Russell Professional Pond & Pondless Products
HydroChamber™ Pondless Water Storage & Pump Chamber
Water Storage, Pump Access and Water-Level Management in One Compact Underground Tank
Made in the USA
The HydroChamber™ combines pondless water storage and pump access in one compact, direct-burial tank.
Instead of storing water throughout a large underground reservoir filled with structural blocks and decorative rock, the HydroChamber stores the system's operating water in a dedicated tank where the pump remains accessible.
Smaller Excavation • Accessible Pump • Dedicated Water Storage • Auto-Fill Ready • Remote Installation Capable
HydroChamber™ at a Glance
- 37" tall × 26" diameter
- 75-gallon total tank capacity
- Approximately 50.9 gallons of water storage above the pump
- Two standard 2" female threaded outlet ports
- Standard 2" outlets accommodate 1½" or 2" pump plumbing
- High Flow Rates: 6" gravity-fed inlet → additional 3" pump outlet
- Second 2" outlet can serve a second pump or system overflow
- 4" or 6" gravity-fed inlet
- 4" tank-to-tank connection for additional water storage
- Auto-fill ready with dedicated ½" female threaded water-supply port
- Direct-burial rotational-molded HDPE construction
- Supports more than 450 lbs.
- Multiple HydroChambers can be connected for additional water storage
- Multiple-pump capable
- Compatible with submersible and external centrifugal pumps
- Remote installation capable
Designed to Match the Pump's Flow Rate
The HydroChamber™ can be configured for a wide range of pump flow rates and water-feature sizes.
Smaller Flow Rates: 4" gravity-fed inlet → 1½" pump plumbing
Mid-Range Flow Rates: 4" gravity-fed inlet → 2" pump plumbing
High Flow Rates: 6" gravity-fed inlet → 3" pump plumbing
Rather than forcing every installation into the same plumbing configuration, the HydroChamber can be matched to the flow requirements of the pump and water feature.
Need More Water Storage? Add Another HydroChamber™
Multiple HydroChambers can be connected through their lower 4" tank-to-tank connections, allowing the chambers to share stored water.
As the size of the water feature—and the amount of water that returns when the pump is turned off—increases, additional HydroChambers can be added to provide the required storage capacity.
One pump or multiple pumps. One HydroChamber or multiple HydroChambers. The system can grow with the water feature.
One Tank. Several Jobs.
A pondless system needs more than a place for the pump.
It needs water storage. It needs convenient pump access. It may need automatic water-level control. And it needs a way to manage overflow.
The HydroChamber™ brings those functions together in one compact underground tank.
Water Storage • Pump Access • Auto-Fill Connection • Overflow Management
Because the pump operates inside a dedicated water-storage chamber, it remains accessible without being buried beneath decorative rock or located inside a gravel-filled reservoir.
Why Dig a Larger Hole Than You Need To?
Traditional rock-and-gravel pondless reservoirs store water throughout an underground basin containing structural blocks, a slotted pump vault and decorative rock.
The HydroChamber™ takes a different approach.
Water storage is concentrated inside a dedicated underground tank while the HydroSieve™ removes debris before the water reaches the pump.
That can mean a smaller excavation, fewer reservoir components and easier access to the pump and stored water.
Less Excavation • Fewer Components • Easier Access
All-in-One Pondless Pump Vault
and Water Storage Tank
Features:
- Made in U.S.A.
- 75 gallon capacity
- Heavy duty HDPE direct burial tank
- Dual 2" female threaded outlets for multiple pumps or pump and overflow
- 1/2" female threaded auto fill valve port
- 4" and 6" inlet pipe
- 4" tank-to-tank connection pipe for unlimited water storage
-
Replaces two slotted pump vaults
- Replaces two water storage blocks
- Replaces 10'x10' rubber liner
- Replaces 10'x10' underlayment
- Much smaller excavation
- Easier to install
- Creates a pondless water storage basin that can be cleaned!
Remote Installation Capabilities
The HydroChamber™ convenient pump vault and water storage tank provides unlimited backyard waterfall design options.
The HydroChamber™ All-in-One Pondless Pump Vault Water Storage Tank is modular. You have complete creative design control of where you want your pump and water storage for your backyard waterfalls. If you choose, it can be at the base of your pondless waterfall. The most creative place to put your pump and water storage is completely away from your pondless water feature!
