Diy pump vault - heavy duty bucket?

[rrasco]

I was thinking of using a heavy duty bucket as a DIY pump vault. Something better than a standard lowes/hd bucket. It would be for a bog so I can use it to backwash. I'm currently cleaning out my pea gravel only bog and I never want to do this again so I'm trying to come up with an economical way of building something similar to the aquascape snorkel. Main concern of course would be the bucket failing, hence why I was thinking a heavy duty bucket.

 

[YShahar]

Hi @rrasco,

I went with a heavy duty garden garbage pail for a pump fault in my intake bay, and so far it's held up OK. The main thing is that it needs to be sturdy enough not to cave in from the weight of rocks around the sides. Also, it needs to be tall enough to reach all the way to the bottom of your bog, so you may need to nest a few buckets one within the other (with the bottoms cut out). One mistake I made with my garbage-can/pump vault is that it's a bit too short, such that I have to remove a lot of gravel to dig down to the lid. When I eventually replace it, I'll go with something about 20 cm taller.

For my bog, I found a really big (1.14 meter tall) olive barrel similar to this one via Facebook marketplace:

חבית 200 ליטר

www.huberman.co.il

You may be able to find something like this in your area. These are very heavy-duty and come in different sizes.

Good luck with your project!

 

[GBBUDD]

corrugated plastic pipe . "cmp " is your best bet it absolutely will not fail. they can get pricey the bigger you get. this is 24"

 

[rrasco]

Hi @rrasco,

I went with a heavy duty garden garbage pail for a pump fault in my intake bay, and so far it's held up OK. The main thing is that it needs to be sturdy enough not to cave in from the weight of rocks around the sides. Also, it needs to be tall enough to reach all the way to the bottom of your bog, so you may need to nest a few buckets one within the other (with the bottoms cut out). One mistake I made with my garbage-can/pump vault is that it's a bit too short, such that I have to remove a lot of gravel to dig down to the lid. When I eventually replace it, I'll go with something about 20 cm taller.

For my bog, I found a really big (1.14 meter tall) olive barrel similar to this one via Facebook marketplace:

חבית 200 ליטר

www.huberman.co.il

You may be able to find something like this in your area. These are very heavy-duty and come in different sizes.

Good luck with your project!

My bog is not very deep so something about 15-18" should work. I've been considering something beefed up like a yeti bucket. Gonna scour the marketplace for some smaller food grade barrels like you mentioned.

 

[rrasco]

corrugated plastic pipe . "cmp " is your best bet it absolutely will not fail. they can get pricey the bigger you get. this is 24"View attachment 155888

I really want to go this route but with a $250 drain pipe I might as well buy a commercial vault.

 

[rrasco]

I found some 20 gallon food grade barrels that look like the dimensions would work great. Tall enough I can chop down to size.

 

[GBBUDD]

blue usually means ok for potable water, so the plastic leaching won't be an issue.

heck i'd grab a couple extras and build a prefilter or a mechanical filter to go with the bog

 

[rrasco]

blue usually means ok for potable water, so the plastic leaching won't be an issue.

heck i'd grab a couple extras and build a prefilter or a mechanical filter to go with the bog

I already have a few 55g rain barrels sitting around I keep for water changes on my reef systems and whatever else I could use for that...but yeah I was already planning on buying a few, they're only $20. And yes they're food grade.

 

[GBBUDD]

i'd contemplate making a cistern with them.

 

[rrasco]

What's the purpose of a cistern in a pond?

 

[GBBUDD]

over flow goes to cistern . you draw water from the cistern with the pump. as water evaporates the pond level stays constant. it's the cistern that will rise and fall.
look at my showcase if you want to know more'

 

[rrasco]

Sounds like a settlement chamber? And like a sump.

 

[Lisak1]

We were able to buy a scrap piece of corrugated plastic pipe from a local plumbing contractor that does commercial work - they were happy to get rid of it and we were happy to get it.

 

[rrasco]

We were able to buy a scrap piece of corrugated plastic pipe from a local plumbing contractor that does commercial work - they were happy to get rid of it and we were happy to get it.

That's a good tip. I think I'm still leaning towards the barrel though. It's perfect. And the same place sells plastic pallets I'm going to use in place of aquablocks.

 

[rrasco]

And just in case anyone was wondering, this is the pond I am working with. I originally built it back in 2015 (longer than I thought!) and am giving it a massive facelift.

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