What is a Pond Filter?

Pond filter systems usually consist of 3 primary components:

1.        A solids-handling pump is used, generally submersed directly in the pond or dry mounted.  The purpose of the pump is to pass water and suspended debris to the pond filter for processing.  It’s important that the pump can handle larger solid waste, otherwise, this will simply block up with detritus and the filter cannot operate effectively.  The pump will then pass the debris via a flexible hose or pipework to a filter.

2.       An Ultraviolet Clarifier is usually the next step in the process and is designed to emit UV radiation contained safely inside the UV housing, which causes microscopic organisms such as suspended algae to be killed and flocculated (clumped together).  Single-celled algae are individual organisms and without the benefit of a UV Clarifier, would simply pass straight through the filter foams and return back to the pond.  The larger clumps of algae are then passed into the mechanical and biological stages of the filter system for removal and biological breakdown.

3.       The pond filter, in most cases, contains porous filter sponges of differing pore sizes which are used to mechanically trap the flocculated algae and pond sediment, therefore straining out unwanted pond waste.  The sponges also act as biological housing for beneficial ‘friendly’ bacteria, which help to break down organic matter and otherwise harmful pathogens.  The cleaned and processed water can then be passed back to the pond.

Pond filters are generally left to operate 24 hours a day to constantly process the water.  Switching off the filter pump for prolonged periods will cause the beneficial bacteria to die due to lack of oxygenated water flow.  As the pump and filter are running continuously, it’s important to use the most energy efficient filtration equipment for the task in hand, something which OASE and Water Garden Ltd take fully on board.