new pump suggestions and oil clean up

13 years ago

It has been a while since we have been in.The water garden started off last season with the 1/2 horse goulds pump burning out after years of service.So hey we turn on the 3/4 horse which was for running the upper falls 3 days ago it decided to flood the pond with oil..Not cool..

To top it off it has been a few years since we have been doing water features and it appears a few of the pumps I thought I was looking at have been changed, so Help..

We have never ran a filter system, never needed it,don't want one.Just set the garden up with plants of all levels and two sets of falls running year round.The third falls is only occasionally ran from the roof of the house.This has ran for 6 years very well..

So that said we are looking for suggestions for a pump replacement.our system has been running with a holding tank and submerged pumps at the bottom of the 2nd falls.Similar to a pondless system.From this tank it pumps through about 15 feet of 2 inch pipe.A lift of approximately 6 feet to the main waterfall tank.There are no 90s in this part of the system.We do have a ball check in the line as well as one to divert from the falls directly to the pond..This system has been running with a 1/2 horse pump.It would be nice to find something a bit more energy efficient until we can get it changed over to solar.

We can run a larger pump if needed since it was taking a 3/4 horse pump to accomplish the 15 foot straight up lift for the other falls which were rarely ran.Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

We have also thought about an external pump, which may be very challenging for us to fit into our landscape.Since bordering the pond is also a large hot tub and as you will see in pictures extreme amounts of large stones that are not readily movable.The noise factor is also a consideration as well as the vibrations...Suggestions about this is also welcome.However any thing we have to do that entails changing the gardens complicates the situation as there are garden tours all through the summer.

Here is also a link to hopefully the enlarged picture of the falls so one can have a bit of an idea of what I am talking about.

Thank you to all who take the time to read and /or reply to this post, we greatly appreciate those who take the time to do this..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/make_me_smile11/4807833032/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Hugs,Laughter,Light,Love

Mary

Here is a link that might be useful: Waterfall picture

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Comments (6)

pondbucket
13 years ago
Hello Mary,
May I suggest a Magnetic Drive pump... no oil nor is there a seal to break. It has a seamless cannister and they come in and around the HP you're used to while being more energy efficient. I run two Cal Pump (brand) magnetic drive submersible pumps and they're going on year three.

If memory serves I typically see MagDrive pumps that are between 800 gpm to about 5000 gpm... I think the two I run are about 3700 gpm.

Hope that helps. Beautiful rocks & falls BTW.
gardenbutt
Original Author
13 years ago
Pondbucket,
I was cruising the internet looking at the Magnetic Drive pumps, we looked at them when we built the ponds but could not find a big enough system. Thank you I will go and see if I can find more info on them.It is amazing how things many changes there seems to be in the pond pumps in just a few years.
I know we need to get something tracked down soon, we have garden classes at the house May 7. Kind of hard to teach about water gardening with out it up and running,,LOl
Thank you very much for the suggestions,
Mary
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joe_09
13 years ago
you will want a external pump.look into a performance pro.they have great head pressure and use very low power.i have the 4900 1/4 hp it will pump straight up 9 1/2 ft. with out loosing any pressure uses about 300 watts
gardenbutt
Original Author
13 years ago
Joe,
Thank you,We will go and take a look at the performance pros..
The only thing we have concerns about with the externals is where to put them? With the water garden built off the side of the house, the top falls(not used often) water pipe is actually under the rock up to the roof (15 foot straight up lift).I believe we would have to go low ,down by what is a holding tank similar to a pond less feature.
Can you tell me how large of area I would need to have to house the pump? We may be able to find a way to create a small space,, but with all the large stone we would have to bring in the skidster to move stone which right now is not an easy task.
We do have a space in the block walls that hold the hot tub as well, but not sure how that would work for plumbing.Or if the pump running all the time would be to noticeable to those using the hot tub..
I guess I am off to research more.
Thank you for your input we appreciate it.
Mary
buyorsell888
13 years ago
We've been using Pondmaster magnetic drive pumps for well over a decade. They are excellent pumps. I bought the last one at pondliner.com for an excellent price.
gardenbutt
Original Author
13 years ago
Buyorsell,
Thank you for the suggestion.We were considering a Pondmaster HY drive6000 but have to double check to see if it can handle our water..One of the other considerations has been an alpine cyclone.But I have not found anyone who has worked with them as of yet..
Again thank you for taking the time to offer some suggestions, we greatly appreciate it..
Mary