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Bottom Drains - Nice Article From a Website
Don't install bottom drains.
Why? 2 main reasons: 1. You have to cut a hole in the bottom of the rubber liner to fit the drain pipe. No matter how well you plan this and use the top of the line sealants, it will leak. Maybe not in the first 2-3 years, but no matter the claims of sealants, they expand and shrink as the temperature changes and do not change exactly at the same rate as the rubber liner. Over time this connection fails. If you give an extra tightening turn or two to make the seal tighter you are actually pushing the sealant completely out of the space and make the lifespan of the seal weaker. Once you get a leak in the bottom of the pond then there is a whole list of bad things that can happen. Why cut a hole in a perfectly good liner that will last for 25 years or more? 2. The holes in the bottom drain cover plate get clogged up with leaves and debris. Let's say that the wind blows a plastic bag into your pond and then the bag eventually falls to the bottom and obstructs the drain. Now your water pump is sucking into a vacuum and the pump will burn out. You can avoid this by installing 2 bottom drains to divert any negative pressure from creating a vacuum, but now you have 2 potential places for a leak. Also God forbid, but let's say a child is wading in the pond and slips into the deep end where the drain is. If his bare leg comes up to the drain it can create a very tight holding force and actually prevent him from coming up for air. The suction pressure is so great that even a strong man would need to struggle to break loose. We have found that for residential installations the Savio skimmer http://www.pondkoi.com/pond_products_pond_skimmers.htm works best. As a matter of fact we won't even offer anything other than that for sale on our website because we don't want anyone to use inferior products. We have tested virtually every skimmer on the market and we are abosultely convinced that the Savio is the best unit available. It does not need a bottom drain. You can visit your pond once a week and scoop out anything that has settled to the bottom and be done with it in 5 minutes or less. |
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