Most Common Fountain and Pond Pump Questions
"Max Head" : What this means is the fountain
pump’s maximum vertical push. For
example if a fountain pump has a max head of 6 feet it means that the pump will
not push water beyond that point. This
is to not be confused with shooting the water up in the air 6 feet. Max head for a fountain pump means the water
will travel through pipe to that vertical height. So if your statue fountain is 6 feet tall you do not want a
fountain pump that has a max head of 6 feet.
You would be looking for a fountain pump that has a max head beyond the
total height of your fountain.
"GPH" : Short for GALLONS PER HOUR. Most times when you see a submersible or
inline fountain pump listed it will show you a GPH. This rate is typically a measurement of the flow at 0 feet. As a fountain or pond pump push water
vertically, the GPH decrease until the pond pump reaches its max head.
"GPM" : Short for GALLONS PER HOUR and the
same rates apply as above.
"Pump Curve" : This is the relation between GPH and the
max head of a fountain or pond pump.
Many pumps will have this curve in the form of a chart which will tell
you how many gallons per hour you will get at a given foot height. For example an 800 gallon per hour pond pump
at zero feet will give you 500 gallons per hour at 6 feet. All fountain and pond pumps are not made
exactly the same so you would need to check the pumps particular pump curve in
order to get an accurate account however approximations can be made such as the
case in this example.
"Water Volume" : This is one of the harder things to
determine when selecting a waterfall pump.
1000 GPH for one application may be a mad rush of water and just a
trickle for the other. For all intents
and purposes 2000 GPH is considered high volume. A common mistake people make with water volume is they do not use
the proper pipe diameter for their fountain pump. To much reduction and the friction loss will greatly affect the
flow of your pond pump, so no matter how many gallons per hour your waterfall
pump can produce, if you are using a ½ inch diameter liner for a 5000 GPH pond
pump, you will still get very little flow and in fact can damage your fountain
pump. So then how much water volume do
I need and how big of a pond pump? Again this depends on the project at
hand. If your fountain does not state
the GPH needed its wise to call an expert.
Waterfalls and streams have a more calculated method to
use. For every inch of stream width or waterfall fall sheet, you will need to
deliver 100 gallons per hour at the height you're pumping. So if you are
building a 12” wide waterfall that is three feet tall, you need to buy a pump
that will be pumping 1200 gallons per hour at three feet of height. This could mean a 1200 GPH waterfall pump or
a 1500 GPH waterfall pump depending on its pump curve. Again speak to someone
who knows to best determine your needs.
As to the actual circulation of
your pond it is generally accepted that the amount of gallons you have in your
pond be re-circulated once an hour.
However, if you have a pond that has a heavy population of wildlife you
may need to increase that flow. Really
large ponds also do not necessarily need to be flipped once an hour. A 35,000 gallon pond will take time to get
polluted to the point of hazard. A 7000
GPH pond pump will work well to keep the air exchange in such a pond.
Also known as in-line pumps. You will find these pumps usually if for
example your electricity is not close by you can run pipe to get the
water. External pond pumps are also
used for concrete ponds where a submersible pump may not look so pleasing in
Should my Pump Have a
2-wire plug or a 3-wire plug?
If you plan on having your
fountain pump plugged outdoors where the outlet can get wet always use a 3-wire
plug. 2-wire is strictly an indoor
fountain pump and if you ask me I would use a 3 wire indoors too. Only in situations like table top fountains
where the 3 wire fountain pumps are just too think for the fountain can you
work with a 2-wire pump.
Why do pumps burn out so fast?
The most common reason is they run dry. If a fountain pump spins with no water will
get to hot and the internal components will melt. This can happen in just a few minutes, It is really important
that a pond pump never run dry not even a short period. Some pond pumps have thermal controls which
will shut off automatically if they get to hot but to much of this cycling will
damage the waterfall pump too.