Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Deep pond aereation

Hi!!! Im working on this personal proyect:
There is a medium/big abandoned quarry, 15 acres. IT is deep: 30 feets (average, there are deepers areas and shallower areas, but most if it has 30 feets).
On the process of "cleaning"the water (I want to make it clearer) I know I must aereate, specially bottom because there are huge areas with a brown color, and a sulphur smell in the bottom. I know it is somehow compelx and diccicult to to such an aereation. I have been readin the forum, reading on the net.
It is difficult to find proper equipment on my country, so I would preciate some help/advice/comments.
I have build an aereator useing an air compresor. It pumps 2 CFM at 30 feets depht. It works really good so far. According to information I found, this would affectively aereate and area of 1 1/2 aces and a little more. So I need at least 10 times this volume to install in the hole quarry. So: or I buy 10 more air compresors or something bigger. I found something bigger, it can pump like 30 CFM but only at 15 feets depht.

My question is: if I install the diffusers inside a pipe so the pipe goes down to 30 feets, but the diffuser is at 15 feets, that will create an effect of "pumping"water fromm the bottom. Would this be effective as haveing the diffuser on the botttom?

Thanks in advance for the help

This is just a guess on my part. Someone else may come along with actual experience. But this is the way I vision it.

The pipe should work as a "chimney" and draw water from the bottom as you describe as long as you place the diffuser in the upper part of the pipe with some space around the edge of the diffuser to allow water flow.

You can't get something for nothing so water flow will be reduced compared to the diffuser placed at full depth. Water movement is caused by the bubbles rising and the deeper the diffuser the greater expansion of the bubbles so the more water pushed. So you obviously would be better off with diffusers deeper but I believe the chimney would draw at least some water from deep.

No experience here. Just as I see it in my minds eye. Take that in consideration.

Martin, you are on the right track in your ideas. Using a draw pipe will greatly reduce the volume of water that the air could otherwise move, but if you put a bell in your pipe where the diffuser will be placed, and the diffuser is at least 8 feet (3 meters is better), you can maximize what water can potentially be lifted by the air.

Diffusers need at least 8 foot of depth to create adequate water lift and circulation, so you will need those bubbles confined in your pipe at least that long to create lift within the pipe.

An excellent setup that I found was using a 36" diameter (1 meter) pipe resting 12 inches off the bottom on stands, with the top of the large pipe 15 feet (4-5 meters) under the surface. The diffuser was placed in the top of the pipe and a tapered bell was made to attach a 10 foot long, 12 inch diameter pipe centered directly over the diffuser. The tapered adaptor was 2 feet tall. I was surprised at the volume of water lifted with a fairly small volume of air being used.

It takes accurate mapping your pond bottom and exact depths, plus a lot of labor making each stack-lift, but can definitely be done!

Rather than using one large compressor, I would suggest using a few smaller air compressors and placing them closer to where your diffusers will be placed.

Depending on where your deepest areas are, you may only have to aerate the deepest points to use fewer diffusers and less air/electricity. I would expect an entire system to run about $30,000 USD, but your labor, materials and equipment costs may be considerably lower than here in the states

Yhans for the feedbak. Rainmn, what do you mean by "a bell"
Can you make a hand drawing and post it? It sounds really iteresting and looks to be exactly what I need.
For bottom mapping... well, im a diver

Martin,

Using an airlift system with a draw pipe will move a lot of water, there are a lot of videos out there showing you how to make them. They can be build very cheaply to demonstrate the concept and determain if you want to build more permanent systems.

Best of luck cleaning up your pond. I have found that any positive efforts create great improvements in your waters.

Rainman can explain what he means but it sounds to me something similar to a venturi effect.

snrub, similar....it will increase velocity since creating an airlift is different then the way open, bottom diffused air moves water.

Bottom diffused bubbles spread out as they rise, with each bubble "lifting" a little water.

With a stack airlift, you have to confine the bubbles and increase velocity to create a low pressure area that forces water flow with the bubbles rising.

As for the "Bell" I mentioned, I mean a cone shaped tubing adaptor that would 1) connect the large and small pipes 2) create a smooth flowing transition 3) increase flow velocity/volume 4) create a low pressure area forcing flow

Use a material that has strength and can still be formed into a /\ shape.