Choose The Best Water Pump For Your Pond

Installing a Pond Water Pump is an essential part of installing a garden pond, and great way to improve your existing ponds.

Not only does it invigorate and aerate the water, but it can also power a waterfall or water feature.

However choosing the Best Pond Water Pump for your Garden can be a confusing prospect. This guide will help you decide which Pump you need and where to find it.

Article Contents

The Best Pond Water Pumps of 2017

Below are some of our favorite water pumps of different sizes.

Product Aquascape Ultra Submersible Water Pump Active Aqua Submersible Water Pump Homasy Submersible Water Pump The Environmental Choice! Ledgle Solar Powered Water Pump Price Range $$$ $$ $ $$ Gallons Per Hour (GPH) 1070 - 3868 40 - 1000 GPH 400 - 920 Varies Pros Magnetic Drive, Very Reliable, Protective Casing Magnetic Drive, Wide Range of Sizes Low Cost Solar Powered, Relatively Low Cost Cons Price, Only Suitable for Large Ponds Lower Powered than most GPH equivalents. Small Range Of Sizes, Lower Powered than most GPH equivalents. Low and Less Reliable Flow Check Local Price Check Local Price Check Local Price Check Local Price Product Aquascape Ultra Submersible Water Pump Price Range $$$ Gallons Per Hour (GPH) 1070 - 3868 Pros Magnetic Drive, Very Reliable, Protective Casing Cons Price, Only Suitable for Large Ponds Check Local Price Product Active Aqua Submersible Water Pump Price Range $$ Gallons Per Hour (GPH) 40 - 1000 GPH Pros Magnetic Drive, Wide Range of Sizes Cons Lower Powered than most GPH equivalents. Check Local Price Product Homasy Submersible Water Pump Price Range $ Gallons Per Hour (GPH) 400 - 920 Pros Low Cost Cons Small Range Of Sizes, Lower Powered than most GPH equivalents. Check Local Price The Environmental Choice! Product Ledgle Solar Powered Water Pump Price Range $$ Gallons Per Hour (GPH) Varies Pros Solar Powered, Relatively Low Cost Cons Low and Less Reliable Flow Check Local Price
All pumps listed are submersible.

Garden Pond Water Pump Buying Guide

Whether you have a Liner Pond or a Preformed Pond, you will most likely benefit from a Pond Water Pump – as both types of pond may stagnate just the same, possibly resulting in a large amounts of  algae, mosquitoes and a generally bad stench.

Different Types of Pond Water Pumps

There is a large variety of Pond Water Pumps available, however they mostly boil down to two different types; Submersible (Underwater) or External (Out of Pond).

• Submersible Pumps are generally best for the home garden with just a small pond, as they are quiet, require very little installation, and have the added benefit of being capable of draining your pond.
• External Pumps are usually for Ponds which require a large volume of water to be pumped. Therefore they are not always suitable for the home garden.

What Pump do you Need?

Before choosing a Pond Water Pump you must work out how much work you want it to do. This will be dependent on your Pond’s Size, Waterfall, Water Features and Filters.

Simply put, the more work – the more powerful the pump required.

Pumps are sized by ‘Gallons Per Hour’ (GPH).

For a healthy pond, water should be circulated once every two hours.

For example. A 100 Gallon Pond would require a 50 Gallon Per Hour Pump. (Minimum)

It’s always a good idea to choose a pump that exceeds the minimum amount of circulation required. As this will ensure it doesn’t always run at it’s capacity – and gives the potential to expand or add more features in the future.

The more features your pond has and the higher the waterfall, the more powerful a pump you will need.

Formula for working out the size of your pond in gallons

If you have a square or rectangular pond:

Length x Width x Average Depth x 7.5 = Total US Gallons (x1000 for Litres)

If you have a round pond:

(0.785 x Top Diameter x Bottom Diameter x Depth) x 7.5 = Total US Gallons Radius x Radius x 3.142 x Depth x 1000 = Total Litres

Installation and Servicing Your Garden Pond Pump

It is important to make sure your Pump is located in an accessible place, around the side of your Pond, also ensure that it is not too deep.

This will make it nice and easy to install and maintain, and also reduce the risk of slips and falls.

More Information

Looking for more info on installing a garden pond? See these other posts:

• How to build the perfect garden pond
• Choosing the right pond liner