Float Valve & Garden Hose

[Jerry]

I thought it would be a good way to keep the pond topped off while on vacation, but, my experience with pistol ends on garden hoses has not been good.  They are handy for washing the car, but forget them and you come back to a burst hose.
A water source for a float valve is doable, but a big job and a long trench. What do you think?

[tammie]

Maybe use a commercial grade hose.  Or one of the hoses that can be used with hot water.  Seems it the sun heating up the water that makes my hoses pop. 
Tammie

[Mucky_Waters]

Hi Jerry
I have a lot of plants that grow along the shore of my pond with their foliage and roots growing right into the water and subsequently lose a lot of water at the top level to the wicking action of the plant roots and foliage. At one point I was thinking to hook up some sort of float valve, but realized that the simplest way to keep my pond topped up was just to run a discreetly placed hose into the pond and just run a very slow drip that matches (or slightly faster than) the water that is lost. By running it slightly faster I also get the advantage of a slow perpetual water change and never have to go through the chore of draining some of my water and re-filling.
 Initially I was a bit worried about chlorine build-up and thought of running the water through one of those inline activated charcoal filters, but after doing much testing I realized chlorine build up was just not going to be a problem because it disperses faster than it can build up.
The only real advantage of a float valve (if it is an advantage at all) is that it will replace EXACTLY the amount of water that is lost through evaporation and capillary action, so you will still have to do periodic water changes. As I mentioned I don't mind adding a few drops an minute more because it performs a slow sort of perpetual water change as the slight excess drains over the low level of my pond and keeps the ground moist in that area and the plants there well watered.
Oh and by using the valve at the tap end of the hose my hose is never under pressure and I don't have to worry about it bursting.
Anyway, that's what I do to automatically take care of water loss, and it has been working for me for the last 3 years.

[Loritx]

I have a float valve in my skimmer box. Its hooked up to the sprinkler system. Most of the time we just manually turn on the sprinklers, but when on vacation its on the timer. 

I would not ever put it on a direct on all the time waterline - I am too paranoid that the valve would malfunction and put too much chloranated water in without me being here to put in the dechloranator. This way I know it will only put so much water in the pond (only runs 8 minutes on a 1/4 inch drip line)at any one time and automaticly turn off.

[Jerry]

Thank you both.
Mucky, I love the simplicity of your drip method. sume it will be trial and error to get it just right.

[miguynmkoi]

Mucky, you gave me a great idea!  I have potted plants around my pond which use drip system for watering  If I can find a slow drip nozzle I can have it drip directly thru my mini bog and into the pond area.   

Sound good?!?!?! 

[Bonnie]

Hi Jerry
I have a lot of plants that grow along the shore of my pond with their foliage and roots growing right into the water and subsequently lose a lot of water at the top level to the wicking action of the plant roots and foliage. At one point I was thinking to hook up some sort of float valve, but realized that the simplest way to keep my pond topped up was just to run a discreetly placed hose into the pond and just run a very slow drip that matches (or slightly faster than) the water that is lost. By running it slightly faster I also get the advantage of a slow perpetual water change and never have to go through the chore of draining some of my water and re-filling.
 Initially I was a bit worried about chlorine build-up and thought of running the water through one of those inline activated charcoal filters, but after doing much testing I realized chlorine build up was just not going to be a problem because it disperses faster than it can build up.
The only real advantage of a float valve (if it is an advantage at all) is that it will replace EXACTLY the amount of water that is lost through evaporation and capillary action, so you will still have to do periodic water changes. As I mentioned I don't mind adding a few drops an minute more because it performs a slow sort of perpetual water change as the slight excess drains over the low level of my pond and keeps the ground moist in that area and the plants there well watered.
Oh and by using the valve at the tap end of the hose my hose is never under pressure and I don't have to worry about it bursting.
Anyway, that's what I do to automatically take care of water loss, and it has been working for me for the last 3 years.

I know of a few people that do this and it works very well for them.
Adding alittle water at a time will be much better for fish instead of using a float system.

A float system would be okay if you were going to be home to add dechlor.

[Jerry]

I have a test drip running now!

[miguynmkoi]

Let us know how it goes! 

[Jerry]

I must have made a good guesstimate, It ran all day and has risen to be sure, but not over flowed. I turned it off for the evening. 
Big Mother's day festivities tomorrow!

[karen J]

My neighbor gave me a (used- built pool instead) float valve system that I probably will never use, so if anyone wants it, it's yours!

