A quick overview of how i set up a duck pond with a low maintenance reed bed style filter system. Keeps the water really clean. Only occasional top up needed.
If I had to build this system again, I would make the bath drain pipe bigger to avoid it clogging up every few months & needing a quick blast with the jet-wash.. I may upgrade it next year. I may also add a second set of connecting pipes between the barrels, or bigger ones to help speed the flow up & avoid blockages. Creating a header tank to keep it topped up is also an upgrade I am planning to add next though with a rainwater collection feed.
I recently discovered that after emptying the sludge into a bucket, leaving it to settle for an hour enables it to settle in the bucket so I can put most of the water back into the system again (along with the many invertebrates & crustations that live in there).
I forgot to mention, the plants in the barrels are part of the biological filtering system. They adsorb the nitrates from the soiled water & the roots also create a habitat for the good bacterial which cleans the water. it is basically a reed bed sewage system. I also have a few water snails & crustaceans from a local pond, living in there to eat the agile. occasionally they make it into the bath & give the ducks a nice treat to eat.
Lee Taylor what kind of plants do you have in the barrels? I’m looking into doing a similar system for our pond but I’m curious what plants thrive with this system.
Can you explain more about what type of plants you have in the barrels and how you secure them in the barrels? And what do you have in each barrel? Just water? or some sort of media?
I love this idea because you're not pulling poop through the pump and chopping it up, making extraction a lot easier. I'm planning a duck pond build and I've been wracking my brains trying to think of a way to achieve this when the pond is set into the ground, while maintaining that great muck drainage system you've got going on. So far the best I have come up with is to maybe design a vacuum system with a sealed barrel which will draw water and poop from the bottom of the pond, up to the barrel at ground level and not have it pass through a pump. Would you have any suggestions?
Thank you for sharing this with me Lee. I like it very much. I'm sorry if you said and I just missed it, but what is holding the plants root systems in your barrels? Expanded clay or something similar?
J&J Acres, the plants just sit in the water. there is a basket to stop them dropping down too far initially, but once they grow, the roots hold together to form a single floating raft. just cram it as full as possible to speed this up.
Thanks for posting this. I think you've got a smart setup here, particularly using the raised tub gravity feed and pump at the end. I hadn't thought of that setup but I'm sure you're right that the pump lasts much longer that way. I have two questions if you have a minute. First, have you had any issues with algae buildup in the pond in the warmer months? Second, do you run this year round and does it get cold enough to freeze where you live? I'm wondering if a heater coil would work in this system. Thanks, Matt
Hi Matthew, I cant say I noticed any algae build up in the pond. the bath its self went green but the water was still crystal clear. I think the flow stop this & also, about 50% of the water is not in the sunlight being in the tubs which helps. it is also fairly shaded & i believe sunlight causes most greening. only just this last week, the bath plug hole got partially blocked & I had to turn the pump off as it was starting to over flow. I hadn't cleared it at all for about 4 months. the bath water did freeze over for a couple of days. it didn't freeze last year when it was flowing even when the buckets of water out there did. I guess the volume of water retains enough heat for the occasional few days when it dips below freezing. I am sure a heater would be a good option if it stays below freezing for a long time where you are. Glad you liked my setup. its still working great after about 1.5 years now. Cheers Lee
Thanks for the video. I built a little prototype using a kiddie pool and some buckets for the filter. I am running into a problem with the water level. I have my pump set up to turn off when the level gets low with a float switch. But it cycles on and off so often it annoys the ducks. How do you keep you pump going as to not overflow or underflow the system?
make sure the pump flow matches the pipe size so the flow is not impeded too much. it needs to return to the pump at the same rate as the pump. you can either restrict the pump output with a smaller gauge pipe, or use a larger bore pipe for the flow through the system. keeping the tops of all the barrels the same height as the pond will also help. You can also make sure the pump is in a larger tub so there is more of a buffer.
also, place the pump as deep as possible. it will work better is it never switches off. The tub with the pump in would ideally be lower at the base than the other tubs. dig a hole & put this tub lower, but make sure the top is level with the others in case the pump switches off & it all levels out.
