What do you all think? Just lash it together with wire? Welding? What is in that welding stuff? My concerns - would it rust? would it harm fish? if it did what could you put in that would not? Something out of plastic, with rounded edges? k :-) (avoiding the Thanksgiving debris and the fact that Christmas is 25 shopping days away...........) |
#2
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underwater grid
On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:14:00 EST, kathy wrote:
A comment on a blog I read sparked a thought in mine head. Somewhere I once ran across a comment about a gal's dad building her an underwater grid. She wanted a water feature in her frontyard, no fence, and this was the solution they came up with for safety and city regulations. Also read about a Hollywood starlet, with children, who had an underwater grid in her koi pond. The regular ponder's Dad, as I recall, made it out of rebar? What do you all think? Just lash it together with wire? Welding? What is in that welding stuff? My concerns - would it rust? would it harm fish? if it did what could you put in that would not? Something out of plastic, with rounded edges? k :-) I don't believe that is a practical idea for most of us. A grid with spacing's close enough to prevent a child's foot from passing through would obstruct fish viewing Rebar and the rods to weld rebar are carbon steel and it will rust, however I see this rusting steel as no more harmful than the steel water pipes used in my home plumbing. -- Hal Middle Georgia, Zone 8 http://tinyurl.com/2fxzcb |
#3
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underwater grid
Hal wrote:
I don't believe that is a practical idea for most of us. A grid with spacing's close enough to prevent a child's foot from passing through would obstruct fish viewing Rebar and the rods to weld rebar are carbon steel and it will rust, however I see this rusting steel as no more harmful than the steel water pipes used in my home plumbing. Most rusting/rotting occurs right at the water-line (because oxygen is involved). As long as the rebar stays below the water, it won't be a huge issue, but I agree it's ugly... -- derek |
#4
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underwater grid
Derek Broughton wrote:
Hal wrote: I don't believe that is a practical idea for most of us. A grid with spacing's close enough to prevent a child's foot from passing through would obstruct fish viewing Rebar and the rods to weld rebar are carbon steel and it will rust, however I see this rusting steel as no more harmful than the steel water pipes used in my home plumbing. Most rusting/rotting occurs right at the water-line (because oxygen is involved). As long as the rebar stays below the water, it won't be a huge issue, but I agree it's ugly... Funny idea this. I've seen water features that use a heavy checker plate level with the ground, underneath is running water, lights and bubbles etc. The idea is that none of your limited garden space is lost to open streams, and everything can be walked on. It would not suit a fish pond because it's pretty hard to see anything other than metal. But, the suggestion here is to install the same kind of metal below the surface as a safety feature. That makes little safety sense. Standing water is dangerous if more than 2" deep, people could still drown if they fell onto this plate. It secured strongly enough to support an adult, the chance of shattering bones and falling unconscious would be very high in the event of a fall. If your primary concern is stopping people from dying in your garden, perhaps a better option would be wire netting. I'm thinking of a 4" opening net made from stainless steel cable. It could be streched taught level with the water and secured into a concrete pond surround. That would support the weight of a child or adult, not knock them out on impact and allowing them to roll out of danger. I'm guessing it would not disturb the view too much either. DavidM |
#5
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underwater grid
I like this idea.
k :-) |
#6
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underwater grid
On Thu, 4 Dec 2008 18:03:57 EST, kathy wrote:
I like this idea. k :-) You go girl!! If it makes you happy, it tickles me to death!! -- Hal Middle Georgia, Zone 8 http://tinyurl.com/2fxzcb |
#7
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underwater grid
I just got back from a trip to Longwood Gardens, in PA. They have a pond in
the entrance to the new arboretum with a safety grid made of structural plastic. It as plates about 3' square, and brackets that link them all together. It is placed just a few inches below water level. While viewing the pond from an angle, and at any resonable distance, the grid is not too noticable. It is made with a grey color opaque plastic though, and therefore is very noticable at close distance, or directly from above. I have also seen water features made using transparent acrylic tubing, in which the tubing is completely invisible. Ripley's museum uses this technique in making their perpetual floating faucet that apears to float in mid air, with an eternal stream of water flowing from it. In reality, the water is pumped up the inside of the "stream" within an acrylic tube, and then flows outside the acrylic tube to apear as a solid stream of water coming from nowhere. If this material were shaped into grid of sufficient thickness, and place with proper bracing and support, it would achieve the result you are looking for. It would be completely invisible, and structurally strong for safety. The down side of this approach would be: 1) The material you would need would be incredibly expensive for the thickness you would need. 2) The cost of fabrication for the components would be terribly expensive. 3) The burden of maintenance would be outrageous, as the pristine water of an uninhabited pond would be much different than a Koi pond with the attendant nutrients, algea and micro-organisms. You may want to consider getting serious estimates for the expenses involved before you begin digging. Last I checked, the cost of a sheet of 1" thick acrylic was in the thousands of dollars. Then this price of cutting the grid is another story all together. Hope this helps with the dream pond idea though. You never know when your going to hit the Big Lottery! That should help pay the staff that you would need to keep it all pristinely clean. Anything is possible. Being willing to comit the resources is something else all together. On the other hand, if you are willing to accept the blocked view of the opaque plastic, just contact Longwood Gardens for information on where they obtained the commercially available materials they used. I'm sure it would be much more reasonable than my solution, even if it's not completely invisible! -- The information offered in this post is offered in the spirit of trying to help. This is in no way a claim to be an authority of any kind on any subject. |
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