Waterfalls enduring the harsh Canadian winter

[Calgary_Aquaculture]

here is a portion of my pond after a really nice chinook followed by a dump of fresh snow. For the past 3 weeks the pond was covered in ice during a not so nice cold snap. With a chinook rolling in (warm air) the pond had a chance to thaw.

I added some blue dye which I hate to reduce the light during the winter to curb the growth of algae. Because the pond is usually covered in ice I can't mechanically scoop the algae out with a net. I alway can't backwash the sand filters because my neighbors would kill me for making ice in the alley.

The pump is a 3hp pentair whisperflo

This is my first post which makes me a noob, so I hope the link works

[ame]

my bad. not sure if links like this are frowned upon or not

 

[addy1]

Very nice, the link is fine.

And Welcome!

 

[j.w]

Cool and very relaxing to look and listen to

 

[DrDave]

Nice job on the waterfall. Does algae grow in cold weather/water?

 

[Calgary_Aquaculture]

This year it is reduced due to cutting out the light. But it is still there. Last winter it was rather abundant. I was a little shocked because I had always been told that it does not grow well in cold weather. I would say that the statement reflects water quality and non moving water is rarely as healthy as flowing water

 

[pondbuilder13]

so have you ever had any problems with pipes breaking cause they freeze or no?

~marino~

 

[Calgary_Aquaculture]

I used to keep a really close eye on the pipes, but they can only freeze if the water drops below zero, and the coldest it has ever reached is 1.7 with the exception of the blanket of ice that covers the falls. The video above was taken yesterday and as I right this the falls are completely covered in ice with the exception of the very top where the water comes out. it almost never has ice covering it.

ice would have a to build up in the pipes faster than the friction produced as the water passes by the ice. So really slow moving water would have a higher chance of building up ice then a faster moving water.

remember if water is in liquid form it is above zero degrees, but can be colder if salt is added to the water, but that would be too much math to calculater. I do typically keep ponds at 2-3 ppt of salt

I don't ever walk on the ice. it never gets as thick as ponds that do not have water running. I would not even like to guess as to why this is.

in both of these pictures the pond is still running just fine