Why a bottom drain?

[-Greg-]

Bullfrog, not sure if this answers your question, but here is a picture of my sediment chamber (without the answer 250 micro-screen). The water rotates inside the chamber and the sediment (fish poop) settle to the bottom of the chamber. You will be amazed how much ends up in the bottom only after a few weeks. The micro screen keeps the crap in the chamber and out of the pump.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.koicarp.net/filtration/images/answer_with_logo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.koicarp.net/filtration/answer/answer_250_325.html&usg=__-PTESCrOtidKSk4qUrfKAo_Ojb8=&h=164&w=225&sz=9&hl=en&start=5&um=1&tbnid=op8Bh172PrjCVM:&tbnh=79&tbnw=108&prev=/images%3Fq%3Danswer%2B250%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

[Bullfrog]

Of the four pipes going into/out of the chamber, going clockwise which does what? I don't mean to be such a pain, but thought there would just be an inlet and an outlet. I like the way this is setup and want to do mine right.

[-Greg-]

Absolutely no pain at all! Starting clockwise.

1. This is where the answer 250 sits on top of. Outlet of sediment chamber to pump.
2. Drain of sediment chamber. I pull a couple of valves, and the pump sucks out the waste and pumps it out to the yard drain.
4. Inlet from the bottom drain of the pond.
5. Inlet from the skimmer.

Let me know if there is anything else you need, more pics, my plumbing diagram, etc.

Greg

[mcp]

Bullfrog, great pictures from Greg. Here is a couple pictures of mine after I had drained to clean and taken plants out I had stored there over winter. Mine is simply a small pond  with an inlet coming from pond, outlet going to 2 -55 gal drum filters, and a drain for the settlement pond. When I want to clean all junk out I close off inlet and outlet and open drain for settlement pond. This drains all water and junk out to waste ditch. Hope you can understand and  this helps. 

[Bullfrog]

This is a big help, I really appreciate all of your pictures and explanations. I want to have it all planned before I ever start of course, thanks again.

[-Greg-]

Bullfrog, here are my build pictures as well in case they help:

http://web.me.com/gunkel04/The_Gunkels/Pond_redo.html

[Bullfrog]

Greg, thanks for the pictures. Your pond looks great, a lot of work and it turned out really well. I was wondering how to house the pump to cut down the noise. The water is really clear so your filter is working really good.

[-Greg-]

I just used a cut-down "truck box" to house the pump, but to be honest, the Wlim pump I have is the quietest pump I have ever seen. The waterfall is the only thing you hear!

[Bullfrog]

Greg, what is an "Answer 250" ?

[-Greg-]

It is a micro-screen that mounts on top of the pipe inside the sediment chamber. It does not let any of the "crap" get sucked into the pump (it would get chopped up clog up the waterfall filter). Here is a link:

http://www.koicarp.net/filtration/answer/answer_250_325.html

I originally followed a "diy" build and built my own, however I was not happy with it, here are links to the instructions if you want to give it a try:

http://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34377
http://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60393

I had to do some scouring of the web to find a good deal on the answer, I ended up purchasing mine from qualitykoi.com I believe there are now other manufactures who make and sell micro-screens, but you will have to do some research.

Greg

[Bullfrog]

I see Greg. The sediment chamber has to be at the same level as the water in the pod to fet a level in it also as water seeks it's own level. How do you access the valves when you want to close the suction and open the drain?

[-Greg-]

The handle unscrews from the valve, so you can just make an extension out of threaded rod. I believe it was 1/4 x 20 thread size, you can pickup the threaded rod at any local hardware store, then cut it down to size. One end screws into the valve, the other end screws into the handle. I then used some 4" pvc pipe to make a "sleave" so that the dirt does not collapse down around the extension/handle.

Here is a picture of the handle extensions, and a couple of the sleaves:

[Bullfrog]

Greg, that is frigging brilliant. I've been wondering how I would access the valves and now the problem is solved. Thanks for answering all of my questions, I'm sure that I'll have more.

[Bullfrog]

Greg, the drain for the sediment chamber is on the bottom of course, but if this chamber is buried to ground level what make the water flow out of it when you open your drain to the yard or bog? Water won't flow up.

[-Greg-]

I have the drain line plumbed into the pump (along with the lower drain line from the sand & gravel filter) I push one valve closed to shut down the incoming "clean" water, and push another valve closed that goes to the sand & gravel filter. Then I open the drain valve from both the sediment chamber and the sand and gravel filter, and open the valve that goes out to the yard drain. The pump then becomes the waste pump.

Many of Kent's ponds use a separate waste pump, I think the brand he uses most is Tsunami. I had thought about going this route if my design of using the same pump did not work, but the system works just as it should. To be honest, the process is as easy as can be, and only takes a few minutes to preform.

[Bullfrog]

I see, when I'm not fighting a fire or responding to any medical emergencies I am a process operator in a refinery so I'm familiar with piping, vlaves and bypasses. I'm sure I can plumb this up but if you have any pictures before you buried the lines, I sure would like to see how you did it.

[-Greg-]

I will see what I can dig up tonight when I get home and post them up later. I am sure you will not have any troubles plumbing, and if you are anything like my best friend who is an engineer for PSFD, you excel at problem solving!