Settlement and vortex systems are used in gravity-fed systems and use water flow in the chamber to settle out suspended matter. Entrapment is used in standard pump-fed, external, black-box bio filters, acting in a similar way to a sieve. In a vault/chambered, pump-fed system, methods of entrapment can vary. This may involve layers of foam, filter pads or brushes in filters. Including self-cleaning micro screen as found in the Answer.
If you prefer gravity-fed filtration you will need to know how to get the best out of your settlement chamber. The effectiveness of a settlement chamber starts well before the debris enters the chamber, as great care must be taken to prepare the debris for settlement. Particles must be kept as large as possible while still in the pond, as these will settle much better – something that is best achieved with a bottom drain.
It is best to feed a settlement chamber by a passive bottom drain that gently transfers solid debris from the pond to the first chamber. Compare this to a pump-fed setup where the pump will not only pulverize the solid matter into finer particles, which will then not want to settle That’s why entrapment is the preferred method of solids removal for a pump fed system.
Large pipe to and between chambers – include 4in pipe as this prevents ‘jetting’ and encourages water to move slowly through the filter.
A large settlement chamber will slow down the water. Your settlement chamber cannot be too large, but it can be too small. The smallest chamber I would consider would be 30” x 3’ x 3’ deep, but the larger the better. This gives the water entering by a bottom drain and 4in pipe the opportunity to slow down even further and drop its particulate load.
Baffle or up and down flow will act in slow-moving water between your chambers to change direction, slowing the flow further, and encouraging yet more debris to drop out of suspension. Thus entering the final chamber known as the Bio filter,and then pumped out to return to pond.
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