Pond & Waterfall Pumps & Supplies

Making the right choice:

The splashing music of water as it moves and recirculates adds to the appeal of a water feature. It takes the right size pond pump of fountain pump to move water from a pool through tubing or pipes and other equipment to a waterfall, fountain, or stream. You need to know how you plan to use a pump in order to choose the right type and size for the job as well as how water will flow and how much resistance it will meet along the way.

Ease the selection of your pumps by answering these questions:

What kind of water feature do you envision? How will you use the pond pump? How many gallons per hour (gph) will it require? What size is the water feature? How much water will flow through the pump? How many gph are needed to operate the feature? What else will the pump do? Will it recirculate water through a filter, through a fountain, over a waterfall, or in a stream? For features where water returns downhill to the pond, how high above the water surface is the point where water discharges in a waterfall? What is the width of water flowing over the spillway? How thick a sheet of water do you want going over the spillway? What are the requirements of the filtering system? How many gph does it take to properly operate the filter? Will your feature include fish? If so, how many and what size? A big fish population indicates the need for a biological filter. After deciding on a filter, ask how many gph are needed to operate the bio filter. If your design includes a fountain, how many gph are required to operate the type of fountain you chose? When shopping for a pump consider the following characteristics: How many gph does it recirculate at the height and horizontal distance required? How much electricity does it use? The power consumption of pond pumps varies so much that an energy-efficient model can save enough electricity to pay for itself in one or two seasons of operation. Compare the amperage (amps) and wattage (watts) of competing pond pumps to determine relative efficiency of energy consumption. The lower the amps and watt, the less electricity a pond pump consumes.