setting up a constant water change system

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The article doesnt seem to be complete on that respect, but clearly the point is you woluld have an overflow built into the pond to cover this. I may do something like that at some point to keep the water at the exact same level.
 
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does anyone have any plans/diagrams on building an overflow? I haven't worried about it because there are minute gaps between the liner and the cap boards (where the liner is folded) which take care of any overflow from rain. However having water running down the side of the pond once in awhile is a totally different story from constantly. If I was to do a continuous exchange system, I'd want to actually pipe the overflow to an unused area of the garden. The part of getting the water piped over there I can handle, it's how to hook up the overflow to the pond itself that I'm unsure of.

I'd be hooking it up to the upper pond, which will, like my lower pond, be a liner pond.

I guess I could just bore a hole in the wood frame and liner and then caulk the tubing in place?

Hmmm, I actually have a drain in the driveway about 20 feet from where I'd be hooking up the pond overflow...
 
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Well if when I do mine I was thinking of using a shower drain or something, but the hard part is making sure the the height is set properly so that the overflow goes to the drain not over the liner, and if the liner is already cut and you put in a drain unless you place it higher you will lower the pond height by 2" so it will take some work figuring out placement. On the where to drain it to, if you going to be doing a constant water change setup, I would want that water to be used, not waisted, but when it rains you would want it to go to the drainage grate. Figureing this out will take some work. I cant think of a valve that would switch a T valve or something when its raining, but that would be the idea. So all I can think of is figuring out how to do a 1/2 overflow drain for the constant flow system and then a 2" overlow for when its raining to limit the amount of water that can ever come out into the garden to try and prevent errosion. Not sure how that would work or if the 1/2 line would have problems cloging. I guess in a way you wouldnt need the 2" overflow and just do 1/2 always going to the garden, but it could make the garden too wet and cause root rot and cause stuff to die so I have no idea...im lost now too.
 

DrCase

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If you want to make a over flow like that.
fill up your pond to the rain over flow you have
if you use the shower drain place it on the liner and mark it just below the high water over flow mark
 
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ha! I'm more confused instead of less now, lol.

This is an above-ground pond: the lower pond goes 4 feet in and 2 feet up, and the upper pond that I'm building will be wholly above ground, with the top sitting at 3 feet above ground.

The pond is slightly higher on the side that butts up against the house. Did it this way on purpose so that when it overflows, it flows away from the house and I don't wind up with water against the foundation.

There's no proper overflow built in. I put in the liner, folded it over the edges as best I can (because it's almost a cube - 8' x 8' x 6' deep - there was a lot of bunching up and gathering in the corners), stapled it down, then screwed on the cap boards (1 1/2"x10" cedar). Because of the bunching/folding, water is able to seep out between the cap boards and the liner in the spots where there wasn't bunching/folding, if that makes sense.

Now thinking on all of this, I've realized I'm a bit of an idiot, lol. I'd planned to try and put in the overflow in the upper pond - obviously that won't work! The water will flow down the water fall and into the lower pond before it overflows out an overflow drain.

There's a 2" gap in the cap boards that I've left to "hide" plumbing in in the back right corner of the lower pond. Idea being that when the upper pond/falls/bog is built, the pump tubing will go there and be strapped down to keep a low profile. Conveniently, there's a drain coming down from the roof and going to the yard's drainage system (runs through a pipe to the road out front) right there - literally inches away.

I'm thinking I could install an overflow and plumb it straight into the drain pipe? Kind of a shame to not use any of the water for the gardens (waste), but I can't think of any other convenient and discreet way to install an overflow. The two ponds will basically form a backwards "L", wrapping around the corner of the house. The current pond runs along the wall of the house from the back door of the garage to the corner of the house. The upper pond that I'm building will run from the side of the house half way out the length of the current pond (the new pond, which is in progress, is 8' long, 4' wide, and will likely be 3' deep at it's deepest point). I'd like to hide any plumbing by having it either against the house, or on the back of the upper pond, against the fence (there's a 2 1/2" gap between the end of the pond and the fence). I guess my other option would be to use some flexible tubing for the overflow, still put it in the back corner of the lower pond, then run it around the corner of the house, between the pond and the wall (I've kept a 4" gap for plumbing).