I love Mucky's idea. It would be very easy to screw a Y valve to the tap and bury a dedicated hose, yet still have a regular hose on the other side of the Y. I dislike digging more trenches, but this would be well worth it.

[Mucky_Waters]

Hey this has gota be a first for me. First time I suggested an idea and somebody tried it, and the first time somebody said they "loved my idea".              Wow!   You guys (and gals) you made my day, I think I'll go open a bottle of wine and celebrate . 

I also have a drip/mister irrigation system on a timer that goes around my pond and I at first tried to run one of the drips into the pond, but because my timer only stays on for about 30-40 minutes a day it wasn't enough to keep the pond water level up in the heat of the summer. Of course I could  have turned on the timer for longer during the day, but then my other plants would be getting more water than they really need, or I could have put a higher volume drip on the one that went directly into the pond, but the problem then would be I would be adding the water all at once again rather than spreading it out over the a 24 hour period. So that's why I ended up running a dedicated line that runs continuously, so I could add the water as slowly as possible.

As for getting the drip just right, I just started adding it as slow as possible and watched the pond level over the course of a day or two and frequently tested for chlorine and chloramines levels. I continued to turn up the drip until  it was nearly a steady light stream and it soon became clear that that chlorine build up wasn't going to be a problem as I never measured any detectable levels. Still, as a precaution I do add the drip to my top pond (where there are no fish) so it has more of a chance to disperse and neutralize before it runs down into the lower pond where the fish are. Running it through a bog  first sounds like an even better idea.

What I did find is that you can never get the drip just perfectly right, because the amount of water loss from my pond varies a lot according to weather conditions. Dry, hot windy weather sucks up the water very fast, but if it's cool and cloudy I don't lose much water at all, and of course if it's raining ............  That's why I just let mine drip, drip , drip all the time and only check once in a while if it's still dripping, because sometimes a bit of dirt gets plugged up in the valve opening and slows or stops the drip.

[Jerry]

I have a few drip irrigation emitters in the pond too, but they did no discernible good.
I think your  idea a fine plan and I am not alone.  Does your wife tell you about the water bill?
Mine does.  I tried to explain evaporation is out of my hands and I must add water anyway!
Women!

[karen J]

The float valve thingie has been claimed. 

Mucky, another really great thing about your idea is that NO LONGER would there be an ugly hose constantly hanging around by the pond! 

[Johns]

Jerry,

I have three pond systems with automatic water.  One has a toilet ball valve and adds water as it evaporates.  It works well.  Another is at the catch basin end of two small ponds with a 50 foot stream between them.  Here I used an electric float switch and an automatic water solonoid valve.  It works just like the first one except it is electric rather than mechanical.  The third system is in my largest fish pond and it is a water solonoid valve tied into one of my 5 different automatic watering systems.  What it does is run ful tilt for three minutes or so every day (The time is adjustable from 1to 60 minutes).  This puts about 25 gallons into the pond (2,700 gal capacity) every day, keeping it brim full.  All three systems are permenantly piped with 3/4 pvc and I am satisfied with the operation of all three.  If you are going to tie into your water supply at a hose bib, I suggest using the high pressure woven metal covered washing machine hoses to connect from the supplyy to the outdoor pvc.  You WILL need a backflow preventer.

[Mikey]

If you have a farm supply place in the area you might contact them.  They likely have small float valves for water troughs and probably can suggest methods of installation of both the valve and the water source.

[Jerry]

yes Johns, Mickey and all.  I meed to avoid a live water pipe.  It would mean a long trench.  That's why the hose is so attractive.

[Mucky_Waters]

No water bills here Jerry.
We are caretakers of some property for a Sportsmen's Association, they pay all the utility bills. Also the water here is not metered, they just pay a yearly set rate based on the amount of area that is irrigated which is probably a good thing because they have a lot of old leaky irrigation lines out here that drip a lot faster than my pond drip.
So you see my wife has no cause to get on my case about water bills, but don't worry, she has no problem finding plenty of other things to tell me about.   

[Jerry]

So Cal would be a desert if nature had it's way.  When we have a few dry years all the talk is about zeroscaping (no idea how to spell it.  spell check suggests periscope) and only flushing when necessary.  They actually advertise, "If it's yellow, let it mellow, If it'd brown, flush it down!"

We can't have a well either since the water belongs to the LA Dept. of Water & Power!