SELECTING A POND PUMP

Our technical support staff will be pleased to size and select a pump for your project. However, if you would prefer to do the analysis yourself, following is an abbreviated methodology that can be used to determine the best pump for a pond.

First calculate the pump flow rate in gallons per hour (gph) from the following formulas:

      pond volume (gal) = 5 x widest width (ft) x longest length (ft) x deepest depth (ft)

     filtration flow rate (gph) = 0.5 x pond volume (gal)

     waterfall flow rate (gph), gentle flow = 50 x waterfall width (in)
    waterfall flow rate (gph), average flow = 100 x waterfall width (in)
    waterfall flow rate (gph), strong flow = 200 x waterfall width (in)

     pump flow rate (gph) = greater of filtration flow rate and waterfall flow rate

Next, calculate the system head using the following formulas and the chart below (try to choose a hose size that will keep the friction head less than two feet):

     lift head (ft) = height of waterfall, measured from pond surface

     friction head (ft) = length of pipe or hose (ft) x friction head per foot of pipe or hose

     system head (ft) = lift height (ft) + friction head (ft)

To select a pump, first determine the proper type of pump to fit the pond design and to operate the desired filtration system (see Systems and Filters for guidance). Then, using the pump performance charts on each pump page, find the pumps that deliver at the calculated pump flow rate at the the calculated system head.

Friction Head Per Foot of Pipe or Hose
GPH	0.50"	0.75"	1.00"	1.25"	1.50"	2.00"	3.00"	4.00"	6.00"
200	0.08	0.02	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
400	0.40	0.10	0.03	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
600		0.20	0.06	0.02	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
800		0.35	0.11	0.03	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
1200		0.53	0.16	0.04	0.02	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
1400			0.22	0.06	0.03	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00
1600			0.29	0.08	0.04	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00
1800			0.46	0.12	0.06	0.02	0.00	0.00	0.00
2000			0.56	0.14	0.07	0.02	0.00	0.00	0.00
2200				0.17	0.08	0.02	0.00	0.00	0.00
2400				0.20	0.09	0.03	0.00	0.00	0.00
2600				0.23	0.11	0.03	0.00	0.00	0.00
2800				0.27	0.13	0.04	0.00	0.00	0.00
3000				0.31	0.13	0.04	0.00	0.00	0.00
3200				0.34	0.16	0.05	0.00	0.00	0.00
3400				0.38	0.18	0.05	0.00	0.00	0.00
3600				0.42	0.20	0.06	0.00	0.00	0.00
3800				0.46	0.22	0.06	0.00	0.00	0.00
4000				0.50	0.24	0.07	0.00	0.00	0.00
4200					0.26	0.08	0.00	0.00	0.00
4400					0.28	0.08	0.00	0.00	0.00
4600					0.34	0.10	0.00	0.00	0.00
4800					0.37	0.10	0.00	0.00	0.00
5000					0.50	0.11	0.02	0.01	0.00
5500						0.13	0.02	0.01	0.00
6000						0.15	0.02	0.01	0.00
6500						0.18	0.03	0.01	0.00
7000						0.21	0.03	0.01	0.00
7500						0.24	0.03	0.01	0.00
8000						0.27	0.04	0.01	0.00
8500						0.30	0.04	0.01	0.00
9000						0.33	0.05	0.01	0.00
9500						0.37	0.05	0.01	0.00
10000						0.41	0.06	0.02	0.00
11000						0.50	0.07	0.02	0.00
12000							0.08	0.02	0.00
13000							0.09	0.02	0.00
14000							0.11	0.03	0.00
15000							0.12	0.03	0.00
20000							0.21	0.05	0.01
25000							0.30	0.07	0.01
30000							0.41	0.08	0.01
35000							0.51	0.08	0.02
40000								0.09	0.03
45000								0.10	0.03
50000								0.11	0.04
55000								0.13	0.05
60000								0.14	0.06
	0.50"	0.75"	1.00"	1.25"	1.50"	2.00"	3.00"	4.00"	6.00"

return to top of page