Do you run water through your bog if it's below freezing tempuratures?

[poconojoe]

I would really love to do the bog thing. But i was wondering how it would function during the freezing winters here in Pennsylvania.
Will the whole thing freeze solid and cause the water to spill out?
Or does the bog get turned off for the winter?

 

[carolinaguy]

our bogs are hydroponic but i always recommend valving a system and creating a bypass to shunt water past a waterfall or other installation and run the water directly into the pond just below the water line. our shunts are about 8 inches below the water level, so we turn off our waterfalls to keep the water level warmer in the winter and avoid freeze damage to the waterfall system. its a technique that is recommended to preserve water temperature and avoid damage. that said your bog is a filtration system and since it is made of soil and gravel, freeze damage may not be an issue so long as you keep the system running. running water doesnt freeze as easily depending on the outside temperature, and you want to keep your filtration system operating. Mount Pocono tends to get pretty cold, so it might be better to take your guidance from a more northern pond keeper.

 

[addy1]

I would really love to do the bog thing. But i was wondering how it would function during the freezing winters here in Pennsylvania.
Will the whole thing freeze solid and cause the water to spill out?
Or does the bog get turned off for the winter?

We are 6b, a bit warmer than you. My system is run by a external pump, I turn all off over winter. Even if it was not run by a external pump I would turn all off over winter. The large surface area of my bog cools the water quickly. I use a pond breather to keep air exchange going. Sometimes I set up a very small gph pump to keep a hole in the ice. I enjoy the months of no running water.

Mine is ground level, when it is shut off it freezes up, how deep depends on the winter. The plants come back without issue. The pipes do not crack and I have some out in the air, I just open them, some keep water in them over winter. I do rake the surface of the bog to remove a lot of the dead plants. Once in the fall, once in the spring before turn on.

No water spills out when it does freeze. The water and gravel just becomes ice and gravel.

If I were to build another pond it too would be filtered with just a bog.

 

[mrsclem]

I shut my bog down in the winter. It is raised above ground and freezes easily.

 

[Jhn]

I shut my bog off during the winter as well. I would probably leave it running if I had originally built it so ice damming wouldn’t be an issue.

The main waterfall in the pond runs year round as I did build that so there is no issue with ice damming there.

 

[Lisak1]

There's no single answer to this question without knowing how big is your bog? How deep? How much surface area? How much water do you pump through it?

Ours is 6 feet by 4 feet by 4 feet deep - holds about 600 gallons when full. 100% of our water runs through it in the winter as we shut our small stream down. It functions great all winter long. The outlet freezes over and the water at the top of the bog freezes, but the water flows under the ice. The waterfall also freezes over, but the construction of the falls allows lots of ice to build up without water begin re-directed out of the pond.

@carolinaguy - why do you think his bog is soil AND gravel? I am not aware of any wetland bogs that have soil in them.

 

[Lisak1]

Mount Pocono tends to get pretty cold, so it might be better to take your guidance from a more northern pond keeper.

Agreed. I enjoy reading about pond challenges in other regions with other climates, but I wouldn't offer an opinion or give advice to someone who's dealing with things that I have never experienced. I like to stick to what I know.

 

[MitchM]

I'm pretty sure Meyer Jordan would not be happy at how loosely the term "bog" is being thrown around when we refer to it as hydroponic, soil and gravel...

 

[Lisak1]

I'm pretty sure Meyer Jordan would not be happy at how loosely the term "bog" is being thrown around when we refer to it as hydroponic, soil and gravel...

Haha! I was thinking the same thing! I cringe every time I type "bog".

Do you remember what term he used to describe our "bogs"?

 

[MitchM]

You came up with the best term, I'll have to look through for it.
Give me a minute.

 

[MitchM]

I think the best term you had was "wetland filter".
I can't seem to be able to search for content from Meyer any more. His name doesn't register in the search engine for me.
I'll contact Ian about that.

 

[Lisak1]

He came up with a very specific and long name for it - we ended up using an acronym.

Gosh, I miss that guy.

 

[MitchM]

He came up with a very specific and long name for it - we ended up using an acronym.

Gosh, I miss that guy.

Me too.

 

[Lisak1]

I found the thread where we were joking about it:

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/lets-do-it-again-sam.18705/page-6

I think Meyer coined the phrase "upflow gravel filter with plants" and then it was shortened to UFGFWP.

No wonder we default to bog! haha!