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Choosing the right kind of water pump is an important task when you’re installing a fountain in your pond otherwise it will cause improper water movement inside your pond. When water does not circulate properly it results in stagnation which further helps mosquitoes and algae to build up.
If you have aquatic life in your pond, it is essential that the water is healthy and other nutrients including oxygen are properly distributed. So, pond pumps play an extremely critical role to keep the aquatic lives healthy.
Generally, pond pumps are classified into two types; submersible and external pumps, also known as centrifugal pumps. Each pump has specific advantages.
In order to land on the ideal pond pump for your fountain, it’s important to know the advantages of these individual pumps. Then you can decide which pump will work best for your pond. So let’s take look at the individual pumps and its functions.
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1. Submersible Pump
Submersible pumps are kept in the deepest part of the pond. As the term suggests, these pumps are designed to be submerged under the water. Mainly these are placed into your pond’s vault.
Submersible pumps come with a variety of ranges like it can range in size from 45 to 5500 gallons per hour. These pumps are best for smaller sized ponds that can store 1500 gallons of water.
If you consider buying the best pond fountains, then a submersible pump is the ideal choice to combine with.
2. External Pump or Centrifugal Pump
Centrifugal pump is suitable for larger ponds which store more than 1000 gallons of water. If you compare these pumps with the submersible pumps, these pumps are typically louder and more complicated to install but easier to maintain.
Also, centrifugal pumps are energy efficient that positively affect your electricity bill. These are always installed in dry locations near your pond.
Mainly centrifugal pumps are electric pumps so there are some safety issues that you must keep in mind. Make sure you’re properly equipped prior to using these pumps.
It is always recommended that you should use a ground fault circuit interrupter or GFCI so that in case of overload, the pump will automatically shut down. Also, consider a long cord because this should maintain a distance from the water.
How You Should Select a Pond Pump
Selecting the pond pump is an intricate task for sure but with the necessary tips, you can find the ideal pond pump for your fountains. After all, people love to use fountains in their pond to make it look appealing. Also, there are several other advantages of using fountains in a pond.
So, you should select an ideal pump for these fountains. Let’s take a look at the considerable factors to look at while selecting a pond pump.
Pond Size
To determine the size of the pond pump you have to calculate the volume of water in gallons, then simply multiply the length x width x average depth x 7.5. Pond pumps are mainly sized by gallons per hour or GPH at height.
But if you want to use larger capacity pumps then those pumps are measured by horsepower or HP. So depending on the size of your pond, you can choose your pond pump easily.
Water Circulation
One of the important responsibilities of a pond pump is to help the water aeration process. It’s also known as the water circulation. As per recommendation pond water should circulate once per hour.
If you have 600 gallons of water in your pond then the pump needs to circulate 600 gallons of water per hour at the height of discharge. If you use a pressurized pump then your pump needs to circulate half of the total gallons of water your pond stores.
And when your pond has a fountain, the water should be circulated once every single hour. For example, you have a 1500 gallon pond, then you need a 1500 GPH rated pump.
Calculating Lift and Head Height
Maximum head height and maximum lift are the two main measurements in sizing a fountain pump. The vertical height the pump raises water is called head height.
The top height the fountain pump can lift is called the max head or maximum head. The head is measured from the straight up from the horizontal level of the pond water surface.
In order to calculate the lift of the fountain pump, you need to measure how far the water needs to travel from the pump to the top of the fountains where the water comes out.
After that, you can select the pump which lifts higher according to your measurement. For example, if the distance from the pump is 25 feet, you probably need a pump which can lift at least 35 feet high. The maximum lift is the maximum height that the pump can lift the water.
