Pond fountain

[Joseph Skoler]

I have about a 2 acre pond, averaging ~7' deep and would like to have a fountain in the middle.

The water is clean, good quality, with constant inflow and outflow. It does have a brown tint, which after chemical and settling testing I have concluded is taninns.

There is no power anywhere near the pond, but I have a solar system that can provide up to 3600 watts at 115VAC, recharged (for now) with 2, 100 watt panels (which I can increase as needed).

I did a proof of concept with a small plastic fountain that connects to and suspends a small pump about 14" below the surface and it works.

But, the water only shoots up about 30" inches high and a about 2' across.

I would like a larger fountain.

Can anyone recommend a pump/fountain combination that draws as little energy as possible (preferably in the 1500 watt range) and can create a nice looking fountain of water, while also keeping the pump far from the dirt at the bottom of the pond?

Thank you!

 

[WorthFlorida]

Two acres is very large for any small pump. It takes a lot of HP to shoot water as high as you may want it to. Motors are at least 97% efficient and most are now in the 99%. What you need to try is a 115v 1/2 HP pool or irrigation pump. 1/2 hp motor draws about 6-7 amps at 115v

The solar panels are DC voltage and if you have a inverter, a pool pump may work but as the light dims the voltage output may decrease and AC motors do not like low voltage. The inverter may shut the power off at a minimum voltage.

If your purpose is to aerate the water, a few small pumps as with your experiment maybe a better option. In Florida there are thousands of fountain pumps running shooting water maybe 20 feet in the air. They take big motors running 24/7. In your area during the winter you need to remove the fountain and pump due to freezing.

If you do you the math for the amount of gallons in the two acre pond, it might be like a drop in the ocean. There are 43,560 square feet in one acre of water that is 1 foot deep. It is equal to 325,851 gallons! Say the average depth is 3.5 feet that is 1,140,478.5 gallons for 1 acre.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Joseph Skoler]

Two acres is very large for any small pump. It takes a lot of HP to shoot water as high as you may want it to. Motors are at least 97% efficient and most are now in the 99%. What you need to try is a 115v 1/2 HP pool or irrigation pump. 1/2 hp motor draws about 6-7 amps at 115v

The solar panels are DC voltage and if you have a inverter, a pool pump may work but as the light dims the voltage output may decrease and AC motors do not like low voltage. The inverter may shut the power off at a minimum voltage.

If your purpose is to aerate the water, a few small pumps as with your experiment maybe a better option. In Florida there are thousands of fountain pumps running shooting water maybe 20 feet in the air. They take big motors running 24/7. In your area during the winter you need to remove the fountain and pump due to freezing.

If you do you the math for the amount of gallons in the two acre pond, it might be like a drop in the ocean. There are 43,560 square feet in one acre of water that is 1 foot deep. It is equal to 325,851 gallons! Say the average depth is 3.5 feet that is 1,140,478.5 gallons.

That's a great analysis and a fountain of helpful information -- thank you.

Would you recommend a submersed 1/2hp pump? If so, I would need to keep it within a foot or 2 of the water surface to prevent clogging.

If a non-submerged pump, would it sit on the shoreline, piped into the lake and also into the fountain?

 

[Reach4]

There are special pumps designed for solar. Those are expensive , but they accept a variety of powers including DC. The Grundfos SQE pumps come to mind.

With fairly regulated AC, in a 4-inch submersible you would want a 3-wire pump with a CSR control box. Those are more power-efficient for starting and running. A 3-inch Grundfos SQ pump may be even more power-efficient. A submersible would need to to go in a flow inducer sleeve (cheap piece of pipe). You would want some kind of cage to block debris.