The Saturn Booster - A Prince among Pre-Filters
One of the benefits of my involvement with this feature on ponds is that occasionally, I am asked to test the performance of new products and this latest composition revolves around the Hozelock Saturn Booster which was released in early 2008.
Throughout this year I have been operating this mechanical pre-filter on the smaller of my 2 ponds and wish to share with you my experiences. This filter is claimed to be suitable for ponds up to 30000 litres which I think is a little ambitious, certainly if you have a healthy population of fish. My pond capacity of 10000 litres was however well within its capability and its claim of 75% debris removal was to be well tested with the results, as you will read, being most satisfactory.
On unpacking the Booster I was immediately impressed by its presentation and build quality, the packing is solid and well thought out, protecting its precious contents on all sides. The plastic body and fitments are manufactured with excellent quality materials being predominately grey/black plastic. This material is of course necessary as the Booster is a sealed and pressurized Filter and must therefore expel clean water to the UVC and biological Filter at the same rate as is taken from your pump. The only pre installation work necessary was to affix the inlet valve assembly onto the body, this was easily completed as the instruction sheets are comprehensive and the required tooling well catered for.
On installation, there are a number of basic rules to follow if trouble free operation is to be achieved. Firstly a flow rate of between 3000 and 8000 litres per hour is needed, so ensure your pump will deliver this requirement. The Booster must be positioned first in the filtration cycle, directly after the pump, and before the UVC and biological filter. When siting the pump, lift it some 6-9 inches off the pond floor so as not to ingest excessive sediment. This is best done by laying it safely on some clean wall bricks.
The Booster itself should be sited on a flat level surface which can be above or below the pond water level. The 4 hoses can then be connected; these should be of the same diameter, personally, I would suggest either 32mm or 40mm so that the required volume of water is transferred with ease.
The filter bypass hose is situated beside the inlet hose and must lead back to the pond. This hose is utilized in the event of high pressure within the filter when a valve automatically redirects the water back to the pond. This arrangement protects the filter in the unlikely event of a problem and it is satisfying to know of its existence.
The outlet and flush-away hoses should again match the inlet hose for size and should not rise more than 1 metre above the Booster. My outlet hose leads to my UVC and biological filters and is 1 1/2 metres in length and at the same height. The flush-away hose is just 45cm long and as it is positioned above the surrounding area I can easily flush away dirty water and debris into a bucket before disposing onto my shrub borders.
Once I had finished installation, I double checked both hose and electrical connections to ensure correctness and switched on the pond pump. It takes a while for the water to fill the whole filter system, but once water is flowing through you may activate the Booster. The only noise is a slight humming as the electric pump inside backwashes the mesh filter removing solid waste that will settle on the bottom of the vessel. Finally switch on the UVC and recheck all joints for water tightness, and the valves for correct positioning.
The Saturn Booster should now operate continuously through the Season as did mine, with maintenance carried out weekly as follows. Please, please get into the habit of activating the flush-away at least once every week for a period of at least 15 seconds. It takes me approximately half that time to fill my waste bucket so I operate the handle and continue to do so until the water passing through to the bucket is clear. This indicates that all the sludge waste stored in the vessel bottom has been expelled.
At this juncture I must emphasize that I was staggered to see how much sediment and waste my Booster had extracted. This of course has a major impact in reducing the amount of debris being passed to the biological filters and hence dramatically reduces the maintenance requirements of those filters. In fact, I seem to recall that I had to operate the sludge taps on my biological filters just twice throughout the season, this being a vast improvement on my pre Booster seasons.
Hozelock provide a detailed instruction booklet with the Saturn Booster which includes a copious amount of fault-finding tips. I have to admit that I did not have to refer to this in my first season, which is proof of the operating qualities of this filter and also the importance of regular maintenance. At the height of the Summer I found that I was extracting some 4 buckets of filthy water each week and it is wise to note that when operating the flush handle, a continuous opening and closing of the flush-away mechanism will dislodge stubborn settlements of sludge which otherwise may remain inside.
You will not be surprised to hear that I am a big fan of this Pre-Filter and would recommend it to all Pondkeepers who can accommodate it within their filter system, which should be pump fed and non pressurized. I personally support the claims made by the manufacturers, of cleaner water and reduced maintenance for existing filters. I am looking forward to next season when I will once more put the Saturn Booster through the Filtration Test.