DIY Intake Bay

[MikeinBrooklyn]

Hi Guys, I saw some posts with interest in intake bays and thought I would share my idea. My garden pond is roughly 8' x 18' and 3' at the deepest, about 1500 gallons (I didn't count). I'm using a 3' deep by 4' wide by 6' long intake bay. At the mouth of the bay are larger shelved stones that create velocity into the bay and the water level is the same as the pond level. I dug a mini trench, roughly 5" by 5", lengthwise, along the bottom of my bay. I used upside down milk crates instead of the commercial brand "boxes" over the 4", roughly 4' long, PVC drain pipe I installed in my mini trench, double stacked, side by side. The 4' pipe connects to a 27 gallon food grade PVC shipping barrel through use of a bulkhead fitting. Think "dry well". Over the entire sides and surface of the milk crates, and around my drum, I filled with 3" river stone. For about the last 3-4 inches of fill, I used 3/4 smooth stone. I have about 8-10" of free flowing water over all my fill. The top of the drum was left accessible. In the drum is my 6000 GPH pump. I cover the top of the drum with its cover and a large flat stone. I probably could have added some sort of filter material at the bottom of my drum but solids don't reach the pump. On the input side, I used a 5' X 6' bog using a similar method. So far, so good. I only have about a 2' lift and there is no added strain on the pump with good flow. It works!

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome @MikeinBrooklyn to the GPF! We'd love to see pictures of your pond!

 

[MikeinBrooklyn]

Nice! Tell me more LisaK! I'm thinking of a new project, the seamless edge. I want to expand and the grade is right for me. Since we have started this endeavor, our pond has become a reptile hangout. I would rather send pictures when everything grows out. It's very boring right now. I can't wait to see the more mature plants come back.

 

[GBBUDD]

I'm a fan of the negative edge over the intake bay

 

[Lisak1]

Nice! Tell me more LisaK!

Tell you more about what @MikeinBrooklyn ? Are you a real person? That may sound like a strange question but we get some bot activity on the forum and your reply was a bit... well... bot-ish! (That may actually be a dumb question as I'm not sure bots can actually start posts, but my curiosity stands!)

Surely you have pictures of your build in progress? With a unique design, it's fun to see both us current pond owners and those who may just be starting or thinking of starting a build.

 

[j.w]

@MikeinBrooklyn

 

[david.james.ellis99]

Really appreciate your post. I am looking at doing the same thing except using plastic pallets instead of milk crates. I just wanted to understand how you did it. From what I am reading you have 8-10" of water above about 3-4" of 3" river rock. The river rock is sitting on milk crates which are on top of a 4' pvc pipe (I assume with various holes and slots cut into it). That pipe is fitted into a food grade drum which houses your pump and allows you to do a clean out. Am I correct in all this? i would love to see pictures of how yours turned out.

 

[GBBUDD]

If your going to create a wetland bog with a matrix / Milk crate area you'll want your pipes or /centipede to be the lowest point with the matrix blocks placed on level ground and stacked tightly together. I have taken that as far a plastic zip ties to keep the mass together as stone is placed. Then a 8" layer of 2" to 3" stone with a 4" to 6" layer of 1" and 3/4" to the final layer I used 3/4 and 3/8 river rock mixed together for a foot and you'll want a minimum 6 inch high sides above the estimated water line AGAIN AT A MINIMUM

 

[david.james.ellis99]

THANKS!

 

[KarenN]

Hi Guys, I saw some posts with interest in intake bays and thought I would share my idea. My garden pond is roughly 8' x 18' and 3' at the deepest, about 1500 gallons (I didn't count). I'm using a 3' deep by 4' wide by 6' long intake bay. At the mouth of the bay are larger shelved stones that create velocity into the bay and the water level is the same as the pond level. I dug a mini trench, roughly 5" by 5", lengthwise, along the bottom of my bay. I used upside down milk crates instead of the commercial brand "boxes" over the 4", roughly 4' long, PVC drain pipe I installed in my mini trench, double stacked, side by side. The 4' pipe connects to a 27 gallon food grade PVC shipping barrel through use of a bulkhead fitting. Think "dry well". Over the entire sides and surface of the milk crates, and around my drum, I filled with 3" river stone. For about the last 3-4 inches of fill, I used 3/4 smooth stone. I have about 8-10" of free flowing water over all my fill. The top of the drum was left accessible. In the drum is my 6000 GPH pump. I cover the top of the drum with its cover and a large flat stone. I probably could have added some sort of filter material at the bottom of my drum but solids don't reach the pump. On the input side, I used a 5' X 6' bog using a similar method. So far, so good. I only have about a 2' lift and there is no added strain on the pump with good flow. It works!

Hi Mike, Hoping you're still on here so you can update on how your intake bay is functioning! I'd love to see pictures of your intake bay as you were building if you have them.