Anybody know how to make an inexpensive pre-filter for a pump? What if I
took a peice of pvc pipe and drilled some holes in it and wrapped foam
around it? I don't want to pay $150 for a filter, especially since I
want my veggie pond to get the nutrients. I just want to keep out things
like mud, acorns etc.

Thanks
Mike

In article ,
Michael Shaffer wrote:

Anybody know how to make an inexpensive pre-filter for a pump? What if I
took a peice of pvc pipe and drilled some holes in it and wrapped foam
around it?

with a 3600GPH pump that will last about a day.

A 5 gallon bucket with pea gravel will work quite well and is very cheap.

jay
Wed, Jun 18, 2003




I don't want to pay $150 for a filter, especially since I
want my veggie pond to get the nutrients. I just want to keep out things
like mud, acorns etc.

Thanks
Mike


--

Legend insists that as he finished his abject...
Galileo muttered under his breath: "Nevertheless, it does move."

cool thanks, what do should I use to keep the gravel from getting in the
pump? Some kind of screen?

Go Fig wrote:
In article ,
Michael Shaffer wrote:


Anybody know how to make an inexpensive pre-filter for a pump? What if I
took a peice of pvc pipe and drilled some holes in it and wrapped foam
around it?


with a 3600GPH pump that will last about a day.

A 5 gallon bucket with pea gravel will work quite well and is very cheap.

jay
Wed, Jun 18, 2003




I don't want to pay $150 for a filter, especially since I

want my veggie pond to get the nutrients. I just want to keep out things
like mud, acorns etc.

Thanks
Mike

On Wed, 18 Jun 2003 15:32:32 GMT, Michael Shaffer
wrote:

Anybody know how to make an inexpensive pre-filter for a pump? What if I
took a peice of pvc pipe and drilled some holes in it and wrapped foam
around it? I don't want to pay $150 for a filter, especially since I
want my veggie pond to get the nutrients. I just want to keep out things
like mud, acorns etc.

Thanks
Mike


Mike;
Take a look at this page for ideas:

http://www.mvwgs.org/filter.htm

I built one of these and it works great. I used pea gravel that I
bought at Lowes instead of Lava rock.

I have done the pvc with holes and foam. I modified it when the device
needed cleaning every day or two in July. A more satisfactory solution was
to replace the foam with plastic needlepoint canvas found at my local craft
store. Is screens out particles bigger than a millimeter or so ( ~ 1/8"),
but the maintenance needed is much less.

"Dilon earl" wrote in message
s.com...
On Wed, 18 Jun 2003 15:32:32 GMT, Michael Shaffer
wrote:

Anybody know how to make an inexpensive pre-filter for a pump? What if I
took a peice of pvc pipe and drilled some holes in it and wrapped foam
around it? I don't want to pay $150 for a filter, especially since I
want my veggie pond to get the nutrients. I just want to keep out things
like mud, acorns etc.

Thanks
Mike


Mike;
Take a look at this page for ideas:

http://www.mvwgs.org/filter.htm

I built one of these and it works great. I used pea gravel that I
bought at Lowes instead of Lava rock.

Mike,

My BIL has made a nice prefilter using 2 of the mesh type plant baskets,
round ones, and cutting out a hole in the bottom of each for a piece of pipe
to go through. The baskets are connected with twist ties open top to open
top. The pipe that goes through has a lot of holes about 1/4 inch diameter
and a cap on the end. The other end is fitted with an appropriate fitting
for the pump. I modified mine, because the suction was enough to collapse
the baskets once they were covered with debris, by adding bioballs as
internal fill. Works great.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"Michael Shaffer" wrote in message
...
Anybody know how to make an inexpensive pre-filter for a pump? What if I
took a peice of pvc pipe and drilled some holes in it and wrapped foam
around it? I don't want to pay $150 for a filter, especially since I
want my veggie pond to get the nutrients. I just want to keep out things
like mud, acorns etc.

Thanks
Mike

Thanks, very helpful.

Dilon earl wrote:
On Wed, 18 Jun 2003 15:32:32 GMT, Michael Shaffer
wrote:


Anybody know how to make an inexpensive pre-filter for a pump? What if I
took a peice of pvc pipe and drilled some holes in it and wrapped foam
around it? I don't want to pay $150 for a filter, especially since I
want my veggie pond to get the nutrients. I just want to keep out things
like mud, acorns etc.

Thanks
Mike



Mike;
Take a look at this page for ideas:

http://www.mvwgs.org/filter.htm

I built one of these and it works great. I used pea gravel that I
bought at Lowes instead of Lava rock.

