New to forum, bottom drain question.

[dave]

Good evening all,
I am new to this forum and I hope to be able to offer some advice as well as receive advice.
I have had my current pond, containing comets and koi for around 10 years or so.
This started out very tiny and it wasn't long before I was out there with me shovel making it bigger.
My current pond is 10ft square and 4ft deep,(I can't go any bigger as only a small garden).
My filters are all home made gravity fed with a side inlet and a bottom drain inlet going into the first chamber.
This is all being run off 2x central heating pumps.
My question is, when I close the side inlet pipe to filter and just run with the bottom inlet open to filter, it doesn't flow fast enough. The filter chamber does not fill up quick enough when the pumps are pulling water.
Both inlets to filter are 4", but the bottom drain is a lot longer with a 90 degree bend.
The side inlet on it's own will fill the filter fast enough.
Any thoughts on how I can get the bottom drain to perfom and fill the chamber fast enough for the pumps?
Thanks in advance,
Dave

[Gazza]

Hi Dave,

Welcome to Koi Quest

I take it the bottom drain is all 4" pipe all the way to the filter

How big are the heating pumps what is the flow rate

1. You must have either two big pumps so the water is being bulled out quicker than it can fill up.

2. The bottom drain has a blockage so your not getting the full pull down the pipe work.

3. There is something in the filter that is slowing the flow down when you've only got one inlet open.

Just a couple of ideas to think about

[ageinghippy]

Hi Dave,

It might be worth checking that your bottom drain cover is not set too low, `cos if it is it will certainly restrict the flow to your filter.

Another thought, if one supply pipe is pulling at a different speed to the other, it may well be a good idea to put a ball valve on the quickest, so you can restrict the flow till its the same as the slowest.


Chris (another one)

[dave]

Thanks for the welcomes and your comments.
My flow problem is now solved.
I rodded the bottom drain and then put a rope through, tied the two ends together(to form a loop of rope through the pipe) then tied a towel to the rope and pulled the whole lot through the pipe several times.
This gave the pipe a thorough clean out and allsorts came out, even my dogs sqeaky toy!!! How this ever got it's way into the pipe I'll never know.
My pipes are all clear and I'm now back in full flow!

[Gazza]

Hi Dave,

Great news i had a feeling it was something wrong in the bottom drain

One thing to note if this happens again is that if your pipe work is having debris build up then this could be that your not pulling enough through in the first place.