DIY Canister filter for Water Garden Pond

SKAustin

OK, so I finally gave in and decided to make a filter for our water garden pond. It seems the wal-mart pond pump with it's little coarse sponge just couldnt cut the mustard.

The design idea is to feed water to the top of a 5 gallon bucket, and drain out of the bottom of the bucket. The water will pass through a few different layers on its way to the drain at the bottom. An additional drain will be added to the top of the bucket as a fail-safe in the event the filter material becomes clogged. Here is the Pond before the filter.

SKAustin

Here are a few different views of the bucket with the plumbing installed.







Here is the inside.
The top right pipe is the inlet (45 degree elbow aimed downward)
The left is the fail-safe drain. (90 degree elbow aimed upward)

SKAustin

Now for the guts

The Barley Chamber (made from egg crate ceiling tile)


Section Dividers (also made from egg crate ceiling tile)


Filter Fiber


And the Large Debris Basket
(this was made from the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket and window screen)

SKAustin

Time to assemble this contraption!

SKAustin

Time to add the pump.

First, I had to add a bit of plumbing to the pump.


Then, I created a mounting platform for the pump.


This will keep the pump suspended above the bottom
of the pond so in the event of a problem, the pond
cannot drain completely.


1/2" unions were used to attach both the pump, and the hose to the mounting platform.

SKAustin

Ok, Test Run.



Works like a charm


And here it is after the first week.

SKAustin

And the pond with the filter in place. I'll be making a decorative house to add to the garden that will cover the bucket up.

ndjs

That's awesome! It's really pretty the way you have it set up. With a decorative cover for the bucket, it will be great!

Daz

Nice one Steve, you really are the Honcho of DIY. Nice job. :D

Mr.Todd

This was really cool that you made this... I think its going to work great, once you build the "hut" for the filter and the pvc gets some algae growth it will be awesome. Way to save hundreds of dollars!