Just an update in the continuing pond saga. Installed one of what should eventually be three aeration diffusers.
I had used this pump and diffuser for a few weeks last fall as a temporary setup to try out aeration and see if it was something to pursue. I then took it out and put in storage as did not have time to complete the permanent installation last fall before retreating to warmer climates for the winter. That is why the diffuser is dusty.
This is a Pondmaster pump setup (cheap Chinese junk) that is running about 3 psi. Should be getting around 3 cfm at that back pressure. Getting a really good boil out at the pond surface. Diffuser is set in what is now about 7' of water as the pond is about a foot or a little more low currently. The diffuser is on a platform so probably a foot off the bottom so the pump should be looking at about 6' of water head pressure currently and when we get some rain to fill the pond about 7 or 7.5'. That is about as much as a person should ask from a linear diaphragm compressor. They will work up to 10' or so, but the cfm falls rapidly with depth (back pressure) and will stall out with zero cfm somewhere around 11-12' depending on the pump model. Here is an old thread when I was researching pump capabilities.
Pump depth vs cfm for linear pump model Linear diaphragm pumps are only suitable for shallow depths.
I bought the first pump as a temporary experiment, but it worked well enough am now going to just use 3 of them. I don't expect to get the life of a high end piston or vane aeration pump, but the linear diaphragm are cheap to rebuild or even replace. They are also very energy efficient, at shallow depths (waste of time or unusable at deeper depths). My best guess is at some point in the future I will abandon them and put in a good compressor. Everything I'm doing as far as diffusers and line, I'm doing with that possibility in mind going forward.
This is the southern diffuser. Will soon add another just like it in the middle of the pond, and another in the north end for three diffusers total. Will have three identical pumps with each pump on its own diffuser. This will allow me to put timers on each individual pump if I so desire later and not have to run all of them all the time or have to bleed off air to run fewer diffusers. Each pump runs about 108 watts power requirement.
Two boys in the pictures are grandsons helping me out with the project, earning them a little spending money in the process.
I'm a little too cheap for my own good at times, and sinking air line is one place I scrimped that it cost me. It cost me some cold time in the water putting concrete blocks on the 3/4" water line to keep it from floating. Burrrrrr. Fortunately for me grandsons are gullible and one of them did most of the breath holding and placing the block over the line in the cold water. (we did have diving wet suits up in the garage but not smart enough to put them on......... it was a nice sunny warm day anyway so what the heck). I'm taller though so got to do the deeper ones and the last few had to do from the boat. Will need to put scuba on later and do a better job on the deeper ones. Sinking line works SOOOOOO much better. Oh well. I put 50' of 5/8 sinking at the diffuser so I can lift it out of the water and move it around if I want without disturbing the floating line and blocks, but the rest of the run if I remember right is two hundred feet of the 3/4 water line, for a total run of 250'.
The middle diffuser will be a little shorter run and the north about the same as the south.
We are very fortunate to have our own (very old but low hour'd) trencher that we use around the farm, so digging the line from the water line to where the pump will sit was done in short order. After getting all three lines and diffusers installed, will pour a small concrete pad and build a dog house sized building to house the pumps. Will make it big enough and in such a way if I ever want to go to a nicer, larger aeration pump that will run all three diffusers, it should be as simple as setting the new pump in the house and plumbing it in. Plan on making the roof on hinges so the top will open up for access to the pumps. Projects, projects, projects. Hope to get all this done by early summer.
Thought I would put this as an update to my introduction thread about where the pond is evolving.