Hmmm...I could buy a rain barrel and hook it up to the bottom of that, then hook a second overflow to the top of it. Run the rain barrel's overflow to the drain in the driveway, but use the rain barrel contents to water the garden...
 

DrCase

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All you need is one small spot on the top of your liner to be lower than the rest
If you can lift up the liner ,were their are no folds, you can notch the wood to make a small spill way.
And make a funel with the liner to go into the new drain pipe..
 

koiguy1969

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your pond is framed in wood,correct? cut a little notch in the wood big enough for your liner and a 1/2" or 3/4"pvc to set in...have the pipe run an inch or so inside your pond... silicone around the pvc pipe.. elbo it down with another pipe to the ground and elbo it off to where you want it to go. even bury it to a french drain basin if you like. there is no need for a 2" drain on a trickle fill. run your trickle fill down into the water aways.
 
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Im thinking of doing this eventually and hope that I can have it be something like th overflow go to a 5 gallon bucket that has a soaker hose hooked to the bottom of it. Have to test it out to see if the 5 gal would create enough pressure to prevent the bucket from overflowing. If so then do something more like run it twice a day rather than continuously as mines only ~1000gal. The soaker house will province water for a lush flower garden. Possibly do it like where the 5 gal bucket has an overflow pipe at the top that then goes to another 5 gal bucket, over and over to cover all the flower gardens (obviously downhill from the pond). Then run the water long enough to fill all the buckets. Only issues I have with this is how to hide the buckets. Maybe just a super long soaker hose thou I know there would be issues with getting even distribution with that. Hmm this will take some testing and work...next year...
 
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Why not use a float valve from toilet guts tied to the water supply for keeping the pond level up. That way you don't waste any water on an overflow.
 
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Airic said:
Why not use a float valve from toilet guts tied to the water supply for keeping the pond level up. That way you don't waste any water on an overflow.

Because what I'm wanting isn't a top up, it's a constant water change/exchange. I want to set it up so 25% of the water is changed automatically over the course of each week. Zero maintenance and good water quality...ahhhh, wouldn't that be nice?

I worked it out, and it would only add $7/month to my water bill. Water's not free, but apparently it's really cheap!

I'd prefer this method, if I can rig it, than just doing a manual water change for a few reasons. First of all, the time involved. If I use a 1" piece of tubing as a syphon, it takes me about 15 minutes to drain off just 10% of the water. Filling it back up, with the garden hose going full blast, takes a full half hour. It's not that I can't find an hour to do a water change once a week, it's just that I'd rather not if I don't have to. I already spend enough time with keeping the pre-filter clean, plant maintenance, checking and feeding the fish, etc. Second, that's a lot of water on the lawn to deal with all at once (the stuff I emptied out I mean). Third, I have a sort of hanging basket in one corner that I really like. When the water level is at the top, it's not an issue - the buoyancy keeps it from breaking (it's a plastic pot) or pulling out of the cap board it's nailed into and sending nails into my pond. However, when the water level goes down during a water change, the whole thing sags, and I worry that the pot will break (dumping plants, dirt, gravel, etc. into the pond) and/or the nails will pull out (dumping nails into my pond and potentially punching a leak in the liner).

So, the automated constant water change system sounds just right for me! :)
 

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Beware of automatic systems if you have floating plants. 4 years ago, I lost all my fish due to a plant hanging up my electronic switch. The water flowed all day while we were at work. When we got home, all the Koi were dead of chlorine poisoning
 
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Thanks for the heads up! I should be okay, as our city's water isn't chlorinated :) They use chlorine twice a year to flush the system (send out a notice a couple weeks before they do it), but other than that it's just straight up from the aquifer. So I can just turn things off right at the tap on the week that they're cleaning the pipes.

We're lucky, we've got great water here :)

I do have another question though - any tips on how to screen the outflow pipe so that floating plants and/or baby fish (which I hope I'll eventually have) don't go out it?

I was thinking maybe just wrapping some window screening over the end and securing it with a rubber band?
 

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Please add your location in the User CP at the top of this page.

You will want a 1/4" mesh or larger. Window screen is too small.
 
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DrDave said:
Please add your location in the User CP at the top of this page.

You will want a 1/4" mesh or larger. Window screen is too small.

Will do. FWIW, I'm in BC, Canada.

Why is window screen too small? And where would I find flexible 1/4" mesh?
 

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