Solar Aeration in Big Sky Country

Cruising across I-90 going west

A trip to Deer Lodge Montana

 the week before Thanksgiving,

 to install Pond, Lake, and Solar -Off - Grid, Aeration Systems we manufacture and sell. 

Getting Close now total miles from Denver 850

Destination made, quite a rustic place

Rock Creek Cattle Company

The overnight temps hover around 15 degrees, the ponds have about 3 inches of ice covering them, so the only way to install the diffuser that set at the bottom of the ponds is to chip a hole in the ice and drop them down.

This is the first pond that supplies irrigation water for the championship golf course on the ranch

This is the second pond to receive an Aeration System.

The ice is a good three inches thick and smooth, this pond is a fishing pond that is used for folks that vacation here to fish in, either on their own of with a resort guide..

 This is pond #3, a smaller pond higher up the hill that is fed by the mountains to the west.

The ice here is a little thicker. the last 2 ponds are quite a distance from traditional grid power, this pond will get 2 Off Grid Solar Aeration Systems,

Each Solar system has 2 diffusers, Tyler is making more holes ....

The second Solar Aerator System for this pond is being moved to the other side of the pond, we are taking advantage of the ice to transport across the pond.

This is Pond #4 This pond is fairly close to the 3rd pond but only assessable by foot, the last Solar Aeration System was hand carried to this location not a small feat ....

All of the above photos are the before pictures:

This is Pond #1 ( the irrigation pond) the following day even after low temps of around 15 degrees the night before, this pond recieved our Lake Aeration System using a 3/4 hp rotary compressor, with 4 of the 8 diffusers installed this is a grid powered system, (more hose is required to install the remaining diffusers)

 This the Pond #2 (Lost Lake) the following day.

This pond recieved our Lake Aerator Kit #2 with 8 diffusers, 800 ft of Self Sinking Tubing, using a 3/4hp rotary compressor that is grid powered. 

At least half of the lake is free from ice.

This photo shows a diffuser that is 300 ft away from the compressor and eastern shoreline, this is a single diffuser setting at a depth of 15ft.

The open water to the left is another diffuser that is 200ft away from the compressor, setting at about 15 ft deep.

This shows the open water from pond #3 (Foley Lake) using our Solar Aeration System with a digital timer and backup battery power, and solar panel charging system.

The timer is set to run at 6am and stops running at 1pm.

This photo is taken at about 8 am the following day of installation

The Solar - Off - Grid - Aeration System Charging and control system and custom built cabinet

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This illustrates what happen to the air when it is too cold to open the water from the aerator,

This video shows the air collecting below the surface of the ice and traveling to the shore line, keeping the oxygen level up in the water.