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Bottom Drain

Started by asmackay, December 09, 2009, 11:00:02 AM

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asmackay

I wanted to find out who in Ottawa uses a bottom drain in their pond.  I don't have one and I am was thinking PVC in our climate could crack with water in it over the winter.  I have a liner pond and don't like the idea of cutting a hole in a perfectly good liner and then sealing it.


Anyone else use Bottom Drain?


220G African planted
75G High Tech planted inprogress
550G Pond with Waterfall
3000G Pond in progress
Hobbies, video's http://www.youtube.com/user/newday3000

ED209

if the drain has a constant flow it won't freeze also it should be pretty safe if it is all blow the frost line in this area that about 4 feet of fill over the pipe.

sealing pond liners is a hassle if anything go's wrong at the lowest point in the pond it could be a big deal

if you have to drain the pond regularly for what ever reason add a by pass to the pluming and use the water fall pump to pump the water out attach a hose and water the garden with pond water your flowers will love you for it... just don't wash the car with it

nissannx

bottom drain if done right is very safe. i personally dont like the idea though. why put a hole in perfectly good liner. it does keep it clean looking unless you hide a pump in a waterfall or something for a drain

OlgaShtain

I really dont know which is better since I only have experience on my one pond bottom drain, concrete liner, fountain feed.  If you go with a concrete liner make sure you use a paint coating to keep the lime in the cement mix from making the water pH toxic.

Brent Shaver

It would be simular to a pool, if you just have a bottom drain and no skimmers the load from surface debree would be over powering and would require to clear the drain on a regular basis otherwise your pump would work too hard and possibly burn out if blocked for too long.  It would also be a good idea to put in a secondary filter cansiter trap to catch the smaller material so it doesnt run through your pump which will help retain the life span.

sylvain

First what is the purpose intended for the bottom drain?

Is it to drain the pond from time to time, or is it to hook a filter?

if it is to drain the pond, for cleaning purposes or to winterize your pond, there is no problem with a bottom drain, as long as you get all the water out of it, if indeed you are shutting down the pond in the winter.

If it is to hook up a filter to it, then you have to make sure that you put a strainer on it big enough so your fish or tree leaves don't get suck to it, this will overheat the pump and burn it, not to mention the poor fish dying by suction.

but honestly, if I were you, I just wouldn't cut a hole in a perfectly good lining, better off thinking about another solution, submersible pump or stuff like that.

Sylvain 
220-
150-
120-

Fishnut

I've been talking to A LOT of koi people lately in my quest for finding the best way to house my koi.  They all swear by the bottom drain in their ponds for filtration and recommend nothing else.  The reason it's the best for filtration is because the smaller particulates settle to the lowest point, which will be your bottom drain, then pulled out of the pond by your filter.

Debris is ideally caught by the skimmer and the suction on a bottom drain isn't going to be strong enough that a healthy fish will get sucked onto it.  A sick fish that is dying already, will probably get caught by it though. 

I'm building a pond this summer and have decided against the bottom drain for now.  The only reasons are the fact that I also hate the idea of putting a hole in a perfectly good liner and that this will be my first time working with pond liner so I'm not too confident on how to seal the hole properly in order to prevent future leaks.  I figure I'll save some for future experiments then put a bottom drain on the upgrade pond in 5 or 6 years.

asmackay

Concreate bottom drains make sense to me, but the risk of a 45mm thick liner seal just seems like a problem to seal correctly. The thought of repairing a leak, means draining the pond, remooving the fish to (where), letting it dry which could take hours or days, applying sealant??? The repair scare is all I need to say no to a bottom drain with a liner based pond. Concrete is a different store as this is like a pool.  Pools are nothing like a liner based pond.  I have now built both ponds with no bottom drain and using a floating skimmer which works great and does not require a hole in the liner.  I also have a cirulation pump that can suspend debris on the bottom so my main pump can pick it up and pump it to my mechanical filters. 
220G African planted
75G High Tech planted inprogress
550G Pond with Waterfall
3000G Pond in progress
Hobbies, video's http://www.youtube.com/user/newday3000

Taoism

I am by no stretch an expert on any of this stuff.  I did however, find a site linked to by someone else in this forum (I believe in the thread about where to get good Koi) and this site has what I am presuming to be a rather good explanation of pond construction and a full section about bottom drains and how they are put in.  Based on the reading, it doesn't seem like it would be that big a deal to get one sealed into the liner correctly.

http://www.clarkekoi.com/ConstructionFundamentals.html
http://www.clarkekoi.com/BottomDrains.html

I am curious about this subject too as I am trying to figure it all out.  I inherited a tiny pond with my house when I moved out here to Ottawa.  It's maybe 4'x2.5'x18" deep.  I would like to be able to winter fish in the pond, but as it currently exists that is not possible.  So, I am trying to understand how build a pond so I can potentially rip mine apart and redo it slightly larger and much deeper.

bergenm

I will probably be getting a retro-drain - gives you a bottom drain without cutting into your liner...

http://www.aquaart.com/drain.html#pipeoption
Michael

Taoism

Quote from: bergenm on June 16, 2011, 07:50:42 PM
I will probably be getting a retro-drain - gives you a bottom drain without cutting into your liner...

http://www.aquaart.com/drain.html#pipeoption

Now that's a neat idea, and their picture (http://www.aquaart.com/AquaArtInstall.html) of how it installs clears up how the settling chamber can be positioned.  I was thinking it had to be below the bottom of the pond which I found rather puzzling.