Oh Joy! 3 ponds - can they be joined?

[jnorris235]

All because of near drownings of pets and worried about small children...

Pond 1: by house. 3m diameter, 0.25m deep. Dog nearly drowned twice.
No wildlife (odd newt and frog). Liner + water.
*Murky, would like it clear and less deep .

Pond 2: 17m away and 1m lower down garden. 8m square, 2m deep with very steep sides. Dog had to be rescued twice, very lucky. Is still used as a reed bed type s**t pond for the house next door (we rent it out). Lots of newts and nymphs.

Surface covered in grasses, reeds, etc. Liner + water and sludge in the bottom I guess!
*Would like to turn into into a bog

Pond 3: another 17m further away and 1m lower down again, was the second s**t pond and thus was fresh water. Also 8m square, 2m deep. Fish (grass carp) and frogs.
*Thinking of making this 3 times the surface area but pebbly and shallow edges to whatever depth is necessary in the middle to overwinter fish so that dogs and children should be able to get out. Present liner leaks badly so something has to be done as its down to 1m deep only. Some grey water from the house goes into here - bath, sink, shower and rainwater.

I am happy to read everything you have here but wondered first if someone would just say "Yes this is feasible", or "go away and start from scratch". I wont test your patience by asking how, necessarily (yet!) but should I plunge on learning all about filters and suchlike.

The question is - can I combine these three.

I thought of pumping water from the bottom pond up to the top pond where it was filtered and thus started life clear. And then ran down to the bog garden, through to the bottom pond and back up. Presumably just a small trickle would do, or is the formula "half the volume of the pond per hour?". No fish here!

Or, as the top pond is only one I want clear and has no fish, just get some small filter unit and fill the bottom (obviously!) 10cm with pea gravel. It already has a pump running a small fountain tree two hours a day for 8 months of the year - and maybe pump water from the bottom to the next pond just to keep it boggy.

I feel I have asked too much - sorry...

 

[Waterbug]

The question is - can I combine these three.

Certainly.

I thought of pumping water from the bottom pond up to the top pond where it was filtered and thus started life clear. And then ran down to the bog garden, through to the bottom pond and back up. Presumably just a small trickle would do, or is the formula "half the volume of the pond per hour?". No fish here!

Formulas are just made up. Flow needed depends on the pond, not a formula. For your setup you can have any flow you like.

Or, as the top pond is only one I want clear and has no fish, just get some small filter unit and fill the bottom (obviously!) 10cm with pea gravel. It already has a pump running a small fountain tree two hours a day for 8 months of the year - and maybe pump water from the bottom to the next pond just to keep it boggy.

Keeping water clear, gravel on the bottom is a whole deal all by itself. Doesn't sound like you want to get into details at this point?

I'll say this about the gray water system....I have one too. It should not be going into any bog or pond imo. Here in the US it's against the law because it's a health hazard. Should be going underground to water non edible plants. Aside from the health hazard your bog/ponds using that water are pretty much guaranteed to always be less than clear.

 

[don't ask]

welcome and agree that you can do anything you want if you have the time, patience, vision and money

was wondering what gray water was

 

[addy1]

welcome to our group

Yes you can link them, how depends on what you want the final product to look like. I would probably start with the lowest pond, figure out the leak, make a walk out area.

My turn over rate is about 1/2 the volume per hour or less. I do have a big bog that filters my pond so the pond does fine with that low turnover

Pictures would really help us understand your set up if you could post some.

The center pond, being a bog type, would help keep your pond clean.

Agree with the above, don't have gray water running into it.

Start with any of them, get it cleaned out, it will help you figure out what you can and want to do.

 

[buckry]

Gray water is water with soap in it. So water that drains out of a kitchen sink or washing machine. My bathtub drains to the ditch outside of my house which flows to a creek, then utlimately to a river. The soap kills the grass for about 10' out of the drain, but then after that its totally fine. I don't mind killing grass, but I wouldn't let soapy water near my pond in any situation.

 

[addy1]

[quote name='don't ask' timestamp='1340654794' post='126635']
welcome and agree that you can do anything you want if you have the time, patience, vision and money

was wondering what gray water was
[/quote]

any water that does not have stuff coming from the body in it.

 

[Waterbug]

My gray water system waters my Canna. Only water the Canna get and that's saying something here in Phoenix.

 

[j.w]

jnorris235
Will be fun seeing how you put them together.

 

[brandonsdad02]

Well if it has soap in it, then the water should be clean all the time...LOL

 

[jnorris235]

So - these are the three ponds. This is the little one, 3m diam, .25m deep.
I think that rather than the expense of a pump sending water 34m from the last pond up to this one, to trickle out and probably never get clear - we'll just accept this green pond! No fish, though a newt and a frog get on well in there.

This is the second pond, 17m away and 8m by 8m into which, I have discovered, all the grey water AND the other stuff goes into. I thought we'd diverted that to a septic tank years ago, but apparently not. As you can see, luxurious growth. I think we will fill its 2m depth with tarmac we are stripping from the drive, then cover it in 0.5m soil and call it a bog garden. Replant the reeds, iris, gunnera and other things into it.

This is the third pond. Perhaps I'll remake this 3 times the size, with shallows! Pump water from this one to the bog garden as there is a small dry bed stream between the two. This one does have fish and frogs but no newts. Dragonfly etc and the odd grass snake.

As we've always had grey water and everything in the second pond I'm thinking that we will be certain to make the sewage go to the septic tank like its supposed to, but let the grey water carry on into the bog. I appreciate people said not - but its been luxuriant with newts and everything for 20 years .....

So now to find a (solar?) pump that will pump water from the bottom pond into the bog garden. To keep the cost of the pump and the running costs low if solar wont hack it - your advice seems to be that any size will do. And with grey water supplying it anyway, maybe I dont need a pump at all?

 

[j.w]

How nice that you have 3 of them to play with!

 

[jnorris235]

Thought it was nice til I realised the effort and possible cost to keep them nice. But at least they attract herons which are wonderful!

 

[j.w]

Ha Ha you are trying to attract herons while most all of us here I trying to scare them away. We would gladly all send you ours :razz:

 

[buckry]

OMG, someone ban him, that sort of Heron talk is not cool.

Unless this is an offer to accept all of the herons we can catch. I'd be willing to ship any I find UPS.

 

[jnorris235]

In the UK so many birds are drab! And small! So herons are fairly unique, a spectacle in fact. Whereas fish ...