Michael, check out this web site http://www.mvwgs.org/filter.htm . I was
looking through these posts to see if I could find out who posted it to
thank them. I made this filter just Saturday 6/21/03 and it took about 2
hours including the trip to Loews and cost just less than $20. I still have
not figured out who to thank but seeing your inquiry and replying may be my
good deed for the day.

It will take a while until I determine how effective the filter is but I
made sure all the filter pieces fit very snugly together to eliminate the
possibility of accidental bypass or channeling. I have been in the filter
business in the past and this design looks like it should be quite
effective. If anyone else reading this has any long-term experience with
this, please advise your level of satisfaction.

Wait a minute....I just noticed the subject line of "3600gph pump". My pump
is only putting out 500 gph so this may not apply. For $20 bucks, I'd still
try it if I were you and if it got dirty more often than you want you could
make multiple units and put them in series or parallel to extend the
cleaning cycle.

And whomever posted it for me to see - Thank You!
BK

"RichToyBox" wrote in message
news:g%NIa.1056964$Zo.258152@sccrnsc03...
Mike,

My BIL has made a nice prefilter using 2 of the mesh type plant baskets,
round ones, and cutting out a hole in the bottom of each for a piece of
pipe
to go through. The baskets are connected with twist ties open top to open
top. The pipe that goes through has a lot of holes about 1/4 inch
diameter
and a cap on the end. The other end is fitted with an appropriate fitting
for the pump. I modified mine, because the suction was enough to collapse
the baskets once they were covered with debris, by adding bioballs as
internal fill. Works great.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"Michael Shaffer" wrote in message
...
Anybody know how to make an inexpensive pre-filter for a pump? What if I
took a peice of pvc pipe and drilled some holes in it and wrapped foam
around it? I don't want to pay $150 for a filter, especially since I
want my veggie pond to get the nutrients. I just want to keep out things
like mud, acorns etc.

Thanks
Mike

IMO, a pump that size ought to be in an-out-of-the-pond filter, otherwise I
think your best bet of the styles of in-pond-pre-filters is to make yours
bigger. I believe K30 uses a laundry basket with lava rock, Or use the
largest mesh baskets zip tied together, like www.aqua-mart.com carries.
~ jan

See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

My 3600/gph pump pulls from a 70 gal stock tank that acts like a
settling tank. It has two 4" pipes coming into the bottom of the
tank. I got the framing material for making window screens and made
four 'screens' and screwed them together to form a four sided box
approximately 12"W x 18"L x 18"H. This sits over the two inlet pipes
and traps any debris before the pump. I have a 2x8 board on it to
weight it down and hold it in place. There are a lot of trees around
so I have to clean it out about once a week. Now that we are past the
cottonwood and maple seed time, I will only have to do it every couple
of weeks. This setup catches anything larger than 1/16".

/==========================\ - stock tank
/ \
| ------------------ |
| | screen box | |
| | __ __ | |
| | ( ) ( ) | |
| | (__) (__) | |
| | | | | |
| | 4" inlet pipes | |
| ------------------ |
\ /
\===========| |============/
| | - to pump

Michael Shaffer wrote in message ...
Anybody know how to make an inexpensive pre-filter for a pump? What if I
took a peice of pvc pipe and drilled some holes in it and wrapped foam
around it? I don't want to pay $150 for a filter, especially since I
want my veggie pond to get the nutrients. I just want to keep out things
like mud, acorns etc.

Thanks
Mike

Cleveland Ponder wrote:
My 3600/gph pump pulls from a 70 gal stock tank that acts like a
settling tank. It has two 4" pipes coming into the bottom of the
tank ... and made
four 'screens' and screwed them together to form a four sided box
approximately 12"W x 18"L x 18"H. This sits over the two inlet pipes
and traps any debris before the pump. I have a 2x8 board on it to
weight it down and hold it in place ...
This setup catches anything larger than 1/16".

/==========================\ - stock tank
/ \
| ------------------ |
| | screen box | |
| | __ __ | |
| | ( ) ( ) | |
| | (__) (__) | |
| | | | | |
| | 4" inlet pipes | |
| ------------------ |
\ /
\===========| |============/
| | - to pump

Is this diagram looking at the stock tank from the top? Do the inlet
pipes come into the stock tank directly from the pond? from a bottom
drain? You said a four sided box: with holes for the pipes? Is this
gravity fed from the pond? is stock tank sunk into the ground?

Sorry so many ???s This sounds intriguing so wanted to get more info.
Always looking for different adaptions I can make to our system to make
it more efficient, especially in the prefiltering or mechanical
filtering stage.
--
Kathy B
3500gal pond, 13 pond piggies
Oregon, Zone 6