# pond remediation proposal



## garryc (Jan 21, 2006)

Heres the plan I intend to present, I will of course explain in simple terms the dynamics we will be effecting

The pump will be mounted in a 2 foot cube box inside the shed. The box will be staked in with fence stakes and kept about 3 off the ground with plastic under it. (To keep it from rotting due to ground moisture) The motor will be mounted on a piece of 2x12 with carriage bolts and then the 2x12 will be deck screwed to the box. The box will contain a vent on top and on two sides. Another perforation will contain a small fan. The diffusers will be located at full depth breaking the pond into thirds. 

The bottom of the box will be drilled for the air lines and the ABS electric conduit. Inside the box will be a GFI outlet. The air hoses will be buried 1 foot below the ground until they enter the pond. There will be a 24 hour timer used only for start up each spring. Shut down will be November 1st regardless, earlier if we get cold weather in late October. This is to prevent hyper chilling the fish.

Start up will be at 3pm each day, thats should be the time O2 is at its highest. This schedule will prevent too many pollutants from mixing in at one time and will dissipate the accumulated hydrogen sulfide at a conservative rate.

Day(s) Time
1-2 15 min

3-4 30min 

5-6 1hr 

7-8 2hr

9-10 4hr 

11-16 Shift start time to 10am 8hr

17-19 Shift start time to 7am 16hr 

Day 20 full time operation. 


The drainage area between the farm field and the pond will be over seeded with a mixture of native sedges and rushes into a filter strip. The waters transition into the pond will be through the tree line to grasses then to sedges then rushes and then cattails. This area will not be mowed but woody plants developing will be removed. This should slow the water enough to cause it to drop its silt. It is the method recommended by the EPA.


Item Each Total

1- Air station2 $848.00 $848.00

3- 75 foot Foreversink Tubing $93.75 $281.25

1- 25 foot Foreversink Tubing $31.25 $31.25 

Total tax exempt $1160.50


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

Consider mounting the compressor on top of a 4x4 post set in the ground to keep it elevated for moisture, get it above vegetation and allow for easy trimming around it. Use rubber bushings to mount the compressor to isolate vibrations to the bottom board to reduce noise and wear to the housing. Be sure to get a timer suitable for this purpose, a vacation lamp timer won't cut it. It's going to be hot, humid, cold and taking a lot of vibration if mounted in the box. Maybe the timer could be mounted elsewhere? Get a good quality GFI too. The one inside my aerator housing was good but the outlet it plugged into was a cheapy and had to be replaced after tripping for no apparent reason several times. The box should be built for access for seasonal maintenance. Consider using foam weather stripping where annoying vibration noise/buzzing could develop. I had considered building my own : I thought of using a 2x2 frame for the top and sides with 3/4" foamboard glued to on and then cladding the foamboard with glued on aluminum stock (like used for wrapping window jambs and fascia)...fairly simple, should last a lifetime without paint and reduce noise.

Add seed and mulch. For bare ground seeding, 100 bales per acre...may not need for overseeding but I've never had much luck with just throwing down seed. Are you going to scarify the dirt before seeding? 2" Trencher for the airline? I think I rented one for <$50 for 1/2 day...it made a nice narrow clean trench without disturbing surrounding soils. Add a bag of builders sand to weigh down the air stations. I forgot to and ended up scooping up gravel out of my driveway which worked but sand would have been easier to get in the small fill hole in the airstation base. I ran the sink tubing from the compressor manifold the first couple of feet underground and to make the bend then ran irrigation pipe to about 3' short of the pond then sink tubing in the pond. The sink tubing is nice tough stuff so I just put it in the pond and then at areas that could be affected by freeze/thaw. Ted gave me couplers and some nice stainless steel fertilizer grade tubing clamps to hook everything together. A cordless drill made clamping quick. Dish soap can be used to lubricate the couplers and I used a sharp ulility knife to make the cuts on both tubing types. There's a couple of pictures of my install on Forever Green's installation page and in last years aeration article in Pondboss magazine.


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## garryc (Jan 21, 2006)

The box will be placed inside a shed, in a locked and vented box. That's for security reasons. The distance between the shed and the edge of the pond is only 16 feet, not big enough to run a trencher. I guess the young men in our club will just have to use shovels and maddocs. A trencher might be used to run the wire underground if the electrician so decides. Good idea on the rubber mounts. The plastic under the box, and it being three inches off the ground will prevent rot, done that 100 times. 

The area I was going to plant is trapazoidal shape about 35 feet wide, 100feet on the long side and maybe 50 on the short side. It is soggy much of the year and grass won't grow in some of it, and doesn't grow well in the rest. Above that point grass grows thick and that is next to a tree line. The grounds people always mow that area removing the filter strip.


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## garryc (Jan 21, 2006)

Well, they bought a system. The building and lands guy bought a HiBlow HP100 and one airstone. I spec'd two Vertex air stations, he got an aluminum oxide stone. While the system would seem to provide 4 CFM at 10 feet depth, it's maximum continuous rating is 4.5 PSI. The pond is 10 feet deep and fresh water has a pressure of .43 psi per foot for a total of 4.3 psi at 10 feet. That means the pump will be operating at 99% of it's max continuous rating 24/7. I expect a high failure rate


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

"The wise man learns from knowledge while the fool learns from experience."

Too bad your research went down the tubes. FWIW I thought you made a good choice within your budget. 

The HP100 will probably last a quite a few years. They're good quality pumps, just not the best choice for this application IMO. Keep us updated though on how it holds up.


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