Waterfall...low pressure

[MNPond]

Hello! We had a pond installed last year at this time and absolutely love it but the installer failed to set up any type of filter system and we spent more time trying to clean the pond than sitting by and enjoying it. Last month we set up an external biofilter and the pond is so much cleaner but now we are having problems with the waterfall. We have a 200020 Sunterra pump that goes directly to the biofilter. We installed a drain and PVC pipe that goes directly to the fall from the filter. We also put a 400 gallon per hour pump in the biofilter and connected a hose to go out the drain to try and increase the pressure but the fall is still slow. Anyone have ideas on what we can do? Thanks!!

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Not enough information.
Probably your filter is getting plugged up, that's just a guess though. Do you have a mechanical filter also, or are you leaving that job up to the biofilter?

 

[j.w]

MNPond

 

[koiguy1969]

sounds like a pressure filter ...is it?...pressure filters tend to clog fairly quickly....backwash and/or clean it well....
with no prefiltering your pump or a line may be clogged. you can try putting a garden hose into your last hose connection and turn it on and backflow the lines and pump out.
OH....WELCOME TO THE GROUP MY FREIND!

 

[MNPond]

Thanks all for the quick responses. No, it is not a mechanical filter. Just a big tub full of sponges. (Skippy bio-filter) The tub fills with the pond water and there is a freeflowing drain that water flows out of down the pipe. We have a garden hose hooked up to the pump inside the filter that pushes the water thru the drain as well.

 

[sissy]

how far up is your waterfall that looks pretty high and with the filter added you may need a bigger pump or a split in you system half the water going to the waterfall and half or less going to the filter .You will need to ball valves to adjust the flow until you get the right flow you want .sorry welcome .The valve you can get at lowes or home depot .

 

[sissy]

looking at your side table most are 32 to 42 inches high so figuring fall looks to be around 4 or 5 feet high

 

[MNPond]

Yes, the fall is about 5 ft and I think you are correct in what we need to do. A bigger pump or a split..... arg!

 

[sissy]

always something and thats the life of a ponder :razz: I know I have a 2900 gph pump and that does two smaller waterfalls at around 2 feet but length of hose cuts down on the gph and the farther away the less gph .I also have a 2150 gph pump

 

[koiguy1969]

The pump inside the filter isnt doing a thing ...i would remove it. if anything, add it as flow to the filter, instead of from. since you cant pump out more water than is coming in anyways!!.... try cleaning your pumps "casing" and impellor assembly....adding a prefilter would stop it from clogging up. and as i said earlier, you can put a garden hose on the line into the filter and run it thru in reversed flow. your garden hose has alot more power or pressure than your pump. if the plumbing is clogged this will likely solve the issue!! turn your pump off if you do this.
more questions....what size hose are you using? the largest possible is the way to go...less resistance = more flow
whats the gph rating on the pump your using?

 

[MNPond]

Our current pump is 2000 gph and worked fine prior to the filter but I believe you are correct that we need a bigger pump. I will show all the responses to my husband. He'll be the one to set up the garden hose etc... I'll get some more detail from him as far as what we currently have set up. Thanks again!!

 

[don't ask]

welcome MNpond, and looks like your on your way to getting the problem solved..good eye sissy for noticing how high the waterfall is as that appears to be part of the problem about needing a bigger pump

 

[MNPond]

Turns out we did not set up the skippy filter correctly...put the plastic grate panel over the media instead of between the PVC elbows and media...that seemed to do the trick as the waterfall is running much better. (Just in time for our family reunion last Saturday... whew!)

 

[koiguy1969]

you silly filter builders! oh well. its going right now...live & learn!! good luck!

 

[don't ask]

Turns out we did not set up the skippy filter correctly...put the plastic grate panel over the media instead of between the PVC elbows and media...that seemed to do the trick as the waterfall is running much better. (Just in time for our family reunion last Saturday... whew!)

way to go glad you figured it out