Barrel Filter & my not so DIY guy

[AngelaM]

I am so thankful my hubby helped me put this barrel filter together and let your suggestions it is working fantastic to clean up my pond. However it was a lot of trial and error being our first DIY filter. I love everything about it except as you can see in the photo, the 2” hose running from the barrel to my water fall is very heavy. If I lay the hose on the ground there isn’t enough pressure to push it to the falls. This hose has to have a straight path. I’d like to keep the barrel hidden but it’s taller than my waterfall. This is why I have it hidden behind the tree. My hubby “fixed” the solution by propping a metal chair under the hose for now BUT that eye sore is NOT staying like this! Can anyone think of a solution?! I’m at a total loss on how to make this look more natural. I feel like our red neck engineering is showing through every time I head out to my pond. Has anyone had any luck partially burying their barrel? I don’t know if it’s even a possibility.

 

[HomerJay]

Is there any way to move it closer to the pond and put a section of fence in front of it and plant some tall flowers or bushes in front of the fence? You'll have less distance to travel for the water as well, so you might have more pressure.

 

[Big Red Comet]

Love your hubby's can-do spirit! Oh yeah, the filter can certainly be placed below ground (but don't bury it, keep it accessible so you can monitor the barrel for deterioration and leaking. I made a hole for my filter and lined it with bricks to keep the dirt from washing back in.

Hopefully that's enough to fix the problem, otherwise your pump might be undersized. What is # gallons for pond, size of pump (gallons per hour), height the water is being pumped (from where pump is located to top of barrel) + length of hose? There are charts which help you determine what size of pump you need to turn over the water in your pond (1-2 x per hour is whats generally recommended).

 

[Nevermore44]

DIY Is the best!

Since the filter is sealed, it’s relying on the pump completely to get water into the filter, push it through your media/pads/etc and then push it back out to the waterfall. As reccomened, I would think it would be best to move the filter right up behind the waterfall, make a small circle pit of sorts to lower the barrel down from the line of sight over the top of the falls. Since it’s sealed… you can lower it as much as you want .. As long as you can keep an eye on leaks. Then plant the surrounding area to mask off the whole backside. This would be reducing the head loss by removing the length of pipe to and from the filter. Maybe your pump could handle it.

If you really want to keep the filter at a distance from the falls, you could look into burrying the pipes under your sod… though the tree roots will cause problems. You can use an Fercno adapter and covert to ridged PVC for the run… or for more $$ keep using the flexible PVC like you are using now. The ridged will cause more loss though. This route will guarantee you getting a stronger pump since you are just lengthening the setup.

 

[AngelaM]

Love your hubby's can-do spirit! Oh yeah, the filter can certainly be placed below ground (but don't bury it, keep it accessible so you can monitor the barrel for deterioration and leaking. I made a hole for my filter and lined it with bricks to keep the dirt from washing back in.

Hopefully that's enough to fix the problem, otherwise your pump might be undersized. What is # gallons for pond, size of pump (gallons per hour), height the water is being pumped (from where pump is located to top of barrel) + length of hose? There are charts which help you determine what size of pump you need to turn over the water in your pond (1-2 x per hour is whats generally recommended).

Thanks! I’m thinking I’ll bury about half of the barrel. My pond is 2200 gallons and my pump is rated for 4800 gph but when I put the pump in my skimmer box I ran a 90 degree elbow coming out of the skimmer. I had to in order to bury the hose. Now the water flow going in at the barrel is only about 1800 gph. So that 90 degree elbow and 16 feet of hose cut my flow dramatically.

 

[AngelaM]

Is there any way to move it closer to the pond and put a section of fence in front of it and plant some tall flowers or bushes in front of the fence? You'll have less distance to travel for the water as well, so you might have more pressure.

So you’re acting the fence would basically support the weight of the hose? This is a great option! Thank you for the idea!

 

[AngelaM]

DIY Is the best!

