Someone tell me how to build this

How do I build one of these pumps.. Check out this video the pump is a couple minutes in from about the 2:30-3:00 minute mark..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGPuo6kaPds&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Isn't it just a trash pump?

Trash pump would lose prime..

I was thinking a self priming trash pump. Do people still use ones that aren't?

I'm not too up to date on trash pumps, never even heard of a self priming.. Would it work between sections of FA when you start sucking air then back to FA without losing prime and cavatating..?

I'm renting a 4" trash pump Saturday to give this a shot..

This is exactly how I pump the watermeal and filementous out of my pond. You do not want to pump it directly through a trash pump. I use a 4 inch trash pump to pump water through a venturi which has another 4 inch hose attached for pumping algae and watermeal. I own this equipment for dredging gold out of the creeks around here. Check out the KEENE website. They have all types of suction dredging equipment. I would guess that all of my equipment cost less than 450 bucks including the pump. The trash pump has a a screen on the inlet hose and you can not pump course vegetation through it. I will get some pics of my equipment posted shortly.

The venturi is labeled power jet in this picture.

Nice Mike.

I'm liking this thread. Could this same setup be used for Naiad or Chara? I have most of this stuff already, and the plan seems solid.

My setup will suck rocks, sand, mud, leaves, algae, fish and anything else that gets in its way. I have also been using it to suck out some of the sludge on the bottom of my pond. The only problem is that im sucking out 110 to 200 gallons per minute of water also. It seems that I lose about 3/4 inch of water per hour of dredging. I have only been letting the water come down about 4 inches and then waiting for the next big rain to fill it back up before I go back to work. I have seen a filtration device that would allow me to filter the weeds out and let the water run back into the pond. I have plans to build it in the near future as this is how I have been controlling the largest amount of watermeal in my pond.

Simple trash pump. The pump supplies clean water through from the pond through the blue hose which connect to the yellow hose in the picture below causing a strong suction thus pulling water and vegatation through the larger hose and over the dam of my pond.

Does anyone know of a lake management company that utilizes this technology?

I'd love to have this done once or twice a year.

Mike - Excellent idea, picture and schematic of your system. Many members here will find your information very helpful and useful. Thanks for sharing your info!

Are there any side effects of lowering my water level 4 to 5 inches in a matter of hour other than forcing baitfish out of the most shallow water of my pond?

Originally Posted By: Bill Cody

Mike - Excellent idea, picture and schematic of your system. Many members here will find your information very helpful and useful. Thanks for sharing your info!

What Bill Said

I like it Mike!

Classic example of conveying materials utilizing venturi pumps.

I forgot to add one piece of information. The way that im setup, I have to get in the pond waist deep to hold the suction hose just under the surface. It is a two person operation using me in the water and my wife pulling sticky ropes to bring the algae and watermeal to me. I dont mind getting up close and personal with my pond.

I contacted the guy who made the video I posted.. He said he never using any kind filter and sucks the FA straight through the pump.. He did say he had to monitor the prime all the time though.. He uses a 16hp 4" trash pump..

Learn something new everyday. It seems like he would be very likely to tear up a pump running that much algae through it.

Quote:

Trash pumps are designed to pump large amounts of water that contains hard and soft solids such as mud, leaves, twigs, sand, and sludge. Most devices are portable, heavy-duty centrifugal pumps that feature deeper impeller vanes and larger discharge openings than other pumps. Trash pumps, which are capable of processing materials with suspended particulates that would clog other centrifugal pumps, can move hundreds or even thousands of gallons per minute. Semi-trash pumps, a type of trash pump with a smaller opening, are not designed to handle large solids or high concentrations of solids. Consequently, regular trash pumps are better suited for applications that require the rigorous pumping of solid-laden water or slurries.

Trash pumps are available with a variety of features. Run dry capable pumps can operate without pumped fluid or external lubrication for an extended period of time. Self-priming pumps are designed to create and maintain a vacuum level that is sufficient to draw fluid into the inlet without external assistance. Non-clog pumps can move sticky or stringy materials.

Important specifications for trash pumps include maximum discharge flow, maximum discharge pressure, inlet size, discharge size, and horsepower.

Trash pumps are used in a variety of industrial, municipal, and specialty applications. Examples include agriculture and horticulture, construction, flood control, mining, and oil and gas production, and pulp and paper production.

Wow, I need one of these pumps.

I better make sure I get the insurance when I rent this pump this weekend..

Also, make sure you have plenty of suction and discharge hose!

I like the idea of filtering and allowing the filtered water back in, but would it be a concern for simply pumping any seeds back in?

This kind of stuff is a great addition to a mulch pile.

Well guys, I have to say this worked great (pics to come).. I'd say we removed a good 85-90% of the FA.. Took about 7-8hrs of pumping.. Would of got all the FA but the wind stopped and raking it towards the pump just wasn't working.. Killed quite a few yoy fish but not enough to worry also sucked a 4-6" snapping turtle through the pump.. I was amazed by the amount of FA flyin.. Overall I'd prolly do it again but I would make sure I had a stronger wind and start first thing in the morning not noon..

