... Bottom aeration diffusers bring water up to the surface so it can absorb O2 from the air. The water jet will move water horizontally...
Right, and as I see it, the mixture between the two caused by the horizontal movement of the latter might alleviate the need for a summer diffuser in that lobe of the pond. Or is there some fault in my reasoning that I'm missing?
As for the power of the water jet, the model I'm looking at (
www.aquathruster.com) offers from 1/2 hp to 2 hp motors and can be equipped with an optional oscillator. (I haven't yet decided which size to go with or whether to add the oscillator.)
... As to the "boil" that she dislikes, can you find a picture of it and post it? I'm wondering if she saw a aeration system that wasn't set up properly, or if she saw a surface agitator and thinks that is a bottom diffuser.
That's a great point. I think at present she's going by memories of aerators I didn't witness with her, or maybe just imagination. I've certainly never seen an aerator that I thought caused unattractive roiling, but she just might be especially finicky in this regard; if that's the case then I can hardly blame her, as I can be especially finicky about some things, myself. :^/ I'll spend some time with her checking out pictures/videos online to see if it might modify her thinking.
A question about the idea of an aeration system not being set up properly: How can one tell whether they're pushing too little or too much air through a diffuser? I know these things are adjustable (I mean, in addition to being subject to the cfm one's compressor is capable of producing), but I've not yet seen anything that tells one how to optimize the amount of air going through a given diffuser.
Rest assured, I share your concern about people/animals being able to get out of the pond if they fall in; in my case, with the entire pond being encircled by a walled bank, it's a concern even in the summer. (This summer my wife and I came home one afternoon to find that a neighbor's horses had found a breach in their fence and wandered into our woods quite some distance from their pasture. I hate to think what could have happened had they reached the pond, one or more of them somehow fallen in and we'd not come home anytime soon.) That's one of the reasons I'm so eager to put in the beach. I will definitely keep this issue in mind if/when I add winter aeration, too.
English springers, eh? Beautiful dogs! I'm currently searching for my next German shorthaired pointer pup, myself, so I've got bird dogs on my mind a lot lately.
I really can't thank you enough for going through all this with me, esshup. You're doing a lot to improve my education, and my pond will be better off as a result.
Gerry
