Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations windmill areation

My pond is almost dug! yeah! It's about 3/4 acre. with an average depth of 10' (12' deepest parts; 2'3' in real shallow parts)
I've been reading about different types of areation on archives of this forum. My pond is about 450-500 feet from available electrical for putting in a compressor type system so I looked at a some web sites of dealers for windmill type areation. One site said 1.5 CFM, 30 PSI @ 27 mph. Only 3-5 mph to START.
I checked the average annual wind speed here in my area. It's about 11-12 mph/month.
Is a Koender windmill sufficient to areate my pond?
Is this dealer site saying it'll take a steady 27 mph wind to generate enough cfm to produce adequate air???
Any info on a dealer or this Koender will be appreciated.
Help please!
Glen B. in Parker County, Texas.

Save your money. I went to a seminar here in central Tx. and the biologist said that if the wind is blowing enough to turn any type windmill , then you are getting enough ripple effect on the water to put as much O2 as the water can hold. Water can hold very little O2 no matter how much we bubble or throw it in the air.

GlenB, Look at an Vertex Air 2 www.aquaticaeration.com and the 500 ft of airline in the ground will not be a problem.Casca your biologist was all "wet" on that statement, perhaps in 3-5 ft of water but not in 10-12. Ted

casca - That biologist did not do all his homework or maybe he was daydreaming about fishing when the instructor was covering water chemistry.

Water can hold amounts of oxygen in milligrams per liter based on the temperature of the water. The warmer the water the less oxygen it can hold in mg/L or ppm. Water can easily become saturated with oxygen and at this point it is called 100% saturation. BUT water under certain conditions also can easily become supersaturated with oxygen and hold more than 100% oxygen, up to 120% - 140% saturated.

He was correct in sort of saying that there is a limit as to how much oxygen water can hold.

Not quite sure what he ment by "water can hold very little oxygen"; compared to what?

Thanks for the input, technical data, and info about the Virtex.
However, I was hoping to get more info from someone about the windmill areation vs. compressor and specifics on the Koender windmill--whether it will/will not do the job???
Anyone else want to add anything?
Thanks again!

I have a koender wind mill and am quite saatisfied with it, my pond could be dead calm but the wind mill is picking up wind from up above the trees and does a good job, mine was installed last summer, since then they make one with a double diafram puts out twice as much as mine. they are also a interesting part of my pond,

Thanks, Jimmy S.
Where did you buy it? What height is it? What size is your pond?
Glen B.

Glen; I brought it localy, but you can log in to WWW.STONEYCREEK@NCATS.NET or call 800 448 7720 they have a lot of pond stuff. my pond is about the size of yours, I got the highest mill 20 foot,we really like it. comes in three boxes, some assembly required HA--- have fun.

Glen I might have given you wrong address, try WWW.STONEYCREEKEQUIP.COM

I have a 3/4 acre pond and am happy with mine. I have high nutrients and have had fish kills when the water would get low without the windmill. Maybe four years with the windmill and have not seen any dead fish. We haven't been as dry lately and there could be other factors but I think it has something to do with the windmill. I got mine from Malibu Water Resouces (advertised in Pond Boss Mag.) because it was the cheapest I found. BTW, it was a pain in the #%&^* to put together.

Thanks, Jimmy S. & Brian.
Hey, Brian...is yours a metal Koender? or wooden w/ a mill?
Was the assembly difficult on all of it or just part of it/
g

glen assembly was not difficult, all the parts are well marked just take your time, it took me and another about 12 hr.go slow and have fun with it. standing it up can take some thought

My time estimate on putting together a Koender's windmill would agree with Jimmy's. It is well adapted to putting together in three subassemblies - the tower, the rotor, and the tail-compressor assembly - which can each be done by one person in 4-6 hours. I layed out all the parts on a hay wagon and put the three subassemblies together in a barn, where I was out of the sun/rain, then we pulled the wagon out to the pond and erected it there. I spread the job out over three weekends. You can wait to do final assembly until you put it up on site (this took my wife and me another 4-5 hours, including placing the airstone out in the pond), which cuts the amount of weight you have to lift down to a fairly easy two person job. The hardest part was getting the tail-compressor assembly up over the tower to drop in place; it was do-able with our 12 foot tower using 10 and 12 foot step ladders, but it might not be possible to erect one this way with a taller tower. I think I would have had to use scaffolding for a taller tower.

I put the entire tower thing together on mt car huller trailer then at the pond site I got it off the trailer and leaned it on the upright ramps at about 30 degree angle then attached the blades and compressor must be close to 75lbs.being a 20 ft. tower is about the only way to do it.took 5 of us to stand it up just to be safe its fun to look at and here it pump.

