I’ve been working on this pond now for the last four months.  Little by little it is taking shape. I never realized it would take this long, but I have learned a great deal about pre-pond design, making walls, plumbing and filtration.

I placed my bottom drain, swirl filter, skimmer and found a large water trough to use at the top of the waterfall.  The swirl filter was designed by cutting the top off a 55 gallon barrel below.

Once the filter was placed, I filled in the area and this is what it looks like from the top.

With these pieces in place, walls have been shored up and the waterfall base has been built.  You can see the skimmer in the center of the image.  I was impressed with the Helix Skimmer from The Pond Digger.  I got my bottom drain plumbed, concreted in and smoothed out.  You can just see it (bottom drain) at the base of pond (I’ve got it covered with a piece of underlayment.)

I decided on the Koi Toilet from The Pond Outlet and I’m hoping that the 4″ drain will accommodate for the ducks.

The The Pond Outlet has a much better image of this bottom drain that I included below:

Bottom Drain with aeration line (fromm http://www.thepondoutlet.com)

I’ve reinforced the waterfall base with cinder block and used a 100 gallon water trough as the waterfall collection tank.  this way I can plant some plants in the top of the trough that will further hide the waterfall.

So, the next step is to begin laying the underlayment to protect the liner from holes.  Stay tuned . . .