newbie looking for filter backwash disposal solutions

[psudds]

( Previously (mistakenly) posted in the Introductions subforum)

Hi everyone,

I and my wife are in the process of installing a formal fish/garden pond right now, with the help of a local contractor. Forms are going up as I write this, but the next big step is trenching and running plumbing, electric, waste lines etc.

We hope to be able to use the nutrient rich effluent from the filter rinsing process to irrigate roses, trees, and herb garden. The trouble is by our best calculations, the filter's rinsing process will produce about 200 to 450 gallons of waste water in about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Obviously, I can't exclusively rely on watering my little plants with a garden hose to dispose of all that yummy water, I'd be blasting a jet of water that bould blast my basil into the next county. We need some system that will allow both gentle watering and a high volume flow.

General suggestions are welcomed, but I'm really looking for anyone who has direct firsthand knowledge of how to accomplish this.

Here are the particulars of our (almost fully) planned system, for those who love/require the details:

Water Volume of System: approx. 2200 gal. US
Pump: Sequence Primer 8100 (8100 nominal GPH)
Filter: Aqua Ultraviolet Ultima 4000 (for ponds 2000 - 4000 gallons)
Fish Load: Light; Probably 10 - 20 inexpensive goldfish that will likely grow to no more than five inches (the bigger they get the fewer there will be)
Plant load: Medium(?) we expect eventually to have about 40-50% surface coverage with lilies and some submerged plants as well. There will also be deciduous plantings neatby that we expect to shed into the water.
Household wastewater is handled by a septic tank, no sewer.
Groundwater/runoff flows to nearby lake (Clear Lake, CA) which already has algal issues.
Landscape is pretty sloped, varying from 10 to 30 degrees (house is downhill from back yard, where most of the planting/irrigating will be).
Plantings to be irrigated are spread over a 75' x 35' area, with two small concentrated herb/vegetable garden areas.

200 to 450 gallons of waste water seemes like a lot to me, especially if it has to be dealt with in such a short time, but I'm pretty sure this is accurate. The filter's backwash/rinse process is described in it's instructional video as "backwash for 30 seconds, rinse for 30 sec, backwash for 30 seconds, rinse for 30 sec, backwash for 30 seconds, rinse until clear." Each rinse stage produces waste water to be dealt with, or 30 seconds, plus 30 seconds, plus (?) seconds. I estimated 30 to 120 seconds for the final rinse, so 90 to 180 seconds. Since the backwash and rinse process relys on turbulence to stir up the filter media and a swift rinse while the organic matter is still in suspension (before it's all settled out again) I presume the pump flow can't be necked down, so those rinses are running at 8100 GPH (2.25 Gal/Sec) for 90 to 180 seconds. Thus 202.5 to 405 gallons in three thirty second (or more) bursts. (even if I used a pump half this size, I'd still be generating over a gallon per second of waste water)

I double checked this calculation with the filter sales rep's estimation that the rinse proces will use 1/8 to 1/5 of the system's full volume, or 275 to 440 gallons.


Help anyone?

 

[fishin4cars]

welcome back, LOL
On the bed filter, thanks very helpful.
Bead filters use raw pellets
Bead filter manufactures just take these inexpensive pellets and load them into a filter body as is. The wax based plastic and smooth shape encourages clumping which is an inherent problem in bead filters. Some bead filter owners have been forced to backwash every day to prevent this clumping. When the beads stick together, water and waste pass around the large mass making much of the beads surface inaccessible. This allows untreated ammonia and solids to pass right through and return to the pond.
Ultima Media is specifically designed to support aquatic life
Using non wax based plastic Aqua Ultraviolet extrudes a patented media with the highest surface area of any on the market. The small tubular design has ridges on the outside and a cross section on the inside increasing bio surface area and preventing clumping. The ridged design helps to create a dense bed for superior trapping of solids that is easily separated during the backwash.
How can the Ultima II filters be smaller than bead filters and handle more fish
The Ultima II patented media design has 800 cubic feet of surface area per square foot. This is the highest surface area of any product on the market. The high surface area means less volume of media is needed so the filter itself can be smaller.

On the ultima II does it say it needs backwashing every week? I've had a couple of people mention going with a bead filter for the set-up I'm building. I don't like the idea of bacteria growth in a fully inclosed system. what if the power goes off for even a few ours? Will you be sitting there waiting to backflush when it comes back on? That water would be great plant water but would be terrible for the fish.
As for your backwash water issue. If you can backflush and save the water and then use a smaller pump to a irrigation system I think it it's very possible to recycle the water for plants.
When you get a chance, update your profile. If you can tell a zone, state, are region it helps answer some questions, size pond and type also helps to give everyone a idea what's going on. Sounds like a nice system going in. Oh and FYI, I have my issues why I don't like bead filtration, BUT MANY good koi hobbist use them, they can't be that bad and the Ultima II does come highly recommended.