HydroChambers™ “daisy-chain” together for unlimited water volume storage. With the HydroChamber™, you no longer are required to have the pump and water storage at the base of your pondless waterfalls or water feature.
Working in tandem with the HydroSieve™-PF pondless pre-filter, the two units combine to create the “Ultimate” pondless waterfall kit. The Ultimate pondless system is easy to clean. A clean pondless waterfall is more beautiful. Your backyard waterfalls will be a joy to own and appreciate instead of a maintenance nightmare.
The HydroChamber’s™ non-obtrusive lid resembles a typical round irrigation valve box found in landscapes everywhere.
The HydroChamber™ becomes virtually “invisible” in the landscape away from your backyard waterfalls while remaining easy to access. The HydroChamber™ pump vault water storage tank can be installed anywhere you choose.
Strong and durable rotationally molded HDPE direct burial water tank. Strong enough for two exceptionally gifted pondless waterfall builders from Team Russell!
The HydroChamber™ All-in-One Pondless Pump Vault Water Storage Tank lets you install it virtually anywhere in your landscape. Instead of bringing electrical power to where you want your backyard waterfalls, the HydroChamber™ can be installed where you already have electrical power!
HydroChamber™ All-in-One Pondless Pump Vault Water Storage Tank provides you with complete pondless waterfall design freedom. The HydroChamber™ eliminates the requirement of having a large excavation with the pump and water storage in two separate devices contained within liner. It also provides you unlimited creativity for your pondless waterfall design.
HydroChamber™ All-in-One Pondless Pump Vault and Water Storage Tank
Easy to Install. Easy to Clean.
Best Value!
One HydroChamber™ Equals ...
Two Slotted Pump Vaults, Two Water Matrix Blocks,
Underlayment, Liner, Rock, and Gravel
- Slotted pump vaults don't hold water - HydroChambers™ does
- Slotted pump vaults don't have threaded connections - HydroChambers™ does
- Slotted pump vaults are not pre-fitted for multiple pumps - HydroChambers™ are
- Slotted pump vaults are not pre-fitted for an overflow pipe - HydroChambers™ are
- Slotted pump vaults are not-pre-fitted for an auto fill valve - HydroChambers™ are
- Slotted pump vaults require water storage matrix blocks - HydroChambers™ do NOT
- Slotted pump vaults require rubber liner to hold water - HydroChambers™ do NOT
- Slotted pump vaults require underlayment to protect the rubber liner - HydroChambers™ do NOT
- Slotted pump vaults require tons of rock and gravel to cover it all - HydroChambers™ do NOT
- All this requires a large excavation - HydroChambers™ don't
- Slotted pump vaults must always be at the base of the pondless water feature - HydroChambers™ do NOT
- Slotted pump vaults cannot be moved anywhere else - HydroChambers™ CAN
- Slotted pump vault gravel basins CANNOT BE CLEANED - HydroChambers™ CAN
- Rock and gravel filled slotted pump vault water reservoir basins grow excessive and unsightly algae -HydroChambers™ do NOT!
- Rotting debris in slotted pump vaults fowls the water
- The slotted pump vault gravel basin eventually clogs - HydroChambers™ do NOT
- Slotted pump vault gravel basins eventually get replaced via a Pondless Basin Ectomy - HydroChambers™ do NOT
- Slotted pump vaults have a lower purchase price - but require purchasing water storage matrix blocks, rubber liner, underlayment, and rock - HydroChambers™ do NOT
- Slotted pump vaults have a much higher total cost than HydroChambers™
- Slotted pump vaults have a higher cost of ownership than HydroChambers™
- Need we say more? We will anyway (because you need to know) ... please read on ...
Conventional Pondless Waterfall Basins Require Large Excavations
Why would anyone want to dig a huge hole in the ground - only to fill it back up with underlayment, liner, multiple pump vaults, water storage matrix blocks, and tons of rock? The cost of the rock, gravel, pump vaults, matrix blocks …. AND the labor to dig the gigantic hole and to place all these things in it is much higher than HydroChamber™ All-in-One Pondless Pump Chamber Water Storage Tanks.