Great video! How are the plants set up in the barrels? Are they in dirt/pots? Does the water flow up through the planting medium and then out to the next barrel?
In gravel in pots & some just free in the water. The roots filter the water & good bacteria on the roots clean the water. Works well if you have enough plants to ducks. Its a natural sewage treatment.
Hi Jazzi, Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I didn't spot the post. The first barrel just has the plants sat on a shelf to keep the bottom half as a big space to allow settling. The second barrel has nylon scouring pads & plant pots with gravel. The last one has just rocks & various bits of discarded plastic like orange net bags. anything big enough to not get sucked into the pump. the plant roots do most the work & the water looks pretty clear at the top of the second barrel tbh. I decided sand would clog too easily. I was going to use lava rock in the pipe returning to the bath but as it already works well, i didn't bother. Hope that helps Lee
thank you its a nice simple effective system . could you please post some details or specific names of what type of fittings you have use between barrels.
Paul Hook. I just used standard 40mm pvc pipe & push fittings. The same stuff used for sink drainage (in the uk). I mainly used this because it fitted the existing bath drain. Its quite cheap too.
I used 40mm push fit pvc pipe. 90 degree elbow joints & tank connectors. I cant remember exactly, but it was about £25 + another £10 for the 2 big barrels. Bath was from a skip & the bin was free too. i decided on push fit rather than weld so I can pull it apart if it got blocked or to quickly empty one of the barrels.
Lee, I have not been able to spot the fittings you used to drain the barrels bottoms. I think you called them slip fittings? Do you have a picture of the fitting?
Hi Jojo, they are push fit 40mm pvc pipe tittings... here is a link. www.toolstation.com/push-fit-bend/p47318?store=MB&gclid=Cj0KCQiAs67yBRC7ARIsAF49CdWwaej-xwSK7b2Dn1Tv40rz7cDfRx053AtLvhIQI_NjNdW6emYOt9waApHoEALw_wcB
Hi Lee, we are getting two ducks this spring and have been studying your videos closely. You have a beautiful system! We are really motivated to set up a pond system we don't have to dump and refill regularly. My question for you is do you feel this is easier the smaller the pond we use (i.e. something as small as 30-40 gallons) or do you find a larger pond area for the ducks is important to give your system enough time to collect and process? Thanks for your time!
Hi Jody. Glad i have inspired & helped. Ducks are great fun as pets.Tip: Hatch them from eggs if you want a really close bond. Regarding the pond, i would go as big as you can for the ducks. They love water. I would say my current filter system would work with a pond 3 or 4 times bigger than at current and maybe another 2 ducks. More than that & i would add another filter barrel & maybe increase the flow a little. The beauty with this system is you can always add more filter barrels in the chain if the water is not clearing enough. Try it with just a small filter on a pond first to see how well it copes. Remember the plants in it need to grow to get it fully working so it may be a little dirty for a few months to start off.
Hi, do u have a valve that slows the water draining from the pond into the 1 st barrel? im new at this and trying to make a pond for my ducks that wont cost too much, pardon me if its a silly question.
Hello. No valve going out. I did add one on my pump outlet on my next version of this pond system to regulate the flow. if you restrict the flow from the pond it will overflow, so only restrict the pump speed if you need to.
Hi. I use irises, watercress & ornamental grass. anything that will grow in water will do. Bio material can be pretty much anything that doesn't rot. Orange netting, dish scouring pads, old wool jumpers. you can buy media from fish pond suppliers too. I am using this in my new setup for the moving bed. Check out my latest vid.
