Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Any Advice on My Frankenstein Aeration Setup?

Hi everyone. I was hoping I could find some direction / assistance here as you’ll quickly realize, I am an Aeration novice. (So please excuse any of my silly questions).

Setting the scene.

We're located in Southern Ontario, and we have roughly an acre (maybe larger) of land beside our house that becomes marshy during the spring and summer months and dries up towards the fall. In an attempt to dry out the center of this land we trenched out a water way and a pond in the circumference of this land. On this acre we have a circular pond section that is roughly 145’ x 135’ and canal that is 246’ and an intersecting canal that is 147’ in length (please see pictures below). Although there are some deeper parts (5-6’), for the most part it is shallow at 2.5’-4’. I want to use aeration to help control the mosquito population as this water becomes still in the summer months. Currently we use dunks for the mosquitoes. I also hope aeration will help with weed control (not looking for miracles, but an improvement would be nice).

[img]https://imgur.com/6RckhYK[/img]Size / layout

[img]https://imgur.com/gGtdnCg[/img]Depth

Scourging our toolshed we were able to generate a few items that I hope to use towards an aeration system:
-HiBlow 80 pumps x 2
-EcoPlus 3566 GPH (13500 LPH, 200W)
-200’ of weighted tubing
-150’ of non-weighted tubing
-Roughly 50’ of soaker hose
-T connectors that can be used to secure 2 to 3 lines per pump and to make a circular diffuser ring with the soaker hose

I hoping the equipment that I have (supplemented by some low-cost purchasing, if needed) is enough to create a DIY aeration system.

This is my plan of attack

Set my pumps on timers to go off for 15 minutes on every hour.
Create aeration disks using the soaker hoses and run either three lines from my two HiBlowers or 2 lines from all three pumps (prefer to keep it to two pumps as the ecoplus is pretty loud).

[img]https://imgur.com/a/kJ9s6b2[/img]Here is some pictures of the land for reference.


Any advice / direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

It looks like you have a good start to a "put-together" system. The EcoPlus 3566 shold be able to handle 4 to 7 traditional diffusers depending on the depths that you place the diffusers. The HiBlows are much smaller, but should be able to handle a couple diffusers each. I have never experimented with soaker hose, but I don't beleive it does near the job that purpose built diffusers can do. Look at Vertex or Matala diffusers...you'll have much better success with these and less troubles. I think the soaker hose is the weakest link in your plan.

Consider using the EcoPlus on the large pool and using the HiBlows in the chanels. I have never heard of anyone cycling the air every 15 minutes, but don't see why it would not work. I would prefer to run it for a set amount each day or continous 24/7. The idea is to get the water moving and keep it moving. You don't get much disolved oxygen from the bubbles. You get it from bringing the water in contact with the air at the surface which means keeping it turning over from bottom to top.
Starting and stopping the pumps would be less efficient because it would take a few minutes to get the pond to start circulating and then you would let it slow back down and stop just to start back up. It's kinda like gas mileage in a car...start and stop traffic uses more gas than cruising the highway.

To get into the finer details of a system you would need to get Pump Curves for you pumps and estimate the gallons of water for the pond. You should estimate the main body of water and then do the channel separately. Treat them as separte sections as the system in the main body won't do much for churning the channel waters. The soaker hose may have a place in the channel, but 50 foot won't go very far. AND, soaker hose is not something I can plug into a calculation and have any faith in producing the turnover rates required to do a good job. Not to say it won'd help, but it's just not something I can predict a positive outcome.

Thanks for the input Quarter Acre. I also worry about the soaker hoses. I've seen threads and posts from other people who've used them, but I couldn't comment on their effectiveness from personal experience. The reason I gravitated to a soaker hose rather than build something from PVC is because i'm under the impression that a shallow pond, like mine, would benefit from a long aerating hose, rather than a disc diffuser (I'm not dismissing purchasing proper diffusers, but i'd like to investigate a more cost effective alternative, before biting the bullet).

Good advice on starting and stopping the pumps. It makes perfect sense. Perhaps I'll switch it to a two hr. on one hr. off rotation. Hopefully this reduces the strain on the pumps while still providing effective water movement

My pumps will be located pretty high above water level. Do you suggest I get something to prevent backflow into the pumps?

finally, any suggestions on how I could gauge if my pumps are being placed under too much pressure? If I were to insert a pressure gauge, how would I decipher the readings.

I still think that one long run per day would be better than several short start/stops. In fact, you may find it more imprortant to run during the warmer hours of the day (or vise-versa) to help control water temps., but that's up to your goals with regards to the pond's inhabitants.

I would suggest check valves at the diffuser connections to keep water from backing up in the lines. Lines full of water can be difficult, if not impossinble, for the pump to clear back out.

You need to locate the Pump Curves (or performace curves) for the pumps to help dicipher what pressures to expect and what pressures are deemed in the good range. OR, pump manufactures will often give a pressure rating for the pump, but that number is subject to question. Do they mean the "max" or "optimal" pressure? Most times you don't know. The pump curve takes the guess work out and also allows you to figure out how much air it is being pumped (given the pressure).

I have seen HiBlow curves on the net, but don't recall seeing the EcoPlus's curves. This does not mean they are not there, but it may mean a call to the manufacture to see if they are available. Post the curves and we can get into the finer details.

Thanks for the input. Perhaps it's best if I try one long run per day, as per your suggestion. Makes sense to put in check valves. Truth be told I didn't know what they were called. Now I do!

You're right. HiBlow curves were easy to find. Here is the curve for my two pumps. https://imgur.com/x3IIodj
I've reached out to the manufacture for the EcoPlus curve. Hopefully they'll get back to me soon.

This has been very informative. Thanks again

and here is the pump curve for the EcoPlus. https://imgur.com/QDiLcpU

Popping the curves in so that they show up in the thread...

At 5 foot deep, a diffuser will create 2.5 psi of back presure (1/2 psi per foot of depth). Add a 1/2 psi (good swag) for the check valve, another 1/2 psi (another good swag) for the lines/fittings and your pump will see about 3.5 psi back pressure.

The Ecoplus 3566 will NOT handle my earlier prediction of 4-7 traditional diffusers. At 3.5 psi, the output CFM will be about 2 CFM. That's good for 2 vertex diffusers (9") at 5 foot deep. The 3566 GPH rating on this pump is if there is NOTHING hooked up to it. 3566 GPH is about 8CFM. You can see the chart at ZERO psi back pressure states the pump will put out that 8 CFM. Once back pressure starts building...the CFM's start to fall quickly.

The HiBlow 80's appear to work in a similar fashion.

It looks like you have enough pump power (all three pumps) to run 6 diffusers total (2 diffusers per pump). Maybe 8 if some are placed in the 2-3 foot depths.

This is all based on using Vertex Diffusers and it all goes out the window when using soaker hose. Not to say that the soaker hose won't do you some good, but my calulations are based on the vertex model.

Next is estimating the gallons in your pond...from my earlier post...You should estimate the main body of water and then do the channel/s separately. Treat them as separte sections as the system in the main body won't do much for churning the channel waters. There are many "pond volume calculators" on the web to help with this.

You should have enough "stuff" to do the main pond, plenty really. Not real sure about the channels. Aerating channels is a new concept to me, but we'll work through it and throw out some ideas, at least.