Prevent Pump Hose From Clogging

[Ratsima]

I was somewhat concerned that the increased water flow might affect the stream as bio filter.

But the water remains nice and clear.

The pinkish thing above is the remains of a night-blooming lily.

The blue is the new hose.

 

[Ratsima]

I think we may be done here. Fingers crossed.

I ran the pump through the 1" PVC Flex for four days. During that time there was only a slight reduction in pressure at the fountain. I expected that as I assumed that there would still be biofilm buildup; but not enough to prevent a decent flow. But the !" hose alone produced too much flow into the stream. When I showed my wife the first thing she said was, "It doesn't make a nice sound anymore." Very true.

So, I tried running the water from the 1" PVC flex through a reducer to a ½" ID piece of rigid PVC about 30cm long. This piece fits through the existing hunk of bamboo:

This is an overhead view of the elephant fountain. At the left is the blue PVC Flex. At the right is the stream with the fountain making the pleasant sound we've enjoyed for over a decade. I've been running this for four days now and have noticed no significant reduction in flow, so far. If it does happen, I'll first check to see if just reaming the rigid PVC works. If not, it will be back to the drawing board on the fountain configuration. (I left the old green garden hose in place in case I needed to suddenly revert.)

Thanks to all who offered suggestions, help, ideas and criticism. I truly appreciate how much assistance I received and how much I learned.

 

[Ratsima]

It's been a week now with no noticeable reduction in flow, so I decided to cut the blue flex PVC to the desired length and have a look at everything.

This is the inside of the 1/2" PVC which runs through the bamboo. Although there is some sludge it's minimal and certainly not enough to impede the flow of water.

This is a section of the flex PVC that I removed. There is certainly some sludge, but not much.

Here's that section cut open. It looks to me like the sludge, whatever it is (biofilm?) doesn't adhere very will to the flex PVC.

BTW, I was able to cut the flex PVC quite easily with an ordinary PVC cutter.

Once again, thanks to all for helping me solve this problem

 

[technopol]

Just to be sure I understand the many conclusions of this long thread; I guess too large hose diameter reduces the flow speed so much that biofilm or algae can grow and stay attached to the inner surface?

I have a small pond with a 100W pump and a good filter; and the 1¼" ID output hose gets clogged quite fast. The flow is slow but large and the transparent hose is exposed to the sun; both factors that may not help, I guess. I want to switch to ¾" hose and hide it from the sun, could that help?

 

[Ratsima]

Just to be sure I understand the many conclusions of this long thread; I guess too large hose diameter reduces the flow speed so much that biofilm or algae can grow and stay attached to the inner surface?

I have a small pond with a 100W pump and a good filter; and the 1¼" ID output hose gets clogged quite fast. The flow is slow but large and the transparent hose is exposed to the sun; both factors that may not help, I guess. I want to switch to ¾" hose and hide it from the sun, could that help?

I'm the original poster on this thread. First post was in 2015. I didn't really solve the problem until seven years later when I installed a high volume pump, and a large, smooth, opaque PVC hose. Nothing else worked. I don't like the fact that so much water flows through my fountain as it can overwhelm the stream that leads to the pond and there is a great deal of water loss through splashing. I tried restricting the flow at the fountain end of the hose, but that just resulted in the same old clogging.

I hope you find a preferable solution.

 

[technopol]

Is it possible that what solved your problem was mostly the high volume pump, more than the large hose? Since I clean my hose using high pressure machine (fast flowing water), I logically concluded that water that travels at much higher speed in the hose would prevent anything from sticking inside.

 

[Ratsima]

Is it possible that what solved your problem was mostly the high volume pump, more than the large hose? Since I clean my hose using high pressure machine (fast flowing water), I logically concluded that water that travels at much higher speed in the hose would prevent anything from sticking inside.

I tried a number of different smaller diameter hoses with the same high volume pump. The only one that worked is the larger diameter hose that you see in the photos above. But, keep in mind that I live in Thailand where the climate is a bit different. It has been 40ºC (104ºF) with 80% humidity almost every day for the last two weeks.

 

[technopol]

Thanks for the advice. I will run different tests like you did, hoping I find the cure in less than 7 years because cleaning the hose is not fun. I don't want to spend too much in electricity so the bigger pump will go last in my tests. We also had a few 105°F days last week and the sun UV are so strong that algae are growing at very high speed.

 

[Ratsima]

Thanks for the advice. I will run different tests like you did, hoping I find the cure in less than 7 years because cleaning the hose is not fun. I don't want to spend too much in electricity so the bigger pump will go last in my tests. We also had a few 105°F days last week and the sun UV are so strong that algae are growing at very high speed.

What sort of filter do you have?

 

[technopol]

What sort of filter do you have?

https://www.amazon.com.mx/TotalPond-estanque-completo-aclarador-clarificador/dp/B004DL0Y4E/ref=sr_1_3

with these foam filters

https://www.amazon.com.mx/gp/product/B001B41L9I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00

and bio balls in the bottom. But right now I am ordering this instead because the one I have now leaks when pressure gets too high: https://www.amazon.com.mx/gp/product/B0CDH2813C/ref=ewc_pr_img_1

My submersible pump is inside a very fine holes filter bag (keeps baby guppies out) also full of bio balls to fill the bag and increase the filtering surface.

 

[j.w]

and welcome @technopol