The HydroChamber™ is designed to house up to two pumps AND two matrix blocks worth of water storage in one single unit. It is also a direct burial tank so underlayment, liner, and rock is NOT required.
Unlike the slotted pump vaults shown in these photos at the base of the water feature, the HydroChamber™ can be installed in a remote location away from the water feature.
The HydroChamber™ is designed to house up to two pumps AND two matrix blocks worth of water storage in one single unit. It is also a direct burial tank so underlayment, liner, and rock are Not required. Unlike slotted pump vaults at the base of the water feature, the HydroChamber™ can be installed in a remote location away from the water feature for the most natural appearance.
With the combined pump vault and water storage tank configuration of the HydroChamber™ and HydroSieve™ pre-filter, the pondless waterfall water storage excavation can be significantly smaller than conventional pondless waterfall basins. A smaller pondless water storage excavation requires less labor, saving you installation time and money.
The HydroChamber™
is a Better Value.
Slotted pump vaults cost around several hundreds of dollars each. One HydroChamber™ replaces two slotted pump vaults. The water storage matrix blocks cost around $65.00 each. One HydroChamber™ replaces two matrix blocks. When you add the cost of two pump vaults and two matrix blocks – that brings the total price of the pondless basing to more than double the price of a single HydroChamber™ .
But don’t forget, you have to add the price of a 10’x10′ liner and the price for a 10’x10′ underlayment – adding even more to the total price. Now add the cost of ton of river rock with delivery. The grand total for a conventional pondless water storage basin is way more expensive than a single HydroChamber™.
A single HydroChamber™ All-in-One Pondless Pump Vault Water Storage Tank replaces two slotted pump vaults, two water storage matrix blocks, 10’x10′ underlayment, 10’x10′ liner, and the river rock for just half the cost of typical pondless waterfall basin! Saving you Real Money! Go ahead and do your own research - you will see.
You could purchase a HydroChamber™ with nothing but the money you SAVE over buying two slotted pump vaults, 2 matrix blocks, underlayment, liner, and tons of rock!
Another cost savings is the time and money you will save by digging a much smaller hole in the ground. The HydroChamber™ requires only a fraction of the excavation space of the conventional slotted pump vault and rock pondless waterfall basin. That alone could add several hundred more dollars in labor costs to the typical pondless basin – raising the total cost by a $1,000.00 or more!
You Save Money with JUST ONE HydroChamber™!
The HydroChamber™
All-in-One Pump Vault and Water Storage Tank
Completely Eliminates:
- Large pondless basin excavations
- Impossible to clean gravel filled pondless basins
- Hours and hours of installation labor
- Pondless basin underlayment
- Pondless basin liner
- Slotted pump vaults
- Water storage matrix blocks
- Pondless basin river rock
- Pondless basin pebbles
Slotted pump vaults are configured for just one pump, and they are NOT configured for an automatic water fill valve. To add an automatic water fill valve, you would have to modify the slotted pump vault – at additional expense for tools and labor. If your pondless design calls for two pumps, you must use two slotted pump vaults or make modifications – at additional expense for tools and labor. The HydroChamber™ is pre-configured for two pumps AND an automatic water fill valve with no modifications required.
In doing your research on which pump vault to purchase
or have installed for you
You absolutely must know the real costs of the pump vault you’re about to purchase. There are so many choices out there, it can become confusing which one is right for you. We hope that we're doing a good enough job here of giving you as much information as possible to help you decide (subliminal hint: HydroChamber™), but if we haven't yet .... again ..... please read on.
Cleaning Pondless Water Features
Slotted pump vaults use river rock as the pre-filter to the matrix blocks under gravel water storage. HydroChambers™ use a HydroSieve-PF easy to clean prefilter. The force of the moving water forces debris deep down into the rock and gravel - or into the HydroSieve's stainless steel filter basket. Which do YOU think would be easier to clean? Anyway, ask these questions:
The questions you need to ask before
purchasing a slotted pump vault:
- Am I required to also purchase rubber liner?
- Am I required to also purchase underlayment to protect the liner?
- Am I required to also purchase water storage matrix blocks?
- Am I required to also purchase purchase rock and gravel to cover the water storage basin?
- Can I move the water storage basin away from the pondless water feature?
