Pond Drum Skimmer

Faculty Advisor: Carl Williams
Sponsor:

Retrofit for Automatic Skimmer Cleaning

Goal: Design and prototype an automatic drum type pond cleaner retrofit for pond
skimmers. The unit runs on demand based on needed cleaning to provide adequate
water flow. The object is to clean drum filter by rotating the drum to separate solids from
filtered water. Infeed challenge is that unit is to be gravity fed using a commercially
available skimmer.
Challenges:

  1. Component Selection
    a. Drum materials, size, mesh
    b. Drive motor, voltage, gears, mounting
    c. Pump for cleaning cycle
    d. Sensors for starting and stopping pump and motor
    e. Controller, inputs/outputs, voltages
  2. Data collection
    a. Handling of algae and debris, load limits
    b. Ways to protect vital components from weather
  3. Prototype construction likely to include:
    a. Machining gears, if not found commercially available
    b. Metal Fabrication of metallic drum, or possible 3D development and
    printing

Commercially available models are quite expensive, but the tank suggested is a side-by-side skimmer with input on one side and pump to waterfall on the other side. Thus, straight through Drum filter retrofit would only require some modifications and not the cost of the skimmer.

Commercially available units:

YouTube Drum Filters: