I continued concreting the base tonight until I ran out of gravel
I noticed much to my horror that the bottom drain has moved during the concreting on friday and is no longer level, tried to lift or move it but its solid. Is this a major issue? My first thought of how to remedy this is to buy some plastic and cut it into a ring and then cut it in half (rainbow) then weld it on and sand it down to try to build up the lower side?
Paul,
How much is it off level?
The thing that can be an issue is that the air diffuser will not sit horizontally.
How much of the BD is concreted? can you chip it away?
If it completely encased in concrete? you are stuck with it (excuse the pun)
I started chipping away the concrete around the BD tonight. I've unearthed half of it, and its not budging. I think because its concreted around the pipes. Will continue tomorrow if its nice and will keep you posted
If the BD is only a few degrees off level.....no problemo !!
You'll create more problems with trying to move it once set in concrete......believe me!!!!
Provided that the pond is benched (slopes) to the BD, some variation is OK.
If you're worried, use Cement to sculpt/benck the pond base tot he BD.
Hi Martin,
I hear what you are saying, you can sculpt it around the BD, but the diffuser BD works better with a flat pond bottom.
Having said that it would be a way of overcoming the problem to bench it to the BD.
Also to have to chip away the concrete all the way along the pipe runs, could cause more problems, Paul be careful not to cause a crack in the pipes.
If the BD is only a few degrees off Horizontal, I personnally wouldn't worry.
The tolerances on the Rubber membrane diffuser of the aerated BD are such that you're unlikely to get too much air leaving the "upper" side compared with teh "Lower" side.
If the actual waste pipework has a noticable "down hill" section from the BD sump, then you may get problems with air locks in the 4" pipework, and muck collecting in the dead spot that is created. Ideally the 4" pipe should be level or rise slightly towards the edge of the pond & the filter.
Chipping concrete away ! You'll damage the BD and pipework for sure.
Martin
I've been out there most of the afternoon and its level, the pipe is level and there is no damage to the pipe or BD; that I heard, saw or felt!
The rest of the concrete mix should be turning up any moment so hopefully I should get it finished tonight. From what Dave and Martin have been saying about concreting I should get it done as I'm a week older now and therefore have greater experience!
