Lower The Cost Of Running A Pond Pump | How To Save Money By Improving Your Garden Fishpond Pump System
If you've got a fishpond pump which is not performing as well as you would like there are a few things you can do to lower the cost of running a garden pond pump or reduce the cost of running a koi pond pump in order to get better performance without having to buy a new pump.
In today's article which is part of my free weekly newsletter series I'll explain all the factors that influence pump performance. You can then use this as a kind of checklist against which you can evaluate your own pump.
There are several things you can do to lower the cost of running a pond pump. The very first point to know about any pump is that the pump has a fixed maximum energy input normally expressed as Watts and sometimes horsepower.
Pond pump wattage is an indication of the energy a pump can develop to handle water flow. In a pond a pump is used to both move water and lift water.
This means the energy is divided between the amount of lift required and the volume (actually mass) of water flowing around the system.
In turn this means that if the lift is high then the flow will be less. The point of this is that before any pump can be specified it's important to know the lift (i.e. height to top of waterfall for example) required AND the volume of water required for a desired effect ... e.g. the amount of water flowing over a waterfall lip.
A simple analogy is as follows...
If you carry a bucket of water up a flight of stairs you will use a certain amount of energy. If you carry the same bucket of water up 2 flights of stairs you will use double the energy.
Alternatively if you made the bucket half full then you could climb 2 flights of stairs by using the same energy as it took to climb one flight using the full bucket.
The practical conclusion therefore is that you must apply all the available energy to pumping the water without wasting the energy. This will have an effect on the cost of running a garden pond pump.
Main source of energy loss
The energy of a fishpond pump is wasted in a pond circulating system mainly in the pipe work between the pump and the discharge point of the pipe.
If the pipe is small in diameter then a lot of energy will be lost due to what we call friction... i.e. the resistance to flow caused by the pipe walls.
The relationship between energy lost this way is such that in any pipe system the amount of energy wasted for a specific flow rate is a function of the pipe diameter.
In simple and approximate terms if a pipe diameter is doubled then the friction loss will be only one quarter of that in the smaller diameter pipe.
The practical implication of this is that changing the hose to a larger diameter pipe will allow more water to be pumped through the system.
The amount of energy lost in any pipe is also a function of 5 other things:
- The length of pipe
- Fittings in the pipe work such as valves or flow controllers
- Kinks in the hose pipe
- The condition of the internal surface of the pipe... e.g. a pipe with algae on the sides will result in energy wastage because friction will be increased.
- A further cause of energy loss is a blocked or restricted inlet.
For example a fishpond water pump with a sponge that is partially blocked with algae will result in a much lower flow rate. In this case the energy loss is due to to the fact that every rotation of the impellor is less efficient in moving water.
How to Lower The cost of running a pond pump Conclusions ...
- Use the widest diameter pipe you can
- Reduce the length of pipe ... i.e. move the pump closer to the outlet point and remove unnecessary length.
- Remove any kind of restriction in the pipe work and make sure there are no kinks in the pipe. Ideally use non-kink hose instead of clear tubing which will kink when bent.
- Periodically change the pipe for new pipe since the inside surfaces will become rough.
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