Clear water for feature

[jnorris235]

I have a small pond, diam 3m, depth 0.2m. Every year we have newts which obviously i dont mind. I am happy with the water quality and clarity for a pond. However...In the middle is a 2m tree scultpure made of copper pipes from 20mm down to 1mm where the water emerges onto copper leaves and drip off. It came with an Oase pump. After many years water wont go through the pipes any more. I have managed to clean out the pipes by dunking it upside down in a wheelie bin and a Henry has sucked a descaler/citric acid solution through it for 12hrs. I assume it got clogged up with bits of grit, algae, duckwood, bits of dead leaves etc.
My question is how to ensure only clean clear water is pumped through the tree In future.
The pump has a stainless steel grill/filter. I have used big sponge blocks around it. I even tried a UV light next to the pump. Whatever I do is not enough. Murky water still gets pumped into the tree.
I wouldnt mind if the whole pond was clear water. Each year I empty it and sweep out the mud and leaves. But I would like the tree to work again.
I hope that’s enough information and if anyone can give me a couple of options I’d be extremely grateful! Thanks for reading this far.

 

[Mmathis]

Pictures would be a big help! Pictures of the pump, of the tubing, of the tree sculpture....

What diameter is the copper tubing?

....and what are a wheelie bin and a Henry?

Are there any fish in the pond, or is it just a water feature?

 

[Lisak1]

@Mmathis covered all my questions! My first thought is a sponge filter of some type to catch the debris, but pictures will definitely help!

 

[Mmathis]

@Lisak1 OP has posts going back to 2012. I scanned through those, but not enough info, and pics were too distant. Maybe you can see something I missed.

 

[brokensword]

I have a small pond, diam 3m, depth 0.2m. Every year we have newts which obviously i dont mind. I am happy with the water quality and clarity for a pond. However...In the middle is a 2m tree scultpure made of copper pipes from 20mm down to 1mm where the water emerges onto copper leaves and drip off. It came with an Oase pump. After many years water wont go through the pipes any more. I have managed to clean out the pipes by dunking it upside down in a wheelie bin and a Henry has sucked a descaler/citric acid solution through it for 12hrs. I assume it got clogged up with bits of grit, algae, duckwood, bits of dead leaves etc.
My question is how to ensure only clean clear water is pumped through the tree In future.
The pump has a stainless steel grill/filter. I have used big sponge blocks around it. I even tried a UV light next to the pump. Whatever I do is not enough. Murky water still gets pumped into the tree.
I wouldnt mind if the whole pond was clear water. Each year I empty it and sweep out the mud and leaves. But I would like the tree to work again.
I hope that’s enough information and if anyone can give me a couple of options I’d be extremely grateful! Thanks for reading this far.

Well, you could create the type of filter I use as a prefilter for my bog; it's from the aquarium trade, called a 'sock filter'. In essence, filter your water before sending it to your tree by pumping it through a small mesh bag. If you google 'sock filter' you'll get the idea. I upsized the whole concept and wound up with a bag that is approximately 24" in diameter, and 30" deep. The sock resides inside a plastic chickenwire cylinder which is then also housed by a plastic 55 gallon drum. The idea here is to send the water into the sock. It will pour through the fine mesh and catch various size particles (you determine what size by using a particular size mesh; in my case, I experimented with 80 to 400 micron nylon mesh and settled in on 300 as a base). The sock is inside the drum because when the sock gets clogged (as it's supposed to) then the water rises and overflows. The drum has a inlet at the top for a pipe to pour into the sock while having an outlet that is 2x the size of the inlet. You'd need a pump to push the water into the drum, then one to feed the copper tree. I suggest this type because it gives you an immense amount of filtering capacity as opposed to a more normal pad whose square inch coverage is a fraction of the enlarged sock filter.

Just an idea. Of course, the easy answer is to just filter the water before it enters the tree. The above is just one way to do that with the caveat of choosing whichever micron size particle you want to filter out.

 

[Lisak1]

OP has posts going back to 2012.

I THOUGHT this copper tree sounded familiar!

Yeah - the trick will be keeping the sediment from getting into those tubes, which might be tough. Even the finest stuff will clog those lines eventually. Maybe you'll have to resign yourself to doing the best you can to filter, but then just realize you'll need to blow it out every now and again.

I have a small scale same situation - my frog spitter in my patio pond likes to clog up on me. Every few weeks I have to take it out and blow air up his buuuuuuuu... behind! My neighbor caught me doing it one time and said "well. Now I've about seen EVERYTHING!"

 

[DenniMac]

Well, you could create the type of filter I use as a prefilter for my bog; it's from the aquarium trade, called a 'sock filter'. In essence, filter your water before sending it to your tree by pumping it through a small mesh bag. If you google 'sock filter' you'll get the idea. I upsized the whole concept and wound up with a bag that is approximately 24" in diameter, and 30" deep. The sock resides inside a plastic chickenwire cylinder which is then also housed by a plastic 55 gallon drum. The idea here is to send the water into the sock. It will pour through the fine mesh and catch various size particles (you determine what size by using a particular size mesh; in my case, I experimented with 80 to 400 micron nylon mesh and settled in on 300 as a base). The sock is inside the drum because when the sock gets clogged (as it's supposed to) then the water rises and overflows. The drum has a inlet at the top for a pipe to pour into the sock while having an outlet that is 2x the size of the inlet. You'd need a pump to push the water into the drum, then one to feed the copper tree. I suggest this type because it gives you an immense amount of filtering capacity as opposed to a more normal pad whose square inch coverage is a fraction of the enlarged sock filter.

Just an idea. Of course, the easy answer is to just filter the water before it enters the tree. The above is just one way to do that with the caveat of choosing whichever micron size particle you want to filter out.

In a pinch once, I used panty hose over the tubing ends, in my aquarium. Its probably not going to be sufficient long term, but it might work until you find the right fix, to keep from having to do another cleaning first.

 

[jnorris235]

Pictures would be a big help! Pictures of the pump, of the tubing, of the tree sculpture....

What diameter is the copper tubing?

....and what are a wheelie bin and a Henry?

Are there any fish in the pond, or is it just a water feature?

Sorry thought I’d said all this. Pipe diam, newts (no fish). Henry is a wet/dry vaccuum cleaner that sucks or blows, wheelie bin is a large rubbish bin.

 

[jnorris235]

Pictures would be a big help! Pictures of the pump, of the tubing, of the tree sculpture....

What diameter is the copper tubing?

....and what are a wheelie bin and a Henry?

Are there any fish in the pond, or is it just a water feature?

The question is - best way to get clean water into the pump and then tree, then back into pond. Don’t need to have clear water throughout the whole pond. I guess its a basket filter?

 

[Lisak1]

A filter is definitely the answer... But like I said, even the finest debris will clog this over time, so you'd need something that will remove fines.

 

[jnorris235]

In a pinch once, I used panty hose over the tubing ends, in my aquarium. Its probably not going to be sufficient long term, but it might work until you find the right fix, to keep from having to do another cleaning first.

Never worn any so must find a willing female....but between the pump and the three, great idea, thanks.