Hi Lee, Thanks for sharing your system. I've just built a more permanent pond for my ducks & geese. Your filter system is amazing and I think would be ideal for my pond, however, the pond I've made is half below ground and half above ground and I have no drain at the bottom so would the gravity feed system work in this situation? I was originally looking at sitting the pump on the bottom of the pond with a pipe exiting at the top into the filter unit, but as you've pointed out, all the feathers etc would just clog it up in no time, so putting the pump in the 3rd barrel in the chain is the perfect solution, but would it have enough guts to get the water up and out of the pond into the first barrel? Finally, what capacity are your barrels and where did you get them. (I'm in the UK)
Hi. The system should still work even if the connecting pipes are not right at the bottom as the ducks will keep most of the muck churned up so it can flow out. Put a 90 bend with a pipe reaching down to nearly the bottom. This should drag most stuff up. You may have to make / buy a pond vac to clean the bottom out now & again... maybe. The barrels i used in this one were 120l. Just scout around on ebay for them. I think i paid £6 each but they normally go for about £20. I just upgraded my system to IBC tanks & added an aquaponics section too.
It is possible to take the pipe up & over the tops, but removing the air from the pipe that is above water level, to stop an airlock is a real problem. The water level would have to drop loads more in the next barrel to get a reasonable flow too.
Thanks for the quick response Lee. What if I used a flood water pump that will handle large particle sizes instead, to get the water out of the pond and into the filter system. Would that work do you think?
@@del9957 i tried one of them on my first pond. Worked fine for 2 weeks & then broke. Feathers again i think. Not sure if they are designed for continuous use either. Maybe ones that cost £200+ may be ok but i only got a £40 one.
Is there a bulkhead there going through the barrel that the push fit is pushed into? Or did you just drill a hole there and put the elbow joint into it?
I would like to build something similar. How tall does the drain from the tub have to be lifted off the ground? That just feeds through gravity into the first barrel? Also, I have many questions....also - your ducks are very cute.
Sharksfan. As long as the surface of the pond is above the pump in the last barrel, it will work. Depending on the flow rate, the pond will stay at a slightly higher level so make sure the pump is deep in the barrel. All the tops of the barrels & pond need to be the same height or you will loose water, especially if the pump is turned off as it will level out. You ideally want the drain from the pond/bath going into the first barrel a few inches/ 15 cm or so from the base so it has room for the heavy particles to settle ready to be emptied with the dump pipe. The drain could potentially be angled back upwards from the pond to the first barrel, but I imagine it could block up more easily. My current setup slightly blocks occasionally, but I just blast a jetwash down it & that sorts it out.
I am ready to make my filter system for my duck pond and have a few more questions if you wouldn't mind. I see you mention later that you'd make the drain bigger. How big would you make it? And what size pipe between the barrels would you recommend? What is connected to the sludge pipe on the inside? Would you mind listing out the pieced involved?
Sharksfan. I am currently using 40mm pipe for the drain & connecting pipes. This has generally been ok, but something double that size would be perfect. Toilet soil pipe would be good if you can get the fittings. Connecting the barrels is probable still ok with 40mm & you can always double up the pipes if it is running too slow. The sludge pipe just has a 90 elbow joint inside & another 40mm pipe angled down the the very bottom of the barrel. Hope that answers all your questions. :)
Hi there, I am just wondering if you have the pump going constantly as I am thinking of getting a solar pump which will only work during the day? We are starting on our system this weekend but I currently have 11 ducks so I’m not sure how effective it will be with this many?
Hi Melanie. It would be better to run constantly, but i have run my system on a timer before & that still worked. It all depends on the amount of water your pump can move.
You will probably find the muck just settles at the bottom of the pond over night & as soon as the ducks get back in it clouds up before gradually clearing. Lots of factors though. Pond size, do the ducks have access to the water while the system is off... etc.
Thanks Lee, thanks for your reply! I didn’t end up going with the solar pump but my system is now all set up so can’t wait to see how it goes. I’m having trouble keeping the plants near the surface though...
