Livewell aerator?

[fireman57]

Can I use a small portable bilge pump that I already have and never use as an aerator for my live well? Is there something that I can put on the end of the garden hose that I have hooked up to it that would aerate the water?<br />Would I be able to take one of the stones that they use and attach it to the end of the hose or would it restrict the flow too much and burn up my pump? It is a 1.5v pump and runs at 500gph.

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Livewell aerator?

Aeration can be achieved by use of the venturi effect. Install a small air line near the end of the discharge hose, plumbed at an acute angle to the source of the discharge. This will pull air into the discharge, and mix it with the water.<br /><br />Another way to do it is to discharge the water back into the live well from a few inches above it. The disruption of the water surface for the return flowing back into the well will aerate it. How much surface disruption you need depends on the live contents of the tank.<br /><br />If the bilge pump is a ‘continuous duty’ pump you can use it to aerate. Many bilge pumps are ‘intermittent duty’, meaning they can be run for a specified amount of time then must be shut off for a specified amount of time before reactivating.

 

[fireman57]

Re: Livewell aerator?

This is a continous duty. However, with such a small live well I can't get much drop to let the water just splash back in for oxygenation. How would I use this venturi effect at the end of 1/2" garden hose? Do I run a separate line inside the hose a few inches or what?

 

[jtexas]

Re: Livewell aerator?

That's good info, rabbit, I've heard of venturi aeration before but never found out how it works. Should it be nearer to the open end of the hose than to the pump discharge outlet?<br /><br />fireman, check at Home Depot; there's all kinds of economical low-pressure connections used for built-in lawn sprinklers, including some that you just punch through the hose. I use drip irrigation supplies for plumbing my livewell - cheap, durable, and easy to work with.

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Livewell aerator?

Fireman – sorry for not getting back to you. The way venturi works is this: as a fluid (liquid or gaseous) moves thru a hose, it picks up speed. The increase in speed results in a lowering of the fluid pressure. The drop in pressure acts as a vacuum to pull in whatever is behind it. If you plumb a small air hose right there, the air (being less dense than the water) is pulled in and mixed with the water as it is expelled from the hose. This is real common in koi pond water filter returns.<br /><br />Jtexas – pressure is greatest where the water enters the hose; pressure is least where it exits. Plumb the airline near the exit. If you angel the air line back toward the water source (pump), the water return hose will suck in air. If you don’t angle it back, you will create a second port for the water to flow out of.<br /><br /> Air sucked in here<br />________\ \__<br />____________ air mixed with water flows out >>><br /><br />That said, it will be easier and as effective, maybe even more so, to spray the water across the surface of the well. Any disruption in the water’s surface causes the water to take up gas (air). The more the disturbance, the more oxygen the water will hold. The O2 enriched water at the surface will be pulled down by the circulation pump.

 

[fireman57]

Re: Livewell aerator?

Thanks Rabbit. I tried it with less than stellar results because I couldn't get enough angle. You are correct that shooting it back at the pump works best. <br />jtexas you were about Home Depot. I cruised Lowe's looking for something that would work. Found some thing close but didn't seem right. Went across the highway to HD and they had many more parts to choose from. I used the air fitting to secure the whole thing in my well. I just let the pump set on the bottom. No mounting bracket needed. As you can tell I'm too cheap to buy a 24.00 aerator. Why should I when I already have something that will work with some modification? Keeps the wife happy that I'm not spending money on the boat and leaves me more cash for suds.