Unfortunately there are no wastewater techs alive in my area anymore so I'm stuck with an "eminent domain" as soon as your lagoon fails situation, and no help. I've been reading like mad. They won't let us tie into the city sewer because they want a pretty field next to the road instead of the building that has been there since 1968.

There are two ponds. Both fed by a large 220v high volume air pump, 1.5 inch pipe and a homemade octagonal diffuser in each pond. These ponds are probably 40x70' and about 6' deep.
The aerator in the ponds are at the surface
Shouldn't the aerator be on the bottom???? These only have 8 holes in each diffuser. I would expect a large number of small holes. I also suspect that the main pond (other is an overflow), should have 2 diffusers since it is a wastewater lagoon fed by a large 5 section septic tank system.
The main pond is failing and I am removing cattails and I found pieces of yet another diy aerator built like a ladder. This one appears to have been original and is anchored rather high!!
Suggestions??
I'll have to make another diy diffuser system. How big and how many million holes do I need to drill? ..

Fyi The 5 tank septic has a massive air pump feeding a simple 1.5" pipe into each section. No diffusion at all. I have to redo the piping due to wear holes, should it get like a diffuser cap. A 1.5" cap drilled with tiny holes??

Any guidance or direction to diy designs for this would really help. I'm drowning in $$$$ solutions and scientific info and not enough real world basic knowledge. I cant even find someone who knows how to test the water or what test kit to buy to check the health of the system.
TIA