Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Another Aeration Question

I've got a 1/2 acre water table pond that is going to be dug in the coming weeks here is SW Michigan. The pond will be 15' at the deepest with an estimated average of 8'. We're in the snowbelt of lake Michigan and get an average of 85" of snow annually. I would estimate the ice thickness to max out around 8". The pond will get a lot of leaf debris from the surrounding woods. The nearest power to the pond is 1/4 mile away, and I don't want to spend the thousands of dollars for the power company to run electricity to the pond. So as I see it I've got four options when it comes to aerating the pond: run an airline from the road 1/4 mile back to pond, solar power, wind power, or generator power.

1. Windmill
The pond site is in the middle of my 80 acre woods. To the immediate west of the pond is a 40 x 80 barn, and to the immediate west of the barn is a two acre opening in the woods that I use for foodplots. I would guess that it will not get a lot of consistent wind on the pond surface. The barn sits 100 feet from the pond edge and has a roof peak at about 20 feet. I'm assuming that I could mount a windmill on top of the barn on a small tower? - this would get me higher into the prevailing west winds.

2. Solar Power
I've already ruled this out as too expensive and not enough sun here in the winter.

3. Air Line
My concerns is that the compressor, which will be right off a busy rural road, will be stolen/vandalized. Also the initial expense to trench and run the hose 1/4 mile.

4. Generator
I guess this is what I'm leaning towards. I could put in a propane generator in the barn along with the compressor which will keep them both secure. It sounds like I may only need to run the aeration at night during the hottest summer months, so the noise of the generator wouldn't be an issue. How little aeration in the winter months could I get away with? The generator could also be used to provide power to other items at the barn. My concern is the propane usage of the system. I don't have any experience estimating how many gallons of propane I would need to purchase annually. What size generator would I need?

One other thing I should mention is that I have artesian water under my property and my well guy said that I could get around 15 gallons per minute out of a 5" well. I could place this at the ponds edge. Would this have any effect in regards to the need to aerate?

What advice can you give me???????

NonTypical- All good questions. I would sway to the 1400' of tubing/trenching but I am not sure how many tree roots and how rocky your soil is. If you can maintain a downward slope of the tubing, it can be only several inches below the surface. Otherwise, we recommend below the frost line. Trencher on a ditchwitch or skidsteer is well worth its cost of rental if this option is the choice.

The cabinet is lockable, I have a customer who has even added a hasp lock to the cabinet for a redundant locking option. He also poured a pad and inserted lag bolts in the cement to attach the cabinet to the cement pad. There is also an option called "Duckbills" that most of the city municipalities use to hold down picnic benches from vandals.

At any rate, a 1/2 acre pond at 8 foot of depth will only require a single diffuser unit using a 1/3 hp compressor that pulls only 3.4 amps or 425 kw. That should help you with a generator sizing.

Yes, aeration is needed at night but if you are trying to break down the excessive leaf debris on the bottom of the lake, the aeration should run 24/7 during the summer. Otherwise the lake's assimilation capacity is less than that actual nutrient loading from the breakdown of the leaf debris combined with the internal nutrient cycling created by the natural functions of the pond. Once the oxygen demand is met, you then can play with the time the system is on and off. It may need to stay on all the time or you may find that you can drop it down to 12 hours/day or even all the way down to 6hrs/day.

As for winter deicing. The diffuser will need to be moved to a shallower area of the pond. The concept of deicing is to move just enough water so as ice can not form. This will allow the harmful gases like hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide to offgas and allow sunlight to penetrate into the water column promoting oxygen production through photosynthesis by the plants.

A simple temperature device/timer can be added where if the temperature drops to a predetermined level the aeration system will turn on and reverse that when the temperature raises to lets say 42.

In summary, I suggest system by the road, 1400' of 1.5" pvc connected to your slef weighted tubing to the diffuser at the bottom of the lake. In winter add a thermo timer and move the diffuser to a shallow area.

Thanks for the great information Cary. I could trench pretty easily. The run would be along the riverbank and is sandy loam without any rocks or stumps, etc. Can the pipe be knived in or does it have to be trenched? I would have to go below the frost level. If I went this route, what equipment would I need and what is an estimate of cost?

I guess "knifing in" is the same as jack and bore?

The cost of the equipment would be approximately $1500 give or take depending on the distributor in your area of Michigan. I will have them contact you directly for a quote though.

If you will, please let everyone here know whatever route you take. We all learn from all of the input here. I do suggest that you take quotes from at least several of the suppliers here that advertise. I want to make sure that everyone is treated fairly on the forum and we all have quality equipment. Each has its own advantages.

Thanks Cary. I look forward to hearing from the distributor. I'm in zip code 49079.