Pond Pumps What You Need to Know

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pondboy
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Pond Pumps What You Need to Know

Post by pondboy »

I get asked a lot about pond pumps and the confusion that comes with them as there are so many out there that its tough to choose the best for your pond. Really its not that complicated and basically pond pumps are generally categorized into 4 sections.

Mag-Drive or Magnetic Pumps – These pond pumps are lauded for their energy efficiency. They come in sizes of up to 10,000 gallons per hour and in almost all cases this is the kind of pond pump that will fit your needs. The draw back to the energy efficiency however is that they can not produce a high flow at high head. Therefore if you are looking for strong flow and you are pumping up a 25 foot tall hill you may need to look at the direct drive pump.
Image Here is an example of what a magnetic drive pump looks like

Direct Drive Pond Pumps – These submersible pond pumps are stronger than their mag-drive counterparts. These pond pumps will sustain their gallon per hour flow usually better than the magnetic pond pumps at the same head height. They use more energy but these pond pumps sometimes are necessary in the event there is a very tall waterfall or a long wide stream that requires such a sustained flow. They are also better at handling solids passing through the impeller.
Image Here is an example of what a direct drive pump looks like

Inline Pond Pumps – These can be both submersed or used externally by way of gravity feed. They have an intake you can place your plumbing too for gravity feed or you can use that intake to place a prefilter if using it submersed. You will find these pumps usually in small preformed type patio ponds or in plaza statue fountains
Image Here is an example of what an inline pump looks like

External Pumps or Centrifugal Pumps – These pond pumps are strictly external and cannot be submersible in the water. Generally you will find these pond pumps to have high flow rate and are used for bigger ponds or ponds that submersible pond pumps will look too obvious. You can place them above the water level of you pond however they need to be flooded or primed prior to operation. There are self-priming pond pumps available and non self-priming pond pumps will need to be flooded before operation. You can typically keep the intake line flooded even when the pond pump stops with the use of a check valve placed on the intake line.
Image Here is an example of what an external pump looks like

Select Your Plumbing Diameter -- You will need to select your diameter based on the flow of your pond pump not the actual outflow of the pump. This is a whole other subject in of itself. Want to learn about flow rates and pipe size? See pond pump flow rate dynamics.

To Calculate Total Head Height – You need to measure both the vertical height and the horizontal length. Horizontally, every 10 feet is equal to 1 ft. Therefore if you have 30 feet to go that would be equal to 3 vertical feet. So if you have a 30 foot stream and it is going up a 10 foot tall hill you will need to assume that you pump is needing to pump 13 vertical feet. Got it? If you also are using elbows you need to factor those into you head height. The more you use the more it affects this. This is why it is a good idea to use flexible pipe which reduces the number of elbows and other junctions.

Like to know more about pond pumps please feel free and ask me ;)
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mewickham
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Re: Pond Pumps What You Need to Know

Post by mewickham »

Good summary! Thanks.
Mike Wickham
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pondboy
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Re: Pond Pumps What You Need to Know

Post by pondboy »

My pleasure!!
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