Monday, April 17, 2006

 

52 Tips for Selecting a Pond kit, Pond Construction and Maintenance(3)

4. My building material store has many pond books on pond building. How good are they?
Like pond kits themselves, pond books are all over the place. However, for the price they are all a cheap education and there are many things to be learned and some to be discarded. The more you know before you buy a pond kit the better your pond will be. By having input from many sources you can pick and choose how to design and build your pond.


LINER



5. What are the differences in liners?

Most pond kits come with a 20-mil PVC liner. This is a good material for a simple pond. It is easy to work with and fairly durable. But, I don’t use it. I prefer the 30-mil PVC liner. It is 50% thicker and even more than 50% stronger. Other types of commonly used liner include EPDM (rubber) and for heavy-duty use, Hypolon.
Most types of liner are probably just as adequate. The key to a successful liner installation is in the preparation before the liner goes in and to protect the liner while placing rocks. See further down for tips on actual construction


PUMPS


6. I see some pumps have oil and others don’t. What is the difference?

The older style submersible pumps have oil in them for lubrication and to disperse heat. Newer pump have a plastic barrier between the stationary motor part and the rotating pump part and do not require oil..
Both styles have advantages and disadvantages. Pump are rated by how much water they pump to a height of one foot. Naturally the higher we pump the water the less water we are able to pump. A pump with oil will usually do a better job at pumping to a greater height. Oil-less pumps loose their oomph faster than oil-filled pumps. If you want to pump water up 4 or 5 feet the difference in flow from the two types of pumps can be very different. However, oil-less pumps use less electricity and will not leak oil in the pond.
Pump kit boxes should have what kind of pump it includes and show a graph of gallons per minute versus height. Compare them closely based on your design.


For more information about pond and fountain, please visit my website Pond and Fountain Pros.







Thank you!





Jim Wilder


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