pond shape - circular vs rectangular

[shamrock]

hi,

done some searching on these forums and on the www but have not been successful in finding the answer...

my questions are:

1) in which of the two will you have better water flow (provided you smoothen out the sharp edges on the rectangular design)?

2) would you build a rectangular or circular pond... AND WHY???

i would say circular due to the fact the water circulates in a counterclockwise fashion when being drained (in the northern hemisphere). and there would be less "dead space" in the water flow (?). in addition your return pipe could be angled so that it pushes the water in a counterclockwise rotation hence creating an underwater current (in theory).

am i completely wrong? does it make any difference? i suppose you could argue you get more volume through a rectangular design, but in terms of water flow etc... would a rectangular (with smooth edges) work as well?

thanks for your input

[MCA]

Using a rollon sealant over concrete/block walls and floor...no real problem with a round pond.

Try to folding a flat sheet of liner into a round or elipical pond.


Personally I like a rectangular pond so the koi get a max horizontal distance to swim. Also much easier to get water to flow from waterfall/weir/bypass/showers/TTs on one short end.....to one or two skimmers on the other short end.

Remember....riverine carp. So max currents and swimming distances.

[Otter]

Quote: Originally Posted by shamrock my questions are: 1) in which of the two will you have better water flow (provided you smoothen out the sharp edges on the rectangular design)?

You can get good flow with either design. With a rectangular pond, you can use TPR's (tangential point returns) to eliminate the dead spots. And it is possible to get dead spots on the perimeter of a round pond.

Quote: 2) would you build a rectangular or circular pond... AND WHY??? i would say circular due to the fact the water circulates in a counterclockwise fashion when being drained (in the northern hemisphere). and there would be less "dead space" in the water flow (?). in addition your return pipe could be angled so that it pushes the water in a counterclockwise rotation hence creating an underwater current (in theory). am i completely wrong? does it make any difference? i suppose you could argue you get more volume through a rectangular design, but in terms of water flow etc... would a rectangular (with smooth edges) work as well?

Coriolis force is too weak to have significant influence on the direction water spirals to a drain. It's the geometry of the drain and pond, sink, or tub that determines which way the water will go.

As to which shape I'd build, it really depends on the site. In some sites, you might actually have room for more water with a round pond. Also, other shapes are possible. An oval, for instance, or two semi-circles connected by straight walls. If you're going to use an EPDM liner and want to keep folds to a minimum, though, you'll want to stick with a rectangle. OTOH, if you go deep, straight walls require more reinforcement.

[JacksonvilleKoiSupply]

It is really up to your own personal taste. I am a fan of most water for a given footprint, so I lean more toward the formal rectangular designs. To create the circular motion that you are refering to in a rectangular pond there are many ways to do this. If you only have one BD then just place your water returns at opposite corners of the pond so a curcular current is produced. If you have more than one bottom drain then you are going to want two of your returns actually pushing towards each other and have another return shooting water perpendicular to those two returns right in the middle of the pond wall. That way you have two circular currents that are "Rolling" off of each other just like the rollers on an automatic baseball pitching machine.

No matter what you do using a drain alone will not get any kind of substancial current in your pond will not work.

Zac