When Gwyn
went on a business trip to Japan in 1992 he was very attracted
with the koi that he saw in the various palaces and shrines
and decided that he wanted a pond in his garden.
Like many other members he then built a kidney shaped pond about 11ft x 6ft and
3ft deep. It was during 1993 that they decided to build a koi pond of 4,900 gallons,
and this fits in very nicely with the layout of the garden, and the wooded area
behind. |
|
The base of the pond was laid using ready
mixed concrete, and a truck with a concrete pump was used so
that the concrete could be pumped right over the garage without
having to transport it with wheelbarrows which is usually a very
time consuming job especially if access is difficult.
The 18" x 9" x 4" concrete blocks were laid flat on their sides to make the 9" wall
up to ground level, and above that the wall consists of 4" concrete block faced
with brick. The walls were rendered internally, and then fibreglassed by Mick
Whitehall of Brierly Hall, near Birmingham in one day and working alone. |
There are two 3 bay filter
modules, supplied by CD Plastics. Each chamber has a 1.5
inch bottom drain, and this is led to the drain box where
each pipe is fitted with a slide valve. The pond has two
bottom drains, and these are led by 4 ins pressure pipe
to the 39inch diameter vortex chamber. The two pipes are
connected and there is only one entry into the vortex chamber.
The filter system is situated right along the whole length of the pond, and so
this makes for short lengths of pipe and the minimum of bends. At the end of
the filter chamber is a dry space and the pumps and UV lamps are situated here.
Again this allows for short lengths of piping to the venturi and the water course
as they are both situated at this end. |
|
|
 |
The system has two Grundfoss 15/60 pumps.
One is connected to the venturi and has a 30 watt UV connected
in the line, and the other feeds the watercourse and this has
a 15 watt UV in the system. There is also a power skimmer fitted,
and this is connected up to a seperate swimming pool pump with
a time switch.
The filters are covered over with wooden planking, and two steps hide the drain
box. |
| Gwyn has now
constructed a Japanese style teahouse in the far corner of the
pond. This hides part of the water course, and it now emerges
from under the structure. A gas boiler and heat exchanger is
also fitted so that the pond can be heated. |
 |
This photo was taken Spring 2000.
It will be seen that the garden has matured since the photograph above was taken.
On the top left of the photo can be seen the new bamboo fence that has been
added. The acer on the left of the photo is just coming into leaf.
The photo above was taken at ground level and this one was taken from a higher
point looking down on the garden. |
The photo
at the top shows the pond when it was first completed. The
second photo shows the filter system again just after completion,
and before the decking was put in place. The third photo
shows the pond just after completion in 1994 with the beautiful
garden which has been landscaped in the Japanese style. Click
here for a larger jpeg image 148kb. The lower photo shows
the garden in Spring 2000. A larger image of 110kb can be
seen here. |
| |
For the full schematic drawing
click here |
|
Pond
details |
Gallonage
Dimensions
Construction
Shape
Bottom drains
Filter feed
Year completed
Time to complete
|
4,900 in total.
16.3ft x 9.5ft x 5.5ft deep.
Concrete block, rendered, & fibreglass.
D shaped.
Two drains with 4" pipe.
Bottom drains to vortex.
1994
8 months. |
Filter
details |
Gallonage
Type
Media Bay 1
Media Bay 2, 3, & 4
Media Bay 5
Media Bay 6
Settlement chamber
Aeration
|
900.
2 plastic modules.
Brushes.
Flocor.
Japanese matting.
Canterbury Spar.
39" diam Vortex chamber.
HiBlow 40. |
Pump details |
Type, make, etc
Pumping capacity
Location
Water return |
2 Grundfoss 15/60.
1,600 gals/hr.
Chamber after filters.
1 Venturi. 1 water course. |
Other equipment |
|
Ultra violet lamp 1 x 30 watts, 1
x 15watts.
Power skimmer with swimming pool pump with venturi.(2,000 gals/hr).
Heating system. 50,000btu gas fired boiler with 120,000btu ss heat exchanger.
Details updated
August 2000. |
|
|
| UPDATE 2004. This
pond is now 10 years old, and it is hoped to have some updated
photos soon. |
|
|
