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Sepp Holzer on ponds and "the monk"

 
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Location: Port Elizabeth, South Africa (34 degrees south)
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@Paul .I have been watching it a while. The collar does not seem to have made the water surface any oilier, but really its too early to tell. I do notice on the water, from time to time some kind of oily film. I have read it has to do with ground water bulbing out of the ground and something to do with bacteria and iron content. Does anybody know more about this ?
 
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Zach Weiss wrote:Hey Luke!

Notice how one side flares out for the sticks to connect together.  On the pipe section that connects to the elbow of the Monk you take the rubber gasket out.  This is what allows the monk to pivot.

It is also important that you have a long connection to the elbow.

I have installed the elbow as described but what is this long connection? Also, if you take out the gasket water leaks into the elbow creating a small leak and the elbow seems loose. The wind can knock the pipe over when the pond is not full. Is there something Im missing? Thanks for the info besides that i found that pipe nice to work with.

 
pioneer
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Nicholas said

and seem to not only think outside the box, but don't even know of the existence of the box. In a lot of cases, that's referred to as Autism. I have two sons who have it. And everything is black and white with them, no in between.

As a kid I thought the same way, then realized it is 90% grey with bands of black and white at each end.
 
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This video shows what appears to be the thip, thip, thip from the monk at 3:28.

I enjoyed this short video and the narrator also has a nice and relaxing voice.

Sepp discusses how he uses the pond and plants around it to hold heat and moisture.

He also discusses using a variety of different fish and having habitat for the little ones to hide in.

 
Steve Thorn
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This video shows a lot of really neat things at Sepp's newer farm, the Holzerhof!

It shows three new ponds recently dug out before being filled with water.

It discusses the plants he puts around the banks to both stabilize it and protect it.

I really thought it was neat where the monk was shown and adjusted, and how it's located at the end of the frame of a dock being built to access the monk easily!

 
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Something that Holzer writes in Desert or Paradise seems worth mentioning here.  I'm not sure if this is the same as the "collar" idea, I think it isn't.  it's to prevent fish from escaping down the pipe (if you don't want them to go down it, I gather).

quote:

Every monk needs a safety device to prevent fish swimming through it.  Conventional monks have a slit-plate installed before the dam planks.  For the Holzer Monk I use the pipe-in-pipe system.  I slide a pipe that is about 5cm in diameter larger over the vertical pipe.  I use an angle grinder to make the slits and waterproof the end with gauze or builder's fleece.  A spacer keeps the pipes in place. The pipe with the slits should be at least 10 cm longer than the viertical pipe.  This prevents fish from swimming through and allows sufficient water flow.  This also helps to keep leaves out of the drainage pipe.  (p. 73, Desert or Paradise, Sepp Holzer)

Note--it seems the horizontality of the opening isn't sufficient to keep leaves from getting into the pipe (perhaps clogging it?). And this will work even when the Holzer monk is in a lowered position, not just when it's at full height.

Does anyone know why you need to waterproof the end? isn't that part always going to be out of water? I understand making it fish-proof, but not sure why a screen wouldn't be sufficient.  Nor how gauze makes something waterproof...

Also, there's such a thing as a regular monk, and a Holzer monk.  Regular monks are adjusted by removing some planks from the stack of planks, and Holzer's innovation (that someone else seems to have invented also) is to make the L-shaped pipe that can be adjusted.

Paul Wheaton's trickle pipe is another interesting twist: https://permies.com/t/33162/Paul-Wheaton-trickle-tube#1236175

 
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On the pipe section that connects to the elbow of the Monk you take the rubber gasket out.  This is what allows the monk to pivot.



Hi Zach,

Long time since you wrote this post I know, but I'm hoping you might be able to offer some guidance regarding the gasket removal.

I'm getting ready to install one of these as part of an adjustable primary spillway for a pond I'll be installing in a couple of weeks. We're using 10" C900 pipe with the gasketed fittings for this.

My question is this: when you remove the gasket from the lateral pipe at the bell end that will be making the connection with the elbow for the monk, does anything else need to be done to make this joint water tight?

Details: Since the elbow joint is below water line, won't removing the gasket create a leak issue, where even when the monk is vertical and no water is entering the top, water will still leaking through the now ungasketed joint and flow down the pipe? Does the joint where the gasket has been removed need to be filled with something...a gel or lubricant of some sort? Or is the fit tight enough that none of this will matter?

This elbow will only be about 24" below the bank full water line for this pond, so won't have much in the way of head pressure working on it. I'm wondering if this is like dry-fitting smaller PVC fittings, and how they'll remain largely water tight.

Thank you for any insight you can provide!
 
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