Pond from hot tub

[radioman]

So - you need a base of rocks and way to drain water away

 

[riptides]

When I read the initial post I thought: "Excellent idea for re-purposing a useless hotub",
But I was thinking that you would strip the wood away and keep only the fiberglass or plastic portion. It looks to me that you have attempted to bury the entire tub.
Opps!
That's not how I would do it.
As far as the water problem goes your going to have to either pick a spot that water drains away from or change the terrain to accommodate.
You can still use the pump but it needs to be above ground and plumbed back to the tub.
I think you should start over and do a little shade tree engineering, while understanding that this is going to be a huge waste of time and money if not designed properly.

Ok, thanks. I ended up stripping down to just the shell. I have a pond pump ready to go. And have a pond liner.

My plan is to just use the shell of the tub as a forming factor for the liner. I ended up only going four feet down, and am stumped I have hit water. I am hoping that it is just drainage from the heavy rains. I'll monitor over the next few days.

 

[riptides]

So - you need a base of rocks and way to drain water away

Yeah, after I drain it and monitor it, I have some rocks ready to go too.

This was suppose to be - easy.

 

[SSdoxie]

Sounds like you have a high water table in that area. Dig it down deeper, but in some coarse rock then run a tile line "French Drain" away from it to give water a path to pass around and past it. Once the tub/pond is layed in there, back filled, and is full of water it should float out of position.

Extra comment: After putting rock under it, put a layer of sand to set it on so rock doesn't push through/crack the fiberglass.

 

[like2wheel]

Sounds like you have a high water table in that area. Dig it down deeper, but in some coarse rock then run a tile line "French Drain" away from it to give water a path to pass around and past it.

I agree with this, rocks in the bottom will do nothing but take up space unless you give the water a path to drain away.
I'm wondering if it would be possible to put the water to good use. Somehow to let the fresh water in, and a spillover pipe set at the desired water height to take the excess away. But I can't figure a way to get that done without a pump, or it would become a drain

 

[riptides]

Somewhat good news, the water collection is slowing down in the hole. I'll give it a few more days. We still have standing water in the fields.

 

[riptides]

I think this w/e the hot tub comes out of the hole and goes to the dump. I just don't have warm and fuzzies about the fibre-glass "fit" into the hole. It is not a clean mesh of dirt around the tub, too many nooks and crannies for possible water collection.

Guess I will get the chain saw out!

I have the liner ready to go, and it should have been completed by now. I have wasted time and money, trying to be good to mother earth. But, heck, I have cleaned up this property so much, I guess one trip to the land fill will not hurt my bond to the land.

 

[Johndeere3720]

jd3720,

I don't know much about ponds. But I do like them... so for the first stupid question:
Do you have a source for water ie: stream or spring or is the water recycled through the water fall to the pond?

Sorry to respond so late in the thread. We just used the garden hose and filled it up. The water is circulated back to the top via a small pump. It is pretty neat how it works.

I think a hot tub pond is a great idea (provided it's not one of those old pink ones!). The circulation is ready to go, the shelves provide different heights for plants and stuff, great. The circulation may be too strong though so you may have to reduce it.

Jacob, nice pics! I see you beat 2500 posts!

Thanks!

The water is recirculated!

Yep

 

[riptides]

I finally finished this project last night. We have water, lots of frogs, turtles and a dragon fly that stopped by.

I took the hot tub to the landfill a while back. I took a chain saw to it.

Here are a few shots of the progress, more tonight.

The first shot is the area without the tub, regraded and what not.

The second is the liner with the stone going in.

I buried some old tarps under the liner, for added protection. But the area was cleaned of roots and rocks.

 

[riptides]

Overflow testing and final product.