Tsurumi Pump helps with botanical gardens

Tsurumi Pump, Glendale Heights, Ill., assisted with the overhaul of a one-acre pond in Illinois. Two pumps were used to rejuvenate Mabery Gelvin Botanical Gardens, which is part of the Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve in the village of Mahomet, about 140 miles southwest of Chicago. The pond has once again become a popular site for wedding photographs and a vibrant nature reserve for the local wildlife, the company says.

The artificial pond had become silted up and stagnant. Following dredging and redesign, two Tsurumi pumps with high solids handling capabilities were installed to ensure good flow and oxygenation at all times.

Tsurumi worked with Aquascape Construction, St. Charles, Ill., which began working on a renovation of the pond in November 2018. One of the first tasks was the removal of almost 6 million pounds of silt. The main cause of that sedimentation had been the build-up of leaf debris from the surrounding forest and erosion from the adjacent garden beds. Aquascape reshaped the pond and lined it with a large, reinforced polypropylene liner.

It now incorporates a new intake bay from where leaves can be redirected to a catchment area and skimmed off before they sink and decompose. The company then placed two massive Tsurumi B Series submersible pumps inside a 1,500-gal. concrete vault at the intake area.

“The great thing about these pumps is that they can handle a lot of solid material, but we want to try to keep the pond as clean as possible because that helps to reduce maintenance and increase efficiency within the biological filter,” said Ed Beaulieu, Aquascape’s vice president of field research and contractor development. “Essentially, we’ve built a whole new ecosystem, with the Tsurumi pumps being the crucial part of it.”

The forest preserve occupies almost 900 acres along the corridor of the Sangamon River. In addition to the Mabery Gelvin Botanical Gardens, its attractions include the Museum of the Grand Prairie and Lake of the Woods Golf Course. The pond renovation project was completed in conjunction with the Champaign County Forest Preserve.