Thread: Pond fill diaster

I was carefully filling my new/uprated in ground pond via a water meter - had filled up to 20m3 when disaster struck - the rubber boot came off the base of the cestus sieve! I recon I have lost at least 10m3 of water - had to happen over night didn't it!!

The waste of metered water is an annoying as is the delay in getting the fish back in (not happy with conditions in the temporary pool), but what worries me most is that I will now have little idea of the capacity of the pond despite all my best efforts. I so wish I had recorded the water capacity at various landmarks now - like reaching the base of the wall or up to the bridge etc.

I noticed when I put the rubber boot on to the input to the sieve that it had been modified and the top rim of the boot removed - It is fixing on to a very short projection out of the bottom of the sieve. My hands aren't very strong (RA) so I got OH to tighten all the rubber boot joints I have made most of my connections above ground with flexible connectors, in case I want to change things around - wonder if he missed this one? Anyone else had issues with the connections into the cetus sieve? I am trying to figure out how to improve it - copious amounts of gold label might be in order I think.

Hi,
Couldn't have happened at a worse time
I'm filling mine at the moment and didn't record any volume / depths either
I had the 3" elbow come off whilst moving my sieve on installation, I'll pay extra attention to the 4" one now too!
Bit of sealant won't hurt to glue it on, fill the pond with valves shut then open them when you can keep an eye on things.
Cheers,
Gavin

I have divided my pond in two with a 9" wall - one side shallow for plants & wildlife the other deep & unplanted for the koi - each side has a bottom drain. I wanted to keep everything open because I wanted to equalise between each side of the wall - should have stopped filling over night - easy to say in hindsight. I should also have supported the pipework better - there is quite a weight of water pulling that joint apart - I am surprised it was designed that way.

Hi,
Yes those 4" pipes are heavy full of water. I'll pop a block of wood under mine just in case...
Cheers,
Gavin

Originally Posted by Bat

Hi,
Yes those 4" pipes are heavy full of water. I'll pop a block of wood under mine just in case...
Cheers,
Gavin

Worth doing - I think its not just the pipe full of water but the backpressure from the pond/column of water as well. It would be interesting to hear if anyone else has had similar issues - or maybe my OH did miss tightening that joint.

no it is a bit of a bad way to connect the sieve up. i have placed bricks under mine just on the off chance it comes away. the rubber boots that come with the sieve do look like the ends have been cut shorter so the clip is right near the end of the rubber I think this was so you can push it on more as the tube bit on the sieve it fits on is not that long.

Originally Posted by pip895

I so wish I had recorded the water capacity at various points now

Gutted for u but thanks for sharing as this is a great little tip for anyone filling there new pond👍


From David

Hi. the best tip i can give is to use self tapping screws on all joints.
Steve. .

Just had a similar problem. I tightened up the rubber boot connection using my power drill as it seemed a poor design and liable to be a weak point, why wasn't it made a bit longer? Sods law the joint in the 4" pipe beneath it came loose and caused a leak. Luckily I was working close by and knew it had happened straight away but it was still a problem to fix as I'm too big for the gap between the wall and my sieve. A friend spent some time getting it sorted and jamming wedges beneath the connections to stop a repeat performance.

Well I am now back where I started when the leak occurred - 7m3 later (slight tide marks left on the new liner gave us the clue). It also looks very close to where it was when I retired last night so I think the problem up to 5hrs of flow overnight. Assuming our average flow rate of .65m3/h, I recon my initial estimate of 10m3 lost is pretty close.

Originally Posted by pip895

My hands aren't very strong (RA) so I got OH to tighten all the rubber boot joints (

A socket and ratchet makes it a lot easier than a screwdriver.
Most jubilee clips are 6 or 7mm hex heads.

I had same problem with my cetus sieve I ended up lightly sanding the spigot on the sieve and the inside of the rubber boot. And then put a couple of bricks under the boot and it hasn't moved in 12 months - I did check it regularly for a week or so as I was a little nervous.

Al,


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Interesting that others have had similar problems - it really is a very short spigot you have to connect to, also it widens slightly at the top and its difficult to get at - with the weight of water pulling it apart - a recipe for disaster - imo. I too, now have two bricks supporting the pipe.

Lara - I was trying to keep the two sides of the wall balanced using the pipework - I could have done the same with a syphon but it would have been a bit of a pain to set up. Ultimately it could have been much worse -if it went with fish in the pond and I wasn't around. Also if one drain was closed as it will normally be, it could even of knocked the wall over

As it was, apart from the delay and cost of water all it does is introduce a level of uncertainty into my volume calculations. I think its under 1 m3 though and in a total of 42m3 I don't think it matters that much! - as you say I could always resort to the salt meter method.