New NDS Pop Up Emitter Review for Buried Downspouts, Discharge Lines
As a contractor for over 35 years, I’m going to do a quick review of the NDS pop-up drain emitter. NDS has been making pop up drains since beginning of time. They’re the oldest and probably longest in the game than anyone. They had a bad rap because the way they made this center post, they literally just put it through the center and then they just crimped it with hot pliers and melted the plastic.
Old NDS Pop Up Emitter Problems
This created a weak point. These snapped off easily and then the lid was just off the popup. That was their biggest problem. Some of the other problems, the opening, you can’t get anything out of it. You can’t get leaves through here. You can’t get pine needles through here, nothing.
Let’s look at the new NDS pop up emitter. You can see that they were trying to open it up some more, and they really, really beefed up the center shaft and they just have a completely different method for keeping the lid on. This pop up is much stronger.
The one thing that I really hate, and I think is a negative, they kept the bar across it. This was their problem before. They have this bar in here and you just can’t do anything with this. That’s my biggest complaint. The other thing was the grass always grows over this NDS pop up. There’s only an inch on the outside edge here, so they didn’t change that. The overall diameter is greater because they opened this up a little bit more. But I think their gains are very few because they kept this bar across the middle which poses more of a problem.
Plus, the grass is going to grow over this new pop up no different than it grew over the old one. That’s my review. I think NDS still has some work to do. They’re just going to hang onto that center bar for whatever reason. I don’t endorse that pop up anymore, because of all the leaves, twigs and things that can’t come out. I always encourage everybody to go with a pop up that has a nice hinge. Reason being, it doesn’t have any bars going across this where leaves and debris can get stuck. It’s just one giant opening.
It’s opened as much as you can open it. It’s the center is as open as the inside of this pipe. It’s the same diameter. If it fits through this pipe, it’s going to come out this hinged popup.
My review is, NDS still has some work to do. You want a pop up to be able to open and let the water flow. You should also have a big plate for the grass to grow up, to prevent the discharge from clogging. Some people might think, “That plate is too big. That’s going to be ugly in the lawn.” However, you’re going to put it in your lawn, and within a couple of weeks, the grass is going to be up on the plate. It’s not going even be noticed in your lawn.