Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? Management questions 75 year old one acre lake.

Diffusers like the homemade one above usually need to be positioned almost horizontal or most of the air goes out one side or end. Be aware of this quirk. Homemade diffusers are very possible and there are numerous good variations available. I started my aeration education back in 1988 by building homemade diffusers. For the best money buy individual aeration heads from aeration supply houses. Then mount them on some sort of manifold. Remember you want to match the amount of air flow to the size of the diffuser. Make efficient use as possible for each cfm of air.

Basic rule of aeration: the smaller the bubbles and the more bubbles you make the more water you move. You can make several hundred small bubbles moving much more water than from one bigger 1/2" bubble. Smaller holes plug quicker requiring more frequent cleaning depending the material.

If you use your portable air compressor expect it to burn out relatively quickly. Call the company and ask the tech staff about using it for aeration. They will say this voids the warranty. Called these types of people way back in the 1980's and the engineers said no way we build these compressors to pump up and rest not continuous duty. I had guys not believe me and they burnt up a shop compressor pretty quickly.

Find a compressor that is built for continuous duty such as a rotary vane or rocking piston compressor. With proper use mine is 18yrs & on the 1st set of vanes at 14-17ft deep aeration, although it runs only 5-7hrs per day Apr to Nov.

DYI aeration can save some money but spend that money wisely on the correct equipment. There are very good used compressors available and separate new membrane diffusers from aeration supply houses. There is lots of good info in past posts here about DIY aeration. Airline can be economical black polyethylene irrigation pipe w/ weights, garden hose or self weighted best airline. Do good homework before spending your money on low quality, short life span materials.