| Choosing the right kind of pump for your garden | | | | multiply the volume by 7.5 is because an average |
| fountain or pond is critically important for its proper | | | | cubic foot of space holds about 7.5 gallons of water. |
| functioning. If a wrong pump is chosen, it may | | | | If you final gallon amount of water is about 700, then |
| damage the entire system and render it useless. | | | | a water pump with 500 GPH rating is adequate. |
| Pumps are measured in terms of gallons per hour | | | | The reason we choose 500 gallons per hour pump |
| (GPH) they circulate. This GPH capacity of a pump | | | | for a 700 gallon pond is because we want to make |
| ranges anywhere between fifty GPH to several | | | | sure that the entire volume of water is re-circulated |
| thousand GPH. The amount of GPH you need for you | | | | every two hours. This one trick of making sure that |
| pump depends on the size of equipment that is using | | | | the entire volume gets re-circulated ever two hours |
| it. Bigger equipments need higher GPH ratings. | | | | is the most important criteria when it comes to |
| Most garden fountains uses pump that produce | | | | choosing a water pump. Since the pump that we |
| anywhere between 300 to 1200 gallons per hour. | | | | chose has 500 gph rating, it would re-circulate 1000 |
| Small ponds uses pump that produce about 500 to | | | | gallons of water every two hours. This makes it |
| 700 GPH. | | | | perfectly suitable for a pond that has got 700 gallons |
| Here's a simple way to decide the GPH ratings of | | | | of water. We could have chosen a 350 GPH pump to |
| your pump. | | | | be accurate for this example; however, it is generally |
| First measure the amount of water that is being held | | | | best to purchase a slightly larger pump to account |
| by the fountain or pond. This can be done by | | | | for the loss of pressure and hose friction. |
| measuring the width, depth, and length of the water | | | | Another important aspect of choosing a pump is its |
| basin of your fountain or pond. If your water feature | | | | energy efficiency. A garden fountain that has direct |
| is a pond, measure the average depth, average | | | | exposure to sun may be a perfect choice for a solar |
| width, and average length of your pond. Measure | | | | pump that has zero operational costs. Water-filtration |
| these numbers in feet. Now multiply these three | | | | is another important factor when choosing the |
| numbers to determine its volume. Multiple the volume | | | | pumps. A large pond has lot of debris and it is |
| with 7.5 and you would get the average amount of | | | | critically important to pick the pump that can filter |
| gallons of water your pond holds. The reason we | | | | solid debris. |