Filter idea...

[JBtheExplorer]

So, I plan on making a filter this Spring for my pond. I'm on a tight budget so I looked for the cheapest way of going about it. Here's what I came up with. It might not be the ideal way, but all I'd like to know is if it'll work.


1. The water gets pumped through a hose into the homemade filter. I don't think our pump would be powerful enough to have it enter the bottom and push the water up, so I think entering on top is the only option. (will I still need to add a drain at the bottom?)
2. It gets filtered by flowing through lava rock. The rock would be in mesh bags so it would be easy to take out when it needs cleaning. This would also be good so if only the top bag of rock is clogged, I wouldn't have to clean the others.
3. The clean water gets to the bottom where it then goes up into a pvc pipe ( I realize that I could just have it exit at the bottom rather than going back up, but bringing it back up would keep the water level up, which I could use to grow plants.)
4. the top of the pipe is open so if the lava rock gets clogged with debris, water can bypass it and not overflow.
5. the clean water flows back into the pond

Again, I know there are many ways of doing this and it might not be what you'd consider the best, but I just want to know if it'll work or if there would be any major issues with this setup.

 

[JohnHuff]

Hi:
1) According to everything I've read, it's almost always preferable to not have the media in bags. You'll get better filtration if not in bags.
2) Instead of lava rocks (static media) why not have moving media? If you really want lava rocks, you can combine both and keep a few layers of lava rock at the bottom and the rest moving media.
3) The pipe must go back up top for exit to keep the water level.
4) If the water can get to the top of the container, it will do so either outside or inside of it.
Cheers, John

 

[Dave 54]

Youcan run a sequence of chemical barrels interlinked with japp matting in one along with a bag of zeolite along with airstones.the next you could use more jap matting , crushed oyster shell airstones and quilt batting to top it off
In the last before it returns to the pond you could place the moving filtration ( that John has mentioned) in the form of K1 and bioballs and power it with airstones it then retrning yto the pond via a UV-C.
Its a little like our own setup but minus our vortex .


Dave

 

[dieselplower]

I do not have any proof but I believe it will be harder for the pump to pump the water to the top than the bottom. I'd enter at the bottom. Is this filter intended for mechanical or biological filtration?

 

[addy1]

You add head pressure having the pipe go to the top of the barrel. If your pipe enters the bottom of the barrel and water is flowing in it will fill the barrel and flow out. Unless the pressure of the water on the entry pipe is enough to stop your pump. I am not sure how you could figure that out unless you tested it with a pipe going to the bottom see if it can fill the tank.
I would have a drain at the bottom a bunch of muck will settle over time.

I know my pond pump could not fill a two inch pvc, push it up the hill. It just burped. But I was trying to push it up a huge slope and 40 feet of piping.

What size of pump?

 

[dieselplower]

By the way, I also think you will have trouble with the filter overflowing etc unless it is water tight. You are pumping water in and expecting it to flow up and out on it's own so you will need some large pipes and output tubes. I really don't like the idea. It seems to me like lava rock is a decent media for mechanical or biological filtration, but not great for either. You are also reducing the effectiveness of the filter by having the water flow down. The flow of water, along with gravity, will pull the debris down through the lava rock, and back into the pond.

 

[addy1]

Water goes the easiest route, think you are right dp it will flow in the top and just flow right back out. You are wanting the water to push up a pipe and out. The top of the filtering media will clog up pretty fast. I had a sort of similar set up in a long ago pond, the top of the filter always was clogging.

 

[mrsclem]

I have 3 55gal. barrels. Pump brings water in 1 1/2" to top of 1st barrel and channels down to bottom via pvc. Up flows thru media to 2" outflow to barrel 2 with same down pipe to bottom of barrel and upflows to #3. I have bottom drains on all 3 barrels and rarely have to flush barrel 3.

 

[morewater]

That's pretty well the set-up that I've used. Vortex bottom-feed rising through media to outlet ports.

I've connected my two barrels with sump pump hose (it's flexible, just in case the barrels move with the freeze/thaw), so that the barrel water levels even out, as they're both fed by separate pumps. It only worked out that way because I had a pump that died, got another pump, didn't like the flow, added another pump...the chaos plan, basically. Hey, whatever works, right?

Because my waterfall has such a large surface area, I needed more flow to make the waterfall anaesthetically (not a spelling error) pleasing. As our pond/waterfall is in the backyard, and just outside our second floor master bedroom, the sound of falling water makes me fall asleep faster. Unfortunately, when I've had quite a few beer, it also tends to make me need to pee.

Pros and cons, pros and cons.........

 

[mrsclem]

May try the sump pump hose. Right now I have compression couplings onto small sections of pvc. The center barrel really settled from the weight and it still isn't thawed!

 

[morewater]

Yeah, that was my fear with the two barrels being adjacent to each other. I didn't want to use anything rigid between them.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

2) Instead of lava rocks (static media) why not have moving media?

because I dont know what that means

You can run...

That sounds like way too much for my budget. I want something as simple as possible. I only have a 400g pond so I don't want a big setup.

I do not have any proof but I believe it will be harder for the pump to pump the water to the top than the bottom. I'd enter at the bottom. Is this filter intended for mechanical or biological filtration?

I figured the multiple gallons inside of the filter would be too much pressure for my pump where as entering at the top it would be pumping it into air.

What size of pump?

I cant remember, but I'm pretty sure it was around 600gph/650gph, but its also split, half going to my waterfall, half to my stream.

Water goes the easiest route, think you are right dp it will flow in the top and just flow right back out. You are wanting the water to push up a pipe and out. The top of the filtering media will clog up pretty fast. I had a sort of similar set up in a long ago pond, the top of the filter always was clogging.

Water will always fill up to the height that its at, so its not 'pushing' up the pipe, just filling to its level, like if you put a straw in water, the straw will fill up to the level of the water. The idea came from here:

 

[Priscilla]

I just watched this video, I might try it. Its a bit similar to what you were going for, but the water does not have to flow back up a pipe. And its cheap!

 

[addy1]

neat jb! looks good too priscilla!

 

[JohnHuff]

I just watched this video, I might try it. Its a bit similar to what you were going for, but the water does not have to flow back up a pipe. And its cheap!

Actually he shouldn't hose off that top layer. The algae there will act as an algae scrubber and take up more nutrients.