Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Geothermal pond loop and aeration?

Does anyone have experience with a geothermal pond loop and aeration? I've read where the aeration can cause issues as it is mixing the water column and thus the water temperatures? We just put in a pond loop for a new geothermal system. We have 1.5 acre pond with avg depth of 8 ft and geo coils are in a deep corner of pond so was hoping adding a couple of aeration points in middle of pond would be ok?

Dwight has a geo loop in the pond, Cecil Baird1 has an open system that dumps into the pond. I'm sure that there are others on here that have Geo.

I have a closed loop geo in the new house we just moved into... Also have aeration.. Don't know much about either yet, but defiantly want to see where this thread goes..

First Post. I just had an 8 ton Geothermal loop put into my 1+ acre pond at about 13' deep. From what I understand using an aerator would eliminate the thermocline and homogenize the temperature of the pond - which is not good for the Geo unit. You want it nice and cold so it can cool your house. I'm not sure if putting the aerator in a more shallow part of the pond would still mess with the thermocline if it was somehow above it. I was really nervous about putting the loops in the pond as it is THE reason I bought the house and didn't want it to wreck the balance of the ecosystem. However after talking to the Geothermal guy he said it wouldn't even raise the pond temperature by 1 degree. We'll see...
I'm new to pond ownership so I don't know much but have only the best intentions.
I also understand that as a newbie I am obliged to show a picture or two so that will be forthcoming..... as soon as I figure out how to post a picture here from Media Share....not so good at this type of stuff...

I am not sure there is still any interest in this thread but maybe somebody will find this useful. In fall of 2013 we started constuction on our new house and quickly learned the garage floor was 9 feet above grade! We needed dirt and lots of it for fill. I checked with my excavator and I could dig a pond and use my own dirt for roughly half the cost of buying and hauling it in. Soooo I had the push I needed to look at fulfilling my boyhood dream of owning my own pond. As the pond was a real posibility, I started thinking about geothermal heating and cooling. As it turned out, for an additional 10K I could up size my planned well, install an ultra efficient variable speed constant volume well pump and install a geothermal pump and dump heating and cooling unit (backup is natural gas furnace). For an extra 200 dollars I had the plumber put in a bypass so I can directly supply my 1/4 acre pond with up to 35 GPM of water from the well in times of drought and still have plenty of capacity for the house needs. Whenever I am heating or cooling the house I am also pumping water into the pond but I really don't see a temperature or level change. Here is one side benefit, until 2016 you can realize a 30% tax credit on costs associated with installing geothermal!

Sorry, forgot aeration in my post. I selected pump and dump for three main reasons over closed loop. 1) Closed loop depends on pond temperature stratification. Any aeration that disturbs this natural stratification will kill your efficiency. Open loop depends on a constant well water temp, which never changes, so efficiency is constant regardless of pond or outside air temp. 2) Closed loop circulates anti-freeze thru your pond. A leak could be a disaster. 3) Open loop can provide water direct from your well to your pond in times of drought.

Downside is maintenance as minerals in well water can eventually clog the unit and it will require periodic cleaning.

Very interesting post, and I would like to learn more about your experiences with this install.

I have one concern regarding your list of upsides... As a 1/2 acre pond with decent depth contains what, close to a million gallons, do you think 35 GPM will make much of a dent in times of drought?

Running 24/7, it would take 438 days to provide a million gallons. (unless my math sucks, always possible)

I get 50,400 gallons per day

That's what I get Dave so, about 20 days for a million gallons.

Jstclair,

FWIW last summer I could raise the level in the pond about 3 to 4 inches in 24 hrs with the well. I recently expanded the pond by around 1/8 acre and increased it's depth to 10 feet at last year's low pool level. Hopefully, I will not need the well to top up but it is there if I need it.

Bill D.

35 GPM will help a lot, but if it's a groundwater pond, and you are trying to raise the level above what the groundwater level is, double check to see how many GPM leak out of the pond. In my pond, (groundwater in sandy soil) at 5' below full pool it leaks 18 gpm when I try to raise the level with the well.

Ok, having established my math sucks, I now sit corrected with a slightly red face...

On a less embarrassing topic, have you looked at how much the Geothermal system has raised the overall temp of the pond? My pond is about .6 acres with a deep end of 15 feet and an overall depth of around 8 feet.

I am not currently aerating. Any thoughts or experiences to share?

IMO My pump and dump actually should lower the pond temp when in the summer "air conditioning" mode. The geo does not raise the temp of the 55 F well water more than a few degrees as it passes thru at 6 to 8 gpm. If the summer pond water temp is say 75 F, I am actually adding colder water (maybe 60 to 65 F). In the winter I would be warming the pond if you assume 40 F pond temp and the geo cooling the well water to say 50F. Overall, I would say my pump and dump geo has little impact on my pond water temp in either the winter or the summer.

Now for a pond loop system, IMO you are correct. The geo will raise the pond temp in the summer and lower the pond temp in the winter.

Bill, I'd be interested in seeing a temp comparison to a pond that is near you with the same water clarity and depth vs. your pond. I don't know if the Geo system will change the temp all that much....... But that's just a WAG.

That would be interesting to see but I don't know of any ponds that meet that criteria around here. I'm with you though. I doubt you can even measure the temp change.