I just dug a hole where the pond overflows into a 5 gallon bucket, with a couple heavy bricks in it in case it rains here (which it never does) causing the bucket to pop out of the hole. A standpipe can be used to allow the water to trickle into the overflow chamber. To prevent floating debris from entering, you can drill a few notches on the top of the standpipe then silicone an oversize pipe cap on to it. The bucket acts as my overflow chamber. Then I use a
outdoor hi-lo conductivity switch to turn on a small
560gph submersible fountain pump. This small pump has 14 foot head height which allows me to hook a 3/4" 100 foot hose to it and I move it around the yard each day to water my trees or other plants. Not much water comes out of the hose at all, just a very very slow trickle, but it works quite well. The conductivity switch is overkill for this small pump, but, during the winter, I use it to turn off my pond heater just in case my pond's water level falls due to a plumbing failure or something else that could cause the heater to be on while dry, which corrodes and eventually causes the heating filament to fail. This is the only switch I could find that could control the electrical flow of a 1500 watt pond heater.
I initally wanted to put the standpipe in the skimmer chamber, but this would cause problems, which is explained below. So, I had to cut into the liner. I splurged and got one of those expensive bulkheads and then goo'd it up to make sure the seal is water tight, but I am told electrical PVC conduit works really well instead of the expensive bulkheads.
If the pump were to fail, then no worries since it sits in a chamber that has a degree of seperation from the pond. So, if the pump stays stuck on, then the pond is not drained. If the pump never turns on, then the water will just overflow wherever the nearest low spot is on the pond border unless a low spot was installed for this purpose.
I like this approach with the overflow chamber and pump connect to a hose since the water is not always going to one place, that is I can easily change the location, and I am not going to grow plant's specificaly for only this overflow water since I have other plants that needs the water.
The only downside to the conductivity switch is that limescale can muck up the sensors causing them to fail, but, if your water mineral content is soft or pH is closer to be acidic or neutral sides of things (below mid-7s), then this limescale dissolves in the water or never has a chance to form.
To explain how I am able to use 100 feet of hose from such a small pump, here's quick tidbit about head height... Head height indicates the pump's power to push water to the point where the water can't be pushed any further. Each 1 head height foot equals to 1 vertical foot or 10 horizontal feet. So, 14 foot head height means the pump can only pump water vertically up to 14 feet until zero water comes out the top or it means it can pump horizontally 140 feet until zero water comes out. Also, each 1 head height equals to 2.31 psi so you will need an extremely low pressure irrigation system if you want to use 14 foot head height pump (which can only provide 6% psi).
Frankp said:
1) Has anyone used or are now using an auto fill valve in their skimmer? I've been thinking of 2) adding one to keep the pond level constant over the summer but was 3) curious how others handle the chlorine issue. Adding the water through the valve will be only a trickle, but would it be slow enough to allow the chlorine to dissipate enough? I'm guessing maybe a chlorine remover added on a weekly basis to eliminate it in any new water that was added.
Appreciate any thoughts
One word of caution, with systems like these, you will not know if you have a small leak in the pond depending on how much new water you trickle into the pond and overflow out.
1) Now, if you are talking about placing a device valve in your skimmer, then this could be a bad idea depending on the design of your skimmer. If your skimmer is the type with pads, then, as the pads get clogged with debris, less water enters the skimmer chamber causing the pump to make the water level in the skimmer chamber not the same as the pond. If the device valve is placed in a static position in this skimmer chamber and the chamber's water level falls due to skimmer's clogged pads or brushes, then you will find the device valve constantly open, which could leads to problems. Now, if you only have a trickle coming out of it when the valve is activated, then this might fix the problem of the device valve being stuck open, but I would still not do it due to the potential disaster that could happen.
You want to place the device valve in a location where the water level will always be the same with the actual pond water level.
2) You are pretty much talking about a "flow through" system, such as one Mucky described, with the purpose of combating evaporation. This is how mine is setup. If I want more pond water to water my plants etc, then I simply just increase the flow at the source water. If your source water is of good quality, then this is very healthy for your pond's fish by controlling the various pathogens, salinity issues, or other contaminant buildup.
3) I'm on well water so I don't have to worry about chlorine or chloramine. If I did have to worry about it, then I would defintiely not rely on the chlorine always dissipating or neutralizing itself nor having faith in a dechlorinator. I would much rather use an
inline water filter that then I would connect a hose adaptor to it.