Quite possibly the MOST IMPORTANT
questions to ask before purchasing or having a slotted pump vault installed for you:
- How do I CLEAN the rock and gravel of the water storage basin?
- What happens if I don't?
The answer to the first question is: By Hand!
The only way to remove leaves, tree needles, mulch, grass clippings, flower blossoms, windblown seeds such as cottonwood and dandelions, bird poop, dead insects and worms, bathing bird feathers, and other debris from a slotted pump vault gravel filled basin is by hand.
The answer to the second question is:
Algae ...
and lots of it!
Debris decaying down inside the rock of a conventional slotted pump vault pondless basin smells terrible and grows algae.
Algae grows on waterfall rocks, rocks and gravel within a stream bed, and the basin rock itself. To control the algae, you’ll have to apply large amounts of expensive algaecides regularly. This drastically adds to the cost of ownership of pondless water features.
Over time, not even algaecides can solve the problem. The river rock pre-filter required in front of slotted pump vaults - no matter what they’re called – Just a Falls, Pond Free, No Pond, Zero Pond – ALL become clogged over time. When the river rock is clogged, water flow to the pump becomes restricted.
Eventually the pump will pump water out faster than it can return – causing the pump to run dry and burn out. The cost of repeatedly replacing a pump significantly increases the cost of ownership of the typical slotted pump vault pondless water feature.
The only remedy to this problem is the complete dismantling of the conventional river rock pondless basin. This is known as a “Basin-Ectomy”. A Basin-Ectomy is the complete dismantling and removal of the clogged river rock, matrix blocks, slotted pump vault, basin liner, and basin underlayment and replacing all of those items with a HydroSieve™-PF pre-filter and a HydroChamber™ All-in-One Pondless Pump Chamber Water Storage Tank.
Replacing Obsolete Hard to Clean
Pondless Gravel Basins with
Easy to Clean Hydro Sieve™ Filter and HydroChamber™
Benefits:
- A 2-man crew can complete the job in 2-4 hours
- A 1-man crew can complete the job in 4-8 hours
- Replaces hard-to-clean gravel basins with an easy-to-clean HydroSieve™ pre-filter and HydroChamber™
- Requires minimal tools - shovel, level, and soil
- Reduces the basin space
- Completely modular to fit any application
- Drastically improves water quality
- Less Algae!
- Allows owners to clean their pondless systems themselves in just seconds
- Replaces gravel filled basins, water blocks, and perforated pump vaults that allow gravel to reach the pump
- Remove any aquatic plants from the gravel basin area
- Remove the boulders
- Remove the gravel
- Remove the pump vault
- Remove the water blocks (if installed)
- Remove the under gravel pipe (if installed)
- Remove the basin liner
- Remove the basin underlayment
- Now you're ready for the next steps
- Reshape the excavation
- Install the HydroChamber™
- Install the HydroSieve™ pre-filter and connect it to the HydroChamber™
- Install the optional auto fill valve
- Connect the main plumbing line to the HydroChamber™
- Install the pump inside the HydroChamber™
- Backfill the HydroChamber™ and HydroSieve™ with soil
- Fill in the remaining excavation space with soil
- Contour the soil for the stream, pool, or waterfall in front of the HydroSieve™ inlet pipe
- Attach the liner to HydroSieve™ inlet pipe
- Install rocks or boulders
- Replant any aquatic plants
- Install gravel mixture
- Fill the HydroChamber™ with water and turn the pump on
- Cut off excess liner - roll extra under itself
- Cover all remaining exposed liner with gravel mixture
- Rinse the rock and gravel down towards the HydroSieve™
- If you have a Hydro Vortex™ waterfall filter - perform a backwash
- If not, perform a Filter-Ectomy™ so you can!
- Features both mechanical AND biological filtration for the highest water quality
- Super easy to clean: Empty and rinse the HydroSieve™ (60 seconds), rinse the stream and backwash the Hydro Vortex™ filter weekly
- Leaves, grass clippings, needles, blossoms, bird waste, dust, pollen, dead bugs and worms can all be easily removed from the ULTIMATE pondless system before they can feed algae!
- Gravel basins do not provide easy means of removing those organics
- The ULTIMATE pondless system is the easiest to clean pondless system ever created!
