overflow

[Guy]

My pond project has started after a summer of thought and planning. My first (hopefully not too many to follow) query is why do none of my pond construction books show any form of overflow. I live in the UK Pennines and boy do we know how to do rain! I am concerned that unplanned overflow will erode what ever low point the water will find. Do you have overflows?

 

[Dave 54]

I have a former koi dealership QT pond as a pond which has been somewhat retro fitted to fit in the piece of garden that we have .
That left us a problem the old inflow pipe.....
We drilled a 2" hole half way down the pond for the new one this left us with a pipe that wasnt doing anything , so a little bit of lateral thinking and we came up with the idea of turning this now totally redundant pipe into a rudimentory skimmer/overflow pipe to drain, complete with on off valve .
As the rain tops up the pond we can then open the valve thus skimming off the water and any detritus that may be floating on the ponds surface diect to drain .
It works very well indeed and saved a fortune on the skimmer

Dave

 

[Guy]

Thanks Dave. Apologies, I have realised this question has been asked and answered in previous threads. I hang my head in shame and retreat quietly into the shadows.......

 

[cas]

@Guy , there is so much on this forum, it is easy to miss. No problem with asking again.

 

[sissy]

yep to bring it up again helps others building ponds that did not think of adding in an overflow to there pond build plans

 

[peter hillman]

And you might get a different answer too

 

[mgmine]

My skimmer has a spot to put an overflow pipe in but I have never found that I really needed one. The pond does sometimes overflow but it hasn't been a problem the water just spills over the liner and waters the garden. I do however think it would be a good idea (it would keep any water from getting behind the liner) to have one so maybe next year I'll do something about it. The down side is that the water level would have to be lower than I keep it now and more liner would be exposed.

 

[DrCase]

My skimmer has a spot to put an overflow pipe in but I have never found that I really needed one. The pond does sometimes overflow but it hasn't been a problem the water just spills over the liner and waters the garden. I do however think it would be a good idea (it would keep any water from getting behind the liner) to have one so maybe next year I'll do something about it. The down side is that the water level would have to be lower than I keep it now and more liner would be exposed.

What you would do when the pipe comes out of the skimmer turn it up with a 90 .
You can add a piece of pipe to the height you want the pond level to stay , then drain off the rest

 

[Meyer Jordan]

What you would do when the pipe comes out of the skimmer turn it up with a 90 .
You can add a piece of pipe to the height you want the pond level to stay , then drain off the rest

In manufactured skimmers, this would negate any skimming action. In almost all of these skimmers the overflow opening at the rear of the skimmer box is pre-set to the ideal water level for maximum efficiency of the weir opening. This insures that, in heavy rains, the excess water flows out of the pond before it can impede any 'skimming' action. If the water level is allowed to rise above this pre-set point, floating debris will be prevented from entering the skimmer box and collecting in the basket/net, instead it will remain in the pond basin and sink.

 

[DoDad]

H have mine in my skimmers.

 

[DoDad]

A pic

 

[Mucky_Waters]

When I dug out my pond area I buried a rock pit drain area for overflow and ran a short length of rubber liner from the lowest edge of my pond so excess water would drain away into the rock pit. Not only does excess rain water drain away, but I also have a drip system that continuously adds water into the pond. This method keeps the water level perfect all the time, rain or shine.

 

[Guy]

Great replies. I didn't know that some skimmer models have an overflow built in, I will get one of those.

thanks all

 

[DoDad]

Mine is a Savio skimmer and the plumbing you see was installed by me.