Hi Guys, I, like many, have been reading posts from all the experienced folks for over a year. Thanks so much for having this forum! I’m still in design phase (dream phase?) for my pond. I’m the type that designs and redesigns the crap out of everything before I even break ground. I’m looking for feedback on my current design, especially with regard to how to manage overflow. It will be a large pond. I want to have to parallel filtration systems, one running through a bog wetland filter, and the second through a suction grid and waterfall filter. The idea is that if one pump fails or needs maintenance, I still have some filtration to fall back on. The grade of the site is high at the right hand side (near driveway and entrance to barn road) and it falls off pretty quickly to fairy flat where the main pond will be. I plan on building the bog at the high side, then having steps down the slope to where the rain exchange is at the base of the bog. The streams form a descending circuit from bog to waterfall to pond to negative edge to rain exchange and then pumped back up to bog. The overflow as currently drawn runs off to the left toward the rear of the space that’s a bit downhill from the pond site. What I can’t quite wrap my head around is how do I make the overflow work for excess water in the system (here in NE we recently have had some specular downpours that may overwhelm the rain exchange), without having everything just dump over the negative edge instead? Obviously gravity… but can you practically put the overflow slightly above target water level and still have water go that way instead of flood the intake bay and rain exchange? I can’t divert water away from the rain exchange because that direction is right into our main garden/lawn and slightly uphill at that point. Location is near full sun, but surrounded by trees (other side of barn road is deciduous forest).
Ultimate plan for pond is koi and/or goldfish (loving those Shubunkins some of you have). It was -14F here for a couple days last Feb, so the deep round part of the pond will be absolutely necessary. I wish I could figure out a way to keep one of the filters running all winter, but I think it’s just too cold here and I’d get ice dams that would create a disaster.
Keys to the plan: circled numbers are depth. Numbers with arrows are distance between outer edges of pond. There’s about a 4 foot drop between bog and pond down the slope of the right hand side. Little Box over the negative edge stream is small bridge/walkway (forgot to label it).
Ultimate plan for pond is koi and/or goldfish (loving those Shubunkins some of you have). It was -14F here for a couple days last Feb, so the deep round part of the pond will be absolutely necessary. I wish I could figure out a way to keep one of the filters running all winter, but I think it’s just too cold here and I’d get ice dams that would create a disaster.
Keys to the plan: circled numbers are depth. Numbers with arrows are distance between outer edges of pond. There’s about a 4 foot drop between bog and pond down the slope of the right hand side. Little Box over the negative edge stream is small bridge/walkway (forgot to label it).