@@melanieraines6861 try using a mesh bag or tie them with string & hook them on the lip some how. Even a bit of wire would work. Only needs to hold long enough for the plants to establish.
Ah ok I’ll give that a shot! At the moment they are just kind of draped over the side but they aren’t sinking to the bottom which I suppose is a good thing.
Yeah, I used connectors. they may be called tank fittings or something like that. here you go... I found a link to some. www.bes.co.uk/polypipe-40-mm-black-tank-connector-push-fit?ref=gs&gclid=Cj0KCQiAuZXQBRDKARIsAMwpUeTwZ4lqy2bAgMA1diCLiQji-d5y7UjM0SZO4tTtYmBlN9NBI2vALykaAh5nEALw_wcB
Lee Taylor Thank you that is brilliant I'm just in the process of making a filter system like yours such a great idea I hate standing around each day waiting for the bath to fill up I'll take some pictures when I'm done so we can compare thank you again
yeah, any improvements you can think of as you go would be good to hear about. :) hope it all goes well. (make sure you add some kind of basket over the plug hole to stop the feathers blocking it up.)
Good question James, My thought exactly. I would love to see a diagram showing the flow path. ..Too bad no reply in the last 6 months.... nice set up... wonder how it works tho.. :-)
Everything i tried has grown really well, but I mainly tried things i knew liked being sat in water. Irises, Ornamental grass is my main filler. Bamboo would probably grow well. I have some water lilies, but they get crowded out with the small openings when using barrels. the creeping Ginny seems to hold on in there as it can hang down the sides. as a general rule, use tall plants as they will have more roots.
We have 2 ducks. If I had to build this system again, I would make the bath drain pipe bigger to avoid it clogging up every few months & needing a quick blast with the jet-wash.. I may upgrade it next year. I may also add a second set of connecting pipes between the barrels, or bigger ones to help speed the flow up & avoid blockages. Creating a header tank to keep it topped up is also an upgrade I am planning to add next though with a rainwater collection feed.
here are some photos when I first set it up... facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153126749608386&set=a.10151342685368386.1073741825.715723385&type=3&theater facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153126749663386&set=a.10151342685368386.1073741825.715723385&type=3&theater
Hey Lee - thanks again for answering my questions and your awesome video and concept. We've been using our smaller system for a couple of months now and are flowing beautiful clear water! Here's some pictures if you care to take a peek! Really appreciate your time - this makes for happy ducks and easy water upkeep! imgur.com/a/DbC4XcB
Hi Jody. Your system looks great :) good job. Its a bit neater than mine. Glad its working well for your ducks. I didn't notice a settling tub though so you may need to take the plants out every 6 months to clear the sludge or it will block the system. I would consider adding another tub before the plants. See how it goes though, as it may be fine if you dump the sludge fairly regularly.
We actually put a shelf inside the first tub the water enters from the main pond (made out of a heavy plastic). The shelf has holes in it to let water and sludge flow through but it allowed us to keep the lava rocks elevated out of the way of the pond drainage pipe and the sludge drain we hooked up in the lower area of that same basin. This allows us to drain any larger sediment similar to the way your system works but kept it small using these second hand 20 gallon bins we got at a good deal. So far it's working but I know only time will tell if it'll last. I'm not sure I'd agree with the "neater" comment as I think yours is a more thorough system but luckily so far the system continues to only get more established as the plants grow. I honestly can't imagine having to go back to the kiddie pool dump and refill daily routine we had when they were still ducklings - your system was such an inspiration!
@@jodymorrow1266 ah. Ok. Sounds like it should work fine then :) what are your ducks called? Are they both boys? I can only see the curly tail feather clearly on one of them.
Our ducks are Welsh Harlequins: Puddle is the yellow beak in the pond and and Gideon is the one with his back to the camera. Yes they are both males - our daughter is severely allergic to eggs but we LOVE ducks so we found a way :)
