I need to design my pond such that it can survive me being away for 1-2 months for travel. In that time, I could lose 20" of water. From the pictures I see of pond skimmers, it looks like they would stop working if even 1" of water were removed from the pond. Can they function when the water evaporates?
Do pond skimmers work after water evaporates significantly?
- Thread starter Hop-frog
- Start date
Nope. You should consider a negative edge. Or you could use an auto-fill set up.
I'm not sure how you're figuring 20 inches though - that would be rather extreme water loss. Do you get no rainfall at all?
I'm not sure how you're figuring 20 inches though - that would be rather extreme water loss. Do you get no rainfall at all?
In my area, the evaporation rate is 70-80 inches per year. So if I'm gone for 2 months, maybe 20 is too much, but 12-15 are realistic amounts of loss. It generally only rains in the monsoon season, which lasts about 3 weeks, the rest of the year we go without rain.
Ah. We've discussed evaporation rates here before. Well, at least you know what to expect! Most new pond owners will immediately assume LEAK!
Mmathis
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Yes, 20” in a 20,000 to 30,000 gallon pond does seem excessive! I could see that in a smaller pond, but not one that large.
My only experience is from my small pond...also I checked a government map that listed evaporation rates per region...strangely my 3000 gallon swimming pool never evaporated as fast as my 500 gallon pond...will my larger 30k+ gallon pond evaporate much more slowly?
I don't have anywhere near the genius to explain the concept, but I know Meyer Jordan answered a post here about it once (a former member, now sadly passed away who was, in fact, a genius) but there was more to it than just an inch-for-inch determination. I believe it's called "pan evaporation formula" or data or something like that. It has relevance in the pond world, but like you said it's not as simple as "I'll lose 20 inches from my pond based on the average rate of evaporation for my region". Water volume, surface area, wind, temperature, humidity, etc all play a significant role as well.
Your not alone , I built my pond with the same possibilities of being away for months on end .
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
A cistern i use a small pump that keeps the cistern circulating where i pump 400 gallons an hour i believe it was. and this pumps from the cistern to the pond . the pond has a negative edge where the water drops over a 16" waterfall into a small pool 6'x6' This pool has the external pump pulling water from this area making the falls a nice flow. and the pool has a small stream that the over flow like from a rain even or the 400 gallon pump drops down into a 2500 gallon cistern so as it rains the cistern fills up as at the other end of the pond i collect water from the roof and it dumps in the pond this way any extra water will automatically flow into the cistern. The 400 gph pump does have a float valve so if the water drops so far it will shut the pump down . at which time the water level in the pond will drop where a very expensive and reliable automatic water refill will sense the water drop and turn on the house water supply. Worked like charm the past year. I do shut down the pond where i have air pumped to the aquascape bog and the main pond. the 400 gph pump i just disconnect the hose and let the circulation keep the water moving in the cistern. There's a video of the pool pond and bog set up in my blog it should be on page 47
I had this problem and found a bright and motivated neighborhood teenager to take care of my ponds and aquariums. It was a huge win-win. He became 'addicted' to the hobby and is now a scientist.
Mmathis
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