Going for it! phase one 12,000 gallon pond.

[GBBUDD]

Always wanted to have a pond in my back yard again like I did growing up. A opportunity crossed my path to collect some large boulders and some stone wall sized boulders both aged and freshly split granite for the right price. Well the purchased of a 12,000 pound dump trailer and about 45,000 pounds of boulders latter I guess it was time to pull the trigger. I rented a excavator last Friday, this was to be exploratory seeing as there is ledge poking its head out of the ground in the immediate area. The hope was to get to 6 feet deep 4 at a minimum to construct a natural swimming pond. though very little swimming is planed. To my surprise I was able to dig to 8 feet at the deep end right up to the patio. 18 feet wide with a dual terrace and 25 feet long two areas in the pond are set aside for a bog one will be 10 feet by 3' and the other is 8 x5 but from the edge it drops down into the pond / shallow area. As the shallow area drops is where a foot tall possibly two falls into the pond. that splits off about ten feet back and drops off to the side and heads toward the pond and drops about five feet away into the pond as well. It's at this point where the two branch off to have a dual sided bog one off to each side of the stream one considerably larger then then other. the smaller may just be a wicked area for plants to suck up there own water from the roots to a water proof footing. then the stream will again reach a split just before the main fall about three to four feet tall with multiple drops and splits. Well that's the plan anyways. I have seen where there is a battle between reverse flow bog and a standard flow.. Still weighing out those options. I'm leaning toward the latter and using air in the pond bog as a way to shut down in the winter the rest of the falls and streams and provide filtering and aeration to the pond.

edpm is the liner I am going to use and I will probably lean toward 060
Not planning on any filtration with the exception of a surface skimmer and probably a bottom drain seeing as the pond will probably end up 6 to 7 feet deep. I was able to get the basic shape of the pond dug out along with the stream and main falls along with a 6 in perimeter drain between my property and my neighbor trying to divert as much water as possible seeing as he fertilizes his back yard and that's the last thing I need.
Pictures to follow

 

[Jhn]

Sounds awesome.....definitely need pics. Construction of the pond is one of the things I enjoy most besides enjoying the finished product.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

What is the projected surface area of this pond?

 

[GBBUDD]

about 250 sf kidney shaped with small bog excluded

 

[PondMutt]

my imagination goes wild ..

 

[addy1]

wow this will be fun to watch!

 

[GBBUDD]

Seeing as the temp here is at a whopping three degrees this morning this limited photos will have to do.

 

[Lisak1]

Are you at all concerned about the stability of those 8 foot deep walls? Where we are it's advised that anything deeper than 6 feet requires shoring up.

I have seen where there is a battle between reverse flow bog and a standard flow.

Explain that a bit more - are you talking about upflow vs flow through?

Do you plan to do more this season or do we have to wait patiently for spring? WE ARE NOT PATIENT PEOPLE! haha!

Where are you located - that would easily answer your zone question.

 

[GBBUDD]

To answer your first question the 8 foot wall as well as all the other deeper walls will be a wall of ledge stone mortared and backed with a 4" to 6 " trap rock. this will be excessive as the soil type here is a solid class b it has a good content of clay mixed with a silty sand and lots of cobbles. First will be compacting and I will probably add a little 3/4 compaction gravel after placing the bottom drain. at least that's the direction I'm leaning toward at this point. filter fabric. 060 rubber and then more fabric under and behind the stone.

Yes to the up flow or flow through. the up flow will require more gph to the system for obvious reasons. The flow through can be air driven that can keep running all winter long. I still have some home work to do with the whole winterizing and Up flow and flow through. I can see a definite advantage to shutting down the falls and stream for the winter and leaving just the pond a it's bog " air driven " running for the winter. Here in Ct we can get some cold weather as the last week has not reached 15 degrees, and it's snowing here as I'm writing this.

Over all dimensions are 25 feet long 18 feet wide a bog at each end one 8'x5' and 18 x 5 foot pie shaped along the garage.

Over all it looks to be about 12,000 gallons My questions to those who know who have been in this hobby a while is what bands for pumps and gph do you think I could use as well as the skimmers and bottom drain. I believe I have a good handle on the plumbing aspect but any advice on common mistakes is welcomed. I have been a general contractor most of my life always been in the building trades hopefully this will work for me and not against me.

One other question I have is I have yet to see anything about protein skimmers. are not protien rotted nitrates ? if protein was removed would this not help with green algae blooms. the very week drawing does not show the stream or main falls that will be a good 30 feet away from the pond.

Sorry Lisa with temps in the teens it may be a while before I can do more than to get supplies and absorb feed back from the community

 

[GBBUDD]

If a pond / multiple bodies of water are gravity fed waterfall to a bog to a pond would these not need to be included in the over all gph needed for a pond/ project.

 

[Lisak1]

I'm not an expert by any means, but my thought on a flow through bog is surface area - the typical backyard pond set up doesn't offer enough space to dedicate to a flow-through bog. With an upflow, you can add lots of "surface area" with gravel and rock. That's just my initial thought. A true, natural bog is of course flow through but they tend to be many acres in size as opposed to square feet.

Clearly you've thought through your wall construction - most of what you said went right over my head, but it sounds sturdy!

If a pond / multiple bodies of water are gravity fed waterfall to a bog to a pond would these not need to be included in the over all gph needed for a pond/ project.

The standard response would be the GPH should equal one half to two times the total volume of the system. I would assume that would include the total gallons, yes.

 

[GBBUDD]

Ok the drawing I posted earlier is not cutting it I hope this is better. let me know your thoughts

I'm wondering if it wouldn't be wise to have smaller pumps returning water into the bogs with up flow then to use the main pump. then again I am probably thinking more visual and water flow down the falls and stream and not biological as the dirty water from the bottom drain should head for a filter weather it be a bog or biological

 

[GBBUDD]

Looking at the PerformancePro Artesian2 1 1/2 hp @115 volts 9 amps at 11400 gph at 13' of head pressure. My max head pressure at height will be less then 6' but with elbows and distance I should still get 11,000 gph I would think that would be ample to run 190 sf of bog surface area and leave plenty for a return to the pond and supply the main falls.

 

[GBBUDD]

Though everything at the site is a block of ice. Gathering materials have been proceeding. I decided on a Heliz skimmer, A Rhino bottom drain with a air diffuser, and lots and lots of rocks thus far. The world of pumps is crazyyyyy. I understand head pressure and the consequences of using a 90 degree elbow over two 45 or four 22.5 elbows but it's a bit crazy with the subtle differences even between one pump to another from the same manufacturer. I believe I at least have a category of pump that being a variable speed high efficiency pump. Seeing as this less then perfect state of CT. is in the top 5 most expensive for everything including electricity. Anyone have any suggestions on a pump ? 12,000 gallon pond with a 65 foot stream at 50 foot of head pressure.

 

[pondlover]

Love love love all the rocks.