I just had my windmill installed recently, so I can't tell you the results so far. But, it does pump oxyegen more times than not since my pond is in the middle of a field and no trees nearby to block wind from any direction. I believe that is a key factor. I also noticed, quite happily, that it doesn't really take that much wind to generate the pump and see a boil from your diffuser. A breeze will get it going. The other good thjing I did was to but a Vertex CoActive air station from Ted Lea and Forevergreen (see post above) So far, it readily accept the air fro the diaphragm pump and creates a much better infusion of oxygen that the stone diffuser supplied by Koenders.

I had my windmill built, erected and secured by a friend of mine who sells Koenders windmills on behalf of Joe Mescan, along with two Amish fellows who helped him. For $300, it was well worth it.

So far, I really like the windmill, hope it produces some beneficial results over doing nothing at all (I, too agree that wind action alone does not supply oxygen to the bottom layers of a pond more than 6' deep), and it adds an aesthetic appeal to the pond. If you don't want an electric bill or have to bury tubing for 500', it may be worth the investment. Nothing beats an electric compressor setup, but you got to make a choice based on what's good for you.

Yes it is a metal Koenders. I guess the assembly was more time consuming than difficult. Lots of pieces. I used a loader to lift the fan and compressor to the top of the tower and had my brother help me put it on. I agree with the soothing sound it makes.

ONE MORE POINT GLEN; SOMEONE SAID THEY WONT PRODUCE ENOUGH AIR TO MATTER. I LIVE IN NW.IN. IT GETS COLD HERE, AFTER TWO OR THREE STILL COLD DAYS, MY POND WILL FREEZE HARD ENOUGH TO WALK ON, WHEN THE WIND STARTS BLOWING, IN A HOUR OR SO I WILL HAVE A 10 FT. CIRCLE OF OPEN WATER.IT TAKES A LOT OF AIR TO MELT THAT ICE.IF IT WAS WINTER I WOULD SEND A PICTURE.

It realy does not take that much air to melt the ice thickness you are referring to. A small amount of air rising as small bubbles from the bottom and continually pushing 39F water against the bottom of ice will fairly rapidly melt that ice above the bubbler. The ice above the bubbler is usually not as thick as ice around the aeration boil perimeter. During winter I can have 6" - 8" of ice thickness within about 15' to 20' of the open diffused air hole. The ice gradually decreases in thickness the closer I get to the open hole.

Thanks, Guys! This has been VERY helpful.

They're finishing up my pond today. Dressing up the dam top/road, etc. I'll probably go ahead and order the WM, get it assembled & in place before the rains come in September (hopefully it'll come! :rolleyes:

I've found that Joe Mescan has the best $$ on the Koender type WM. His price includes shipping to Texas. The other dealers didn't include shipping, which made the overall costs higher.

Sounds like I need to round up all 3 of my grown sons and a brother-in-law to raise/set it up on the site!

Again, thanks to each of you. I'll let you know how it turns out in a few weeks.
gb

Update on WM price...I just got a quote from Stoney Creek that was less expensive than the price from Joe Mescan and it included shipping.

GlenB. Did you check with Koenders for dealers closer to TX than Mescan (OH) or Stoney Creek(MI)? There ought to be a dealer in SW US that will match Mescan's price and ship it cheaper. try Koenders.wind@sasktel.net or www.koenderswindmills.ca. mfg plant telephone 306-287-3702 or Regina Sask. office 306-721-1495. Their website used to list all dealers; even I was on it. I haven't visited their site for awhile. Maybe later tonight.

Update: Stoney Creek wasn't less expensive--they quoted a 12' instead of a 20'--I should've jumped on their goof-up, huh?

Bill Cody: I had already visited the Koender web site. I had to fill out a "Dealer Location" request--As I recall, I think there was a dealer down in the Houston/Beaumont area, but he was more than Mescan because of shipping & taxes--Mescan is including both in his offer. Thanks for the hint, though.

My pond is excavated...it looks great! I have some pea gravel/sand mix scheduled for delivery later this week. From other posts on this forum, I read that the beds need to be in an area that'll hold 2'-4' of water. I've got two different areas I'm considering. I seem to remember that a base of about 3" is good--is that right?

The next steps are to get my WM assembled/erected (I'll probably order today or tomorrow); put out my cedar tree structure in 5-6 areas; get some bermuda seed broadcast on the dam face and backsides; spread/place some large limestone rocks that were dug out around the perimeter; then do a Texas "Rain dance" out in the deepest part of it; then pray for the rain to come on so I can get my forage fish ordered, in the H2O and making babies!!!

Lots 'o work--but a lot more fun than real work!

Glen are you getting the one with the double diafram, also they offer after market stone diffusers that are better then what comes with the kit.