BGK: That is great. Looking forward to the pictures. I am fighting duckweed on my lower pond. If you want to practice on FA please let me know. I'm hearing "Road Trip"

Originally Posted By: Bluegillerkiller

Well guys, I have to say this worked great (pics to come).. I'd say we removed a good 85-90% of the FA. Overall I'd prolly do it again but I would make sure I had a stronger wind and start first thing in the morning not noon..

Awesome BlueGillerKiller.

If ya start a franchise in Texas I'll be your first customer!

I'll post the pics tonight for sure.. Also got a cool pic of a yoy LMB with another Yoy LMB stuck in it's throat pretty cool I thought.. You would not beleuve the amount of bugs that live in that FA millions of beetles, spiders, larvae all kinds of bugs it was crazy..

Here's some before and afters like i said not perfect but if the wind wouldn't have died it been dang near perfect also the pics were taken about an hour after we started (almost forgot) the FA was clear out to the point you can see on the right hand side of some of the pics..

Still working on the fish pic..

I guess thats one way of getting rid of the fa. the exact opposite is helping with my DW, my pond is dropping daily with 100 degree heat and and not a drop of rain in a long while, water looks good though.

We blew all the water and FA up on surrounding hills so all the water would run back into the pond.. All we lost was what soaked into the ground very minimal drop to the water level though

Here's the fish pic.. Sorry not the best pic but you get the idea that's my 6yr old holding the fish.

That's wild. If they can fit it in their mouths....

Nice job BGK!

That old tricycle Farmall with the FEL makes me nervous just looking at it though........

Talk about nervous, you aughta drive it.. It's old but restored.. Has a 96hp combine motor is it.. And that's a dump bucket.. It needs traded in..

Originally Posted By: sprkplug

Nice job BGK!

That old tricycle Farmall with the FEL makes me nervous just looking at it though........

I know of three people who have died in those old Farmall rollover accidents in Fayette County Illinois.

We don't take chances with it.. I know it's dangerous..

Originally Posted By: Bluegillerkiller

Talk about nervous, you aughta drive it.. It's old but restored.. Has a 96hp combine motor is it.. And that's a dump bucket.. It needs traded in..

An old trip dump. I haven't seen one of those in awhile. They were all the rage until manufacturers finally began offering additional hydraulic circuits on their tractors.

Be careful on it.

15 years ago when my pond was filling I put 2, 12 ton load of sand in for my beach and swimming area. I have had lots of plants over the years that has created muck, but the sand in the swimming area that hasn't been use for years except to launch a boat now and then doesn't get mucked up. I have no idea why.

This thread got me thinking... which means two things. I am going to break something for sure and its going to cost me money.

I rented a 4" trash pump this past weekend and tried a couple of things. The best "experiment" was my under water beach cleaning. (I took some before pics and forgot to take the after

. I will take it later this week and post them both)

The beach is a small area (approximaterly 900 sq ft under water). We placed the pump inlet hose 6" under the water in 1-2' of water. Then simpley walked and raked to suspend silt and other organic materials. We did this for about 1.5-2hrs. Very pleased with the results.

I've been doing some research on this equipment / technology for dredging muck and silt from our 40 yo pond. Drought has it low and the muck is getting exposed. I've found several companies that do this and here is some more information to consider.

As seen on Dirty Jobs....
Venturi system: http://www.aquacleaner.com/

No venturi, running everything through the pump...
http://waterfrontremodelers.com/index.html

Summary is that using the venturi system, you're going to be moving water with fewer solids than running everything through the pump which means more water loss per cu yd of materiel removed.

Still looking for more information and examples.

- RFL

RydforLyfL

Do you know how much buildup you have on the bottom? When I contacted some of the companies, one told me how to measure it.

I haven't done anything scientific or technically advanced, but it's got to be at least a foot at the head of the pond near shore as determined by trying to walk on it and sinking in. The pond was built in '73 and although it's not silted in real bad, there's almost 40 years of stuff in there that I think I can make a dent in myself over time. I'm just trying to figure out what I want to do and what I'll be allowed to do under the heading of ongoing maintenance. The county wants a quick in and out approach.

-RFL

Take a 5 gallon bucket lid and screw it to a PVC endcap. Put that on a PVC pipe and shove it into the pond bottom as hard as you can. Measure from lid to water mark on pipe. Do that in a few places. Now, remove lid and see how far you can shove the pipe into the bottom. Difference between the 2 measurements is what the muck level is.

A muck removal company told me thats how they estimate how much muck has to be removed, since they charge by the cubic yard.

I'm trying to picture this and figure out the reason for the lid. Is the lid there to provide a larger surface area to limit penetration beyond the lightest and softest material?

-RFL

Yep. The lid gives you the level of the top of the muck, the pole gives you the level of the orig. BOW bottom.