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Hozelock Pond Vacuum Information
Using a pond vacuum is becoming an ever present and more popular way in helping to keep the ponds ecosystem in good shape by removing sludge from the bottom of the pond. Using a pond vacuum is really easy and can be implemented into your regular routine of maintaining your pond, it can also save you lots of time in the long run as well.
The Hozelock Pond Vacuum is an in pond vacuum and this means that the motor is situated at the end of the unit. The reason behind this design is to provide you with an exceptional amount of power, due to the fact the motor isn't having to pull water through long tubes like in the older style pond side vacuums. The powerful motor has inside a strong cutting blade impeller so it can deal with things like, blanketweed, plant stems, roots, stones and thick pond sludge.
Why will the Hozelock vacuum save me time?
Cleaning your pond out by hand is time consuming and back breaking work, it's a job that we all hate and probably one that gets put of for years. Cleaning by hand you have to empty the whole pond, store your old water in containers, then remove inches of sludge and then scrub and hose the pond clean, this is a messy job. Those of you with bigger garden ponds, this type of work might be unmanageable for just one person which could mean employing expensive contractors to do the work for you. I know from speaking to customers that a pond vacuum can seem an expensive investment at first, however if you use it once a month it soon becomes a sound investment. Using a Hozelock pond vacuum as part of your regular maintenance is the simplest and cheapest solution to a healthy stress free pond.
Why Should I Clean The Pond Sludge?
If sludge becomes over 1cm in thickness it can create an unhealthy anaerobic (this means there is no oxygen) environment in which harmful bacteria can thrive. These harmful bacteria not only release ammonia, but when they breakdown in your pond sludge the process will release harmful toxic gases such as hydrogen sulphide, this gas is what can make your pond stagnant and smell like rotten eggs, the overall problem however is much worse.
In recent studies by the environmental protection agency the maximum tolerance level to hydrogen sulphide is 0.002ppm for all pond wildlife and friendly bacteria, any higher and it will lead to potential deaths. Hydrogen sulphide if released will start to attack your fish, it will stop them being able to transfer oxygen to their blood causing a huge amount of stress and the onset of bacterial diseases.
Hozelock Pond Vacuum Special Features
Quick, Easy and Simple Assembly: Having a very small number of parts and a plug and play mentality means that you can have your Hozelock pond vacuum up working and cleaning your pond very quickly. All the parts are fully adjustable to give you total control of how you use the unit, the handle position can be moved to suit the height of an individual giving more comfort, also the length of the unit can be adjusted for deeper ponds (maximum length 2.0m). All the fitting parts on the Hozelock vacuum work as a push fit and then you screw the washer to tighten them, it really couldn't be simpler.
Cheap to run and great for your plants: The hozelock vacuum has an 80 watt motor which means that it's really cheap to run and as also mentioned before the reason why the motor and pump don't have to be so powerful is that they are located in the water, so they are not having to work really hard to feed the water back to your flowers. The reason that this mucky pond sludge and water should be lead to your flowers is that it contains lots of nitrates which acts as a brilliant plant fertilizer, so it's a clean pond for you and happy plants in your garden.
Different Attachment nozzles: With the Hozelock pond vacuum you receive three different attachment nozzles to suit different needs within your pond. The top left nozzle that you can see in the picture has a huge intake to it, this means that it is ideal if you have knocked any stones into the pond or you have a large flat pond bottom to clean, the large intake will mean that a huge pond area can be done very quickly with no blockages. The nozzle in the middle of the three shown in the picture is for those little nooks and crannies that are hard to get to, just like with your home vacuum, it's perfect for in between and around your plant baskets, really tight corners and also it's also very good for waterfalls. The last attachment is probably the all rounder of the three, it comes with soft plastic bristles on so it is good for dislodging blanketweed and dirt from the sides and bottom of your pond.
Replacing or cleaning the impeller
After using your Hozelock pond vacuum it's always a good idea to give it a rinse out, so that when you next come to use it there is no chance of dry pond weed etc clogging the unit. Cleaning it after every use will take minutes, and it's the best way to improve the longevity and it will make it much easier in the long run for maintenance. To start remove all the pipe work and extension tubes so that you're just left with the motor head of the unit, then push both clips in on the top of the unit and release the front cover of the unit so you are left with the same as shown below.
Next you will need to remove the impeller housing, this will simply pull out of the main body of your Hozelock pond vacuum. This is all one piece and even though it looks like the impeller removes from the casing or that the casing opens, it doesn't so please don't try and pull it apart for cleaning. The reason why it's designed like this is so that the cutting blade is kept nice and safe so you can't cut your self while cleaning the unit, so please don't put your hands into the impeller as the blade is sharp!
The best way to clean this part is by using your garden hose pipe and just spray it clean, this will be enough to dislodge any dirt that may have accumulated within the housing. You will also be able to put the hose pipe through the main body of your vacuum from where you have taken the impeller. By doing this after every time you use your vacuum it will provide you with many years worth of service, the only part you may need to replace after a few years will be the impeller if the cutting blade becomes blunt.
If you do happen to find that your Hozelock vacuum is running slow you will need to open up the full pump housing to check the water flow tube has not become blocked in any way. First you will need to locate your philips head screwdriver, then undo and remove all 6 screws from the back of the unit which can be seen in the bottom left picture. Once removed you will be able to see the motor of the pump and the curved piece which is the water flow tube as seen on the left hand side of the picture, this is where the water is directed, it can become blocked if your pond is covered in extremely thick sludge. Once again this can simply be cleaned with your hosepipe, and will very rarely if ever need to be done, and that is really all the maintenance you will need to do.
