improvements to the hydrosweep pond pump

[mattl]

I like a strong shower too. Hate the wimpy water-saver shower-heads. I pull out every trace of flow reduction I can find. I even tore apart my hand-held shower and enlarged the plastic opening that fed water to the head.

Back on topic, I like the water feature, I bet it make a neat sound as is swishes by. Only thing I wonder about is the mounting board, OSB is notorious for absorbing water and holding it, I bet by the end of the season the platform weighs 3x as much. Have you tried any other material? That 1 1/2" styrene insulation board at Home Depot might work, it comes in pink or blue and should float very easily.

 

[hydralique]

Nice to see the fountain brought back to life!

I'll second Matt's comments about the OSB board. No kind of OSB, plywood, or particle board will hold up when immersed in water - even marine grade plywood is only intended for humid environments, not immersion. If you must use wood, then a frame of pressure-treated lumber would last pretty well, suspended by your floats. Pressure treated is full of chemicals which aren't too environmentally friendly, so you might consider if your pond has any wildlife before using it.

 

[circlew]

Pete, you might consider fiberglassing it, like a boat or surfboard.

 

[rollermatic]

thanks

i work at home depot and i'll bet you are right, styrene insulation would probably be great although the pump itself is really heavy. i could reinforce it with more pvc pipes with end caps on them. after this season is over i am going to get rid of the wood plank it floats on now. great ideas!

as for the sound, you can actually hear the sound it makes on the video i put on you tube that A440 uploaded for me here. it is a neat whooshing sound! last summer i had it on a tiimer letting it run about 8 hrs a day but so far this year it has run continuously since 4-16-10 when i got it in the water.

gotta get some fish in the pond, used to have over 200 goldfish but they have all disapeared? was told that racoons may be dining on them at nite.

another reason i run it so much is it keeps duke the weimeraner out of the pond, he doesn't like the spray. the less he is in the pond the less frogs he kills.

love the tidbit about president johnson. personally i think lady bird should have just turned a firehose on him!

thanks again

 

[mrb627]

Lighting

Next year, you'll have to add some lighting so it will be illuminated at night.