Waterfall help

[Brennan]

Greetings!

I need help with my waterfall splash situation. There is too much splash contributing to evaporation. I live in Arizona and the water gets hot due to outside temperature which in turn leads to evaporation. I would like to reduce the resulting splash from the filter out take. How do I achieve this?

 

[tbendl]

You could split your inlet hose that pumps water to it and divert a portion back into the pond thereby reducing the water flow.
Welcome to the forum. Great looking pond there.

 

[Brennan]

Thanks! I built it myself from wood and rubber paint used for roofing. It is waterproof and does not leak. I would like to keep my flow (295 gph pump) running through the media to ensure the best filtration possible. I was thinking, it would look ugly though, connect PVC tubes to the out takes, make them drop to an inch or so above the water line, and then reconnect (will look like a "U" shape) with holes drilled on the bottom bar. Thoughts?

 

[Meyer Jordan]

You should be experiencing minimum (if any) splash from this configuration. Are you seeing wet spots around the perimeter in the vicinity of your filter outlets?
You don't indicate how much water you are losing per day.

 

[Brennan]

Looking at the fourth image, where you can see my overflow inlet. The water is at the top of the inlet in the morning. By night, the water will be almost an inch lower, resulting in most of the inlet being dry. Luckily, I have a second underwater inlet that lets water into the filter. I see splashes on the rim around the edges, but no puddles. I like the idea of a spray bar.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Do you have fish? What kind?

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I like the idea of a spray bar.

A spray bar will actually augment your current evaporation loss because of the greater water surface area exposed to the atmosphere.

 

[Brennan]

Shubunkins, guppies, and a pleco.

 

[sissy]

You may not be loosing it from splashing also since the whole pond is exposed and it is black it will sweat and that may lead to the water in the pond getting warmer during the day and getting cooler at night and causing more evaporation .Do you know the temperature of your water

 

[Mmathis]

Agree that you may not be losing water due to splashing, but just by exposure to the elements.

 

[Lisak1]

Plus remember that your plants both take up water and release it into the air - you'd be amazed how much water you can lose due to your plants "breathing"!

 

[Mmathis]

Plus remember that your plants both take up water and release it into the air - you'd be amazed how much water you can lose due to your plants "breathing"!

So true!

 

[Usman]

how many gallons is the pond and how many gallons/hour is pump?

the circulation shud b proportional to the gallons in pond , for goldfishes u need to circulate half tank in hour or 30min, if u have more then that , then ur over circulating water which will add movement/evaporation. unless its submerged system as used in aquariums

u can lower down the filterbog on bricks inside pond semi submerged to reduce the water movement and air contact with water . or extend the outlet pipe closer to the surface of water or

other thing i can think is .. u can place a pieace of glass or some sort of sheeting/cover that only allows the pipes to enter from gap and covers rest of the area around it atleast 1/3rd of pond. that will reduce surface area too . they are available for aquariums , google *aquarium cover glass*

this is problem with small ponds and if u place aquarium outside , evaporation is more prominent , its very difficult to maintain level in smaller ammount of water , u need to lower ur inlet too , 1 inch if u ask me is normal for certain reasons

have u tested by stopping waterfall if its still loosing water due to capillary action or leak?

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group. If you want to test for loss of water due that might not be splash, turn your filtering off for a day and see how much water you lose.

 

[MitchM]

If you could set up an infrared camera above your pond during the night, you would be amazed how much water loss occurs from evaporation.
With your high temperature and low humidity, you pond will constantly evaporate a lot of water unless you want to increase the humidity above the pond by placing a greenhouse structure over it.