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  • Results 1 to 16 of 16

    Thread: Winterizing my shower filter

    1. #1
      Redman8102's Avatar
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      Winterizing my shower filter

      Ok guys first year I've ever had a shower filter outside for the winter. It's made from stackable "heavy duty" sterlite totes filled with feather rock.

      The future plan is to Enclose the tower with wood and some sort of insulation. But at the moment the tower is completely exposed to the elements. Luckily NC sees fairly mild winters but we do have our cold nights .

      What can I do this winter to ensure the thing doesn't freeze solid, and explode lol.

      I'd also like to run everything through the winter is it possible at this stage of construction when everything is still exposed ?

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    2. #2
      koi4u2c is offline Senior Member
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      What zone are you in?

      Depending on your weather zone, gallons and depth of your pond makes a difference in your options. If your pond is in the full sun in the winter and not too large a simply hoop house with 6 ml plastic may be all you need to keep everything from freezing. If like here and you have several days of extreme cold, you can just let your shower drain and restart it several days later. I have found that it will still be almost immediately active. Shower filters once drained are exposed to the air and do not become anerobic.
      Nancy



    3. #3
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      Hi Redman8102
      Im in Charlotte NC and I also have a shower. I put 1'' foam board insulation around it and wrap it in a tarp. I also put a couple 2x4's around my waterfall and float a solar pool cover over the pond and pull it up over the waterfall to wrap it. I leave everything running all year including waterfall and shower. I've been in Charlotte for 20 yrs and had the pond for 10 and its less than 3ft deep with 24'' koi. Last year was the coldest yet with a 9 degree day and I had no problems.
      As long as water is running I dont think it gets cold enough here to freeze lines. I have a little 3 tier water fountian in the front yard with a 1/2'' water line and a tiny pump. Every year at least once or twice the entire fountian is a cascade of nothing but ice, the pump or water line have never froze unless the fountian runs out of water (I usually shut it off before water runs out).

      As far as your lines being exposed, alot of mine are because I have a raised filter deck to get the water up to waterfall. I do however have the exposed lines all painted.

      Hope this helps
      Deb
      Happiness is adopting a mutt and my pond is FULL of Happiness....
      Deb

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    4. #4
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      Very interesting. I had presumed that shower filters had to be turned off once the air temperature started dropping below the pond temperature, and certainly throughout the winter. I know it depends on your zone, of course.



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    5. #5
      JGS107 is offline Senior Member
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      If your not feeding your fish though the winter what's the point of keeping everything running. I turned everything off last year and had no issues. My only plan this year is to build a dome with 6mil plastic to keep the wind off the water

    6. #6
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      Thanks Deb that definitely helped calm my thoughts about winter .... Well the point for me is, I spend all this time trying to make good bacteria why not try and keep some alive, to speed spring start up .

    7. #7
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      I do want to try and make some sort of greenhouse cover this year... Wish I had a permanent one lol

    8. #8
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      Redman another way to keep some bacteria alive, if you don't get a cover this winter is to place filter media in your pond. For instance I have some shower filters made with milk crates. I can just sit them in the pond and enough bacteria will live so that in the spring they will soon spring into action. But just turning them off on the coldest days, once they already have active bacteria in them mine still seemed to work quickly in the spring. I used lava rocks and they still seem to stay moist and bacteria still lives in the rocks.
      Nancy



    9. #9
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      Quote Originally Posted by JGS107 View Post
      If your not feeding your fish though the winter what's the point of keeping everything running. I turned everything off last year and had no issues. My only plan this year is to build a dome with 6mil plastic to keep the wind off the water
      For me its just easier to keep everything going all year. Even though I dont feed them I still do filter cleaning and water changes every two weeks all winter. They may not be eating but the filters still have a lot of crud in them, if I shut down the system it would be in bottom of pond til spring.
      We can get some cold weather but on the flip side it can be very warm in the winter. I just dont think it gets cold enough for a long enough period here to shut anything down. Last winter is the first winter ever that I covered the pond, I just floated a solar cover on it because it was so cold.
      Happiness is adopting a mutt and my pond is FULL of Happiness....
      Deb

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      https://youtu.be/PR3Q2MInsQg

    10. #10
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      I live in Charlotte as well and I usually build a plastic enclosure over my pond and leave the waterfalls running all year. I have never had the water temperature get below 45 degrees and usually it's in the low 50's. I think you'll be fine covering the shower as mentioned and drain it if we hit a cold snap.

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    11. #11
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      Thanks guys! Never thought about putting media in the pond!

      All these people in the Charlotte area; gonna have to get together one of these days and tour some ponds!!!

    12. #12
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      Have the new ZNA Carolina just starting, let me know if you're interested

    13. #13
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      My pond froze over a lot last year I'd be worried if I kept everythi ng running a pipe would burst. I plan to build a pvc and plastic dome over everything this year so I might be able to run it all year also

    14. #14
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      I use to use pvc for my builds,but one good snow did that in. I've moved to good old 2x4 and 6x6 posts with 6 mil plastic clear sheeting. Nice slant to the roof and several cross beams for that once every 2-3 year snow we get in Charlotte.

    15. #15
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      I must say, I too use grey 1"Pvc piping for a dome top for my duck pen25' long x10' high x 12' w....... only it was covered with a wire netting 2"x4" opening .....it only lasted 2 or 3 yrs be-4 it cave in with the heavy snow we had up here and I had so up right PVC piping to .
      I would not trust it for a pond with plastic covering .
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    16. #16
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      Thanks guys !

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