Since the filter is sealed, it’s relying on the pump completely to get water into the filter, push it through your media/pads/etc and then push it back out to the waterfall. As reccomened, I would think it would be best to move the filter right up behind the waterfall, make a small circle pit of sorts to lower the barrel down from the line of sight over the top of the falls. Since it’s sealed… you can lower it as much as you want .. As long as you can keep an eye on leaks. Then plant the surrounding area to mask off the whole backside. This would be reducing the head loss by removing the length of pipe to and from the filter. Maybe your pump could handle it.

If you really want to keep the filter at a distance from the falls, you could look into burrying the pipes under your sod… though the tree roots will cause problems. You can use an Fercno adapter and covert to ridged PVC for the run… or for more $$ keep using the flexible PVC like you are using now. The ridged will cause more loss though. This route will guarantee you getting a stronger pump since you are just lengthening the setup.

Sounds like a plan. My filter has an inlet on the bottom where water flows from the pump. It has two outlets near the top. One goes to the falls, the other I’m going to cap off. I only added it because I had way too much pressure at first. The second outlet kept my barrel from overfilling. Since I put my pump in the skimmer box and added a 90 degree elbow, I know longer need that second outlet because the water pressure has decreased a lot. I also have a hose spigot on the bottom of the barrel for flushing crud off of the bottom but I’d still like to add a bottom drain. The spigot doesn’t get everything off of the bottom because it’s not low enough. I’m just wonder how would I clean out the barrel once it’s buried. I can take the kid off and remove my media pads to wash them but in order to empty the barrel there would be 55 gallons of water filling the hole it’s buried it. Unless maybe I run a piece of hose from the spigot away from the pond when I drain it? ‍ I think I just answered my own question. Does this sound doable?

 

[Nevermore44]

Any way to swap your 90 elbow with two 45s?

To flush the bottom I would think your idea to just run a hose away to a lower elevation would work fine.... just using fresh water from the tap to stir up and flush as much muck out of the bottom as possible.

If you move it closer, you may get too much flow again and need to use that second output.... but at that point you could just run it to the waterfall next to the other one without issue

 

[poconojoe]

I would move it closer, plant some bushes around it. Or a short section of natural wooden 4 foot high fence in front of it. Or the fence can completely surround the filter area.

 

[Tula]

Is the barrel pressurized ? If it isn't, then it might be similar to the Savio Living Pond Filter, which relies on gravity. If that is the case, then you might not be able to bury it, it would need to be higher than the pond, so the water flows by gravity back to to the pond.

I'll be interested to follow along, this is a great DIY filter build

 

[addy1]

I would move it closer, cover with plants, fencing, rocks.

 

[AngelaM]

Is the barrel pressurized ? If it isn't, then it might be similar to the Savio Living Pond Filter, which relies on gravity. If that is the case, then you might not be able to bury it, it would need to be higher than the pond, so the water flows by gravity back to to the pond.

I'll be interested to follow along, this is a great DIY filter build

That is my concern also. I’m not sure if I know the difference between pressurized and gravity fed. The pump in the skimmer box pumps the water into the bottom of the barrel. The barrel fills until it overflows into a hose that runs to the waterfall. So I’m definitely fighting gravity with that hose that runs to my falls. The hose has to stay straight, I cannot lay it on the ground. There isn’t enough pressure to pump water to the falls if the hose isn’t straight.

 

[mrsclem]

AngelaM- a pressurized filter is a sealed system vs gravity fed which has outflow above the pond level. I see you have a lid on your barrel but don't know how tight it is sealed. If sealed completely, you could bury the filter. My ponds are raised with gravity fed filters so my filters are visible. I would move it closer and go with the fence and plant theme.

 

[Lisak1]

Necessity is the mother of invention! I love the DIY spirit - you'll figure it out and be so proud of yourself and your husband once you do!

 

[Nevermore44]

As a follow up to what mrsclem posts....

Just think of a gravity fed system like a water tower. The pumps just have to push water to the filter.... and then gravity just pulls it down the return lines back to your pond. They therefore don’t need as strong pumps as a sealed system. But you they have to have the top of your barrel above the top of your pond.

A sealed system ... where air can’t get in or out can be below your pond level because they rely on your pump to push water from the start to the end. You just think of your sealed filter as an oversized part of your hose.... nothing more.