All About Pond Pumps – Part 1

 By Danielle Robinson

     This may be your first time buying and owing a pond. Which means you may be a bit lost of some common things when it comes to owning a pond. One element of owning a pond in which you must absolutely know about is a pond pump. This article is geared towards teaching you the knowledge that you need to know about pond pumps.

     A water pump head is the pressure that is generated by a water pump, which allows a fountain to run, as well as a waterfall, filter, and any other pond components. The common pumps that are found in most ponds have a centrifugal design. This pump contains an impeller that spins to high speeds which creates pressure by centrifugal force. The pressure then pumps the water to the height that is needed to run your waterfall.

     The good thing about these kinds of pumps is that the speed of the impeller rotation usually stays constant. The energy and pressure of the water pumps stays pretty much the same. Usually it is broken in two parts, uses the energy to pump more water volume to a lower head, or uses the same energy to pump less water volume to a greater head. If you understand this process then it will be much easier for you to figure out which water pump will work best for your watergarden.

     You can always test your pump head in order to see exactly what type of flow it receives. The best way to observe your pump is by using a water hose. Simply place your pump in the pound and hold the end of the hose at the water surface level. If you lift the end of water hose slowly above the surface of the water you can see that the higher your hose is raised the more the flow of your water will decreases. Do this until you get to the point where your flow is non-existent.  Small pumps with a low maximum head will reach this point usually around or 6 feet. You may need a ladder to reach this point if you have a big sized pump.

     Keep in mind that your pump is determined by the distance from the surface of your pond and not from the bottom. The bottom is just where your pump will go. The head of course is based on the height of the water that needs to be pumped for your waterfall or other features for your garden. 

     Now that you know a little more about what exactly a pond pump is, now we can go on to another phase; Picking out the water pump that is appropriate for your pond. There are a few types to chose from and part two will go over the most common types.