Just when you think you have the pond mastered. Mother nature steps in....

[Lisak1]

Baltimore is a disaster, never go in there if I can help it.

I feel like you just summed up almost every major US city... sadly. I love Chicago. It's beautiful. No way will I even consider going to most parts of it right now.

 

[GBBUDD]

yeah both bogs are doing well. Didn’t have any new little ones survive of any fish species this year, (hopefully Pygmy sunfish are doing their jobs). If they don’t will have to start thinning the herd.

I'm probably going to add a bakki shower to the filtration so I have an anaerobic bacteria power house . but i'll have that dump into the 24" snorkel, with tons of dissolved o2 to add bacteria in the bog. it will then have to go down through the bog and up through the gravel. MY snorkel is a foot high above the stone so plenty of head pressure if need be to push it down through the bog.

Damn. Did you confirm where you were actually losing water from? Was it for sure leaking at the waterfall?

At least it's fun to look at. Easy to say from over here.

yeah it was not hard to find where it was getting over the edges it was alllllllllllllllllllllllllllll iced up and its all in the stream where it meats the falls it froze so fast like a 60 degree temp change in 24 hrs the water from the falls looks like at the weir where its very shallow and then drops froze and the water ran on topof the ice and got out the stream FOR THE SECOND TIME. first time was due to plants blocking the stream in the areas where i have 2 inch differences from water level to the liner height.

We had a rental there. I would never leave the 100 year old townhouse while working on it , unless mace in hand, hubby by side. He had many possible tenants offering non money rent.....

I have been all over this country including Chicago and Detroit and Harlem my guard never went up anywhere like it did in Baltimore. Safest city i ever went to Portland Maine . i'D See women still decked out from a night out walking home alone and on river walks all secluded and in any other place fat chance.

 

[GBBUDD]

Got the cistern pump running today , didn't that it would be too much of an issue as the line has a good pitch/ drain back to the cistern. This is crucial for when the last suction line thaws. as the cistern helps keep water up where the level needs to be so if the line starts up the water will be there and not sucking air

 

[GBBUDD]

The last pipe worked the ice free over night . Water was running like normal . Now it's just waiting to see if the water level drops due to one of those pipes cracking from being frozen. Nothing was a closed pipe so there should have been room for expansion. Time will tell
Come on spring

 

[Beercan31]

I'm a little late to the disaster party, Heart felt sympathy sent your way.

I'm hoping like the rest you did not crack a line or fitting from the freeze over.
(with mine I did get a complete glass like of ice on the upper water fall and the main pond froze 2/3. lowest temp recorded was 30.2deg. and lost 5" of water in the bio pond.)

looking at your amazing build I don't think you have a large loss of water to be concerned about, more like a glacier build up and most will return back after melting.

Just an after thought you might want to think about a low water alarm in the cistern, like a float switch connected to a siren, something to get your old behind outa bad in the wee hours.

 

[GBBUDD]

Cistern does have a float switch but it's a shut off . getting A FLOAT SWITCH THAT WILL add water automatically is on the list but is a heck of a challenge. It has to run across a patio across a small section of the drive way and along the garage into the back yard in all about 75 feet . so for now a shut the pump off is the best i can do . Putting a float fill valve in the pond will work but only after the cistern is empty and with 3000 gallons to work with thats a pretty good amount of time to catch a problem.
I may build a new walk this spring along the garage and if that happens i'll run conduit for water and electric just incase something happens and i need access

 

[combatwombat]

Maybe use a smart relay on the float or power monitoring plug on the pump. Have the relay closing or plug registering no current trigger a solenoid valve to start refilling. Then you can put the refill wherever you want and still have it trigger off of the cistern level.

I’d want to trigger an alert on that, too, so that it doesn’t end up running continuously without you knowing.

Still might not be a practical solution for winter as you’d probably want to shut down an auto fill during cold season to prevent freeze damage.

