Building a DIY Pond Filter

[MitchM]

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Being the UV naturally always goes at the end return to the pond and this is gravity fed, can the UV go before the 55 gallon drum or do you think being it's 2" going back to the pond, it will easily gravity feed through the UV at the end ???

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If you place the UV before the mechanical filtration, won't that create problems of lower UV light penetration, requiring a lower than spec flow rate plus more frequent quartz sleeve cleaning?
I would try to supply the UV with filtered water.

 

[barryian]

If you place the UV before the mechanical filtration, won't that create problems of lower UV light penetration, requiring a lower than spec flow rate plus more frequent quartz sleeve cleaning?
I would try to supply the UV with filtered water.

Hi Mitch - You're referring to the one I'm building for the friend. Yes, you're right. I was concerned that being it's gravity fed, the 2" UV inlet and outlet might hold the water back from flowing strong enough. I'll have a ball valve on the input just in case. When I thought about it, it was ridiculous as this is a costly UV I got for her and would defeat the purpose if it wasn't at the end.

 

[barryian]

I hear ya! I have that off and on, more so this year for some reason. I have zero algae as my phosphates are nil and I could use plants like I had years ago but when I rebuilt in 2012, I made it dedicated koi without shelves. Then I'll backwash and hose the savio filter and it clears. Should have made shelves. Koi are too big to even float hyacinth in baskets anymore as they pull them out and make a mess. Life's a bi_ch, hey! Should be the worst of our problems. I'd have to say, after defining the fines, the Alpha One doesn't remove it all.

Hey C Guy - Here are some pics. The koi are 4 feet down while I was standing there so the clarity isn't great. Also, there's a slight cloud in the water ....

 

[MitchM]

Don’t go vertically. I don’t remember the problem but it breaks them somehow.

The orientation of a UV clarifier depends on the design.
I have a Lifeguard UV unit that is designed to operate vertically and a Laguna unit that is designed to operate horizontally.

 

[barryian]

The orientation of a UV clarifier depends on the design.
I have a Lifeguard UV unit that is designed to operate vertically and a Laguna unit that is designed to operate horizontally.

The Aqua 57W uv say either vertically or horizontally. On a pressure filter, it would be fine either way such as mine. On the gravity one I'm doing for a friend, I'd be afraid vertically it might not fill up. We'll see I guess once finished....