Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations filling from a creek

I have a question about topping off my 1/3 arce pond with water from a creek that flows behind my pond.
This is the plan,my pond seems to drop alittle faster than a would like so I would like to pump water into the pond just to keep it filled. I want to filter the water first before it goes into the pond. I was looking at a OASE Biotec 10 Filter. This filter has a max flow through of 4000 GPH. The size of the filter is 31x20x18. My pump that I plan on using outputs 3200 GPH and at this point I plan on running it 5-10 hours a week. My question is what other things do I have to worry about using creek water if anything? Any observations would be helpful.
Thanks Ed

I am not familiar with the OSAE filter but I assume it is quite fine mesh due to the low filtration rate. If it is pretty fine, the pores will fairly quickly start to clog depending on the water clartiy and amount of suspended solids. Your filter will no doubt be removing all fish which are the only living things that I really get concerned about when using ditch/creek water to fill a pond. Septic bacteria in streams usually dies out in several weeks once added to a pond.

The other things that may be a concern are chemicals usually agri-chemicals. Nuitrients from the creek water will be accumulative and will stimulate algae/weed growth which may or may not be desirable. I prefer to pump during realitively low flows when water is prety clear. This way minimal phosphorous is added to the pond. Best seasons to pump are fall, winter, early spring before farmers plant crops. Mid-May through most of August the tiny fish fry (1/4"-1/2") are abundant in streams and agri-chemical leachate is highest after rains.

ed, not sure about the cost of those pumps; but have you considered a well? not sure what your water table/well depth requirements are in your area, but i've researched a windmill powered system that can pump water from a well about 40 feet, at a reasonable cost. just a thought. mark (the reason i didn't use it is because wells around here are usually 150 to 500 feet deep or so i think, which is an expensive well.

Thanks for the Help. It looks like I am going to use a 300 micron prefilter on the pump end and a 100 micron 10 foot pond sock on the end going into the pond. I have electric at the pond so I am going to use a sump pump from lowes that will pump 53 gallons per minute at 10'. At that rate I should be able to pump around 3000 gallons an hour.
Thanks Ed

I think the 300 micron prefilter is is overkill. The fine mesh could even clog with debris, leaves floating down stream or algae growth and cause reduced flow and problems. Prefilter could even start restricting flow after several days in the water. The large sock filter on the discharge end is more than ample for what your are doing.

Depending on the length of pipe you may not get real close to 3000gph. See how long it takes to fill a big container and calculate flow.