 

[combatwombat]

On second thought, don’t use the monitoring plug. Too many ways for that to go wrong. Float valve + relay is the way to go.

 

[Beercan31]

It has to run across a patio across a small section of the drive way and along the garage into the back yard in all about 75 feet . so for now a shut the pump off is the best i can do.

This is the same dilemma I'm dealing with, getting water to the pond to a re-fill valve. you have a few structures to get around or over as to were I have a septic system to go threw. going deep enough to prevent freezing here is not a option. using a heat tape is only a temporary solution, they work for 3yrs at best and produce hot spots that could damage the PEX or PVC.

Putting a float fill valve in the pond will work but only after the cistern is empty and with 3000 gallons to work with thats a pretty good amount of time to catch a problem.

Agreed. to little, to late. Like @combatwombat stated above it would be a good idea to know your "refill" is in action. 1. it would be peace of mind knowing the system is operating properly. 2. it would alert you of a problem of rapid water loss.
looking at the surface area+ all the water falls you have I would only guess on a good day you could lose up to 100gal a day naturaly, that would give you + or - 30 days before your pump starts catching air. Don't know about you but I'd like to be alerted before that point.

I may build a new walk this spring along the garage and if that happens i'll run conduit for water and electric just incase something happens and i need access

just throwing this out there as for an idea.
using a 60/40 pump switch like the ones you would use if you had a well. this switch is very adjustable and is a stdp switch. it could be set slightly above the house pressure ie. normal open, and collapse when water flow is detected heading out to the pond. this could be built in the house so everything is out of the weather. with this type of set up you will have to install a spring loaded check valve so when you flush toilets, run dish washer ect. the drop does not effect the alarm switch.
just an idea, something to think about.

 

[GBBUDD]

refill" is in action

cistern / refill is always running. The plug to the pump is on an outlet controled by the float switch when the water drops to the point i set it being very close to empty. it shuts the cistern pump off . then the pond is on its own. I do not have a float valve to add water but i can use two timers on the hose that will just add a set amount. why two ? to make sure one of the timers doesn't die with the water running.
if you let the cistern just sit waiting for the water level to drop and call to be used the water can go stagnant. or at least on its way. my pond water level is a constant until the 3000 gallons is used up. and since the bog rebuild back in june. i added water only once. well that is until this close call.

Once the cistern is out of water my return jets in the pond right next to the patio will start blowing air . that is my heads up and it's actually so loud i get a notice from security cameras that they heard a noise.

using a heat tape is only a temporary

You could get a quality rv water hose. i have one that i used for ten years while i worked away from home living in the camper through winter.

On second thought, don’t use the monitoring plug.

The answer is watch the weather and if temps drop 60 degrees in 24 hours with expected temps 20 below SHUT THE PUMP OFF and drain it. I have learned that lesson i got laxed and almost paid for it.

 

[combatwombat]

The answer is watch the weather and if temps drop 60 degrees in 24 hours with expected temps 20 below SHUT THE PUMP OFF and drain it. I have learned that lesson i got laxed and almost paid for it.

Was just thinking, "why not just shut it down?" That seems like the easiest/obvious answer in emergency. What prevented you from just turning off the pump and disconnecting? Was it not possible to drain the lines?

 

[GBBUDD]

Was just thinking, "why not just shut it down?" That seems like the easiest/obvious answer in emergency. What prevented you from just turning off the pump and disconnecting? Was it not possible to drain the lines?

the pump cover was not coming off . I got the locking collar off with no issues however the cap was not coming off a gentle poke with a meatal tongue depressor I'll call it, didn't do the job. And I never have an issue with it. But with the cold it wasn't budging. And shutting down a pump in a deep freeze is a guaranteed way to ruin both your pump as well as have a line freeze AND SPLIT.
The union's were an option but they were vacuum locked or frozen as well as was the shut offs i couldn't get anything to budge. With my luck if i forced something to give i'd break three things next to what i'm trying to fix