Pool Filter....

[Birdman]

There's lots of ways you can save money. A bottom drain is not one. This is a permanate part of the pond that goes in, concrete bedded, under the liner. Something you don't want to ever change. Take the advice given above. Spend the $200 on the koi toliet. it's worth every penny.

[dOHd]

Steve

I agree with you 100%

The problem is though I doubt he made a bottom drain for $20. A bottom pickup maybe, things that suck water off the bottom, and many are retrofit. But something that goes through the liner and the plumbing runs under the liner for $20? I doubt it.

Just for laughs ( I know it aint funny, but the owner defended the guy that installed it, even after I explained to them how stupid the install was), I thought I would post a photo of a bottom drain that was installed by a pond pro. As you can see, the plumbing runs through the pond and over the side near the skimmer. He also put a pump in the pond, with a rubber tube going to the back of the skimmer. Needless to say, after the tubing went flat because of the suction, the skimmer did not work, and the pump burned up. You can see the hose including the flat part right next to the skimmer. Beautiful pond, eh?

And BTW, this pond has a 9CF sand filter on it, and a 5 HP pump. Right after you backwash it, it has decent flow. Within 90 seconds the flow starts to go down, and within 5 minutes, a garden hose can handle the flow. I told them there were too many issues with the pond install to fix it properly for $50, which is all they wanted to spend.

You can lead a horse to water.............

d

[jlbspd]

It urks me that people seem to doubt so much on here.....I did in fact build a thru liner bottom drain, not some crappy water pickup with hoses running all over like some unplanned interstate system.....I have removed the 3" and am in the process of building 4" drains...as im taking the advise of knowledgeable people here. I had not yet placed the 3" drains in concrete so removal was easy. The drains i built look like the Tetra bottom drains with the black plastic domes....difference is mine are covered but not domed. All this stuff takes, is a little brains, a couple hardware stores and a little time and you can save some serious $$$.....Oh wait,,,,,they are white instead of black....big deal as after a couple mnths you wont be able to see them anyways.
So this goes to all the guys that dont have disposable$$$$ and need to take a few short cuts to get where they want to be.....EXPERIMENT! this is how the industry got to where its at today....dont be affraid to put it out there! to ask questions, to make something even if it fails... and yeah, in the long run it may end up as cheap to buy the parts you needed without making them.....BUT im much more proud of the fact I DID IT!
Thanks for all the info guys!
John
Florida
please dont take this as a bash......just making a point....