Leaving pump in pond over the winter

[pond new1]

Tried to find an answer but no luck.
I do not run my pump (little giant) over the winter. It is in about 2.5' of water. I am thinking of just leaving it UNPLUGGED in the pond over the winter. I usually take it our and put it in a bucket full of water.
Anyone just keep their pump in the pond over the winter? Did it cause damage?

 

[mrsclem]

I leave mine in every year. Never had a problem. You just need to make sure the water doesn't freeze solid around the pump.

 

[mgmine]

Don't leave the line attached it will freeze.

 

[sissy]

I leave mine in and sice my hose is loose I just lower that into the pond also with a piece of rubber to tie it off to the side of the pond ,this way it is easy to pull the hose back up .But I don't get long hard winters here

 

[Angel]

I keep my main pump in the pond 24/7/365. Even when not used in winter. And add a small pump and heater in winter. This year as of right now I'll have the main going as I made a stream bypass for it. Along with a heater. If I can get the time and weather I will add another outlet to keep all 3 going this year

 

[RobAmy]

I also leave my pumps in the pond for the winter. I pull the main one out of the skimmer and lower it into the pond. The skimmer does freeze.

 

[pond new1]

Thanks everyone. So in addition to asking you all for your personal experiences I called the pump manufacturer's support line. They said no problem as long as ice doesn't encase it. They did suggest I keep the power cord "prongs" as dry and out of the weather as best I can. I can do that no problem. I'll use a plastic coffee "can" to put the end in and I will leave that under a large pot I use to cover my electrical outlet. Should not be a problem.

Now to find a leak in my liner :-(

 

[flareyflan]

Tried to find an answer but no luck.
I do not run my pump (little giant) over the winter. It is in about 2.5' of water. I am thinking of just leaving it UNPLUGGED in the pond over the winter. I usually take it our and put it in a bucket full of water.
Anyone just keep their pump in the pond over the winter? Did it cause damage?

I have left mine in the pond but not running three of the four years I’ve had my pond. This last year I left it running all winter and I never had any problems with freezing anything. I think I will leave it running again this year.

 

[sissy]

It all depends on where you and believe me things can happen really fast if the pump starts to throw water out of the pond .Ice cover can even hide an almost empty pond . I had it happen to me .I saw ice it looked fine but a closer look only showed about a foot of water in the pond .I had my pump tied to a crate and one of the fish must have turned it sideways and it was pushing water out the side of the pond .After that I put coated wire in the handle of my laguna pumps and put a pipe across the pond and hung both my pumps from pipes .I also added a low water cutoff on my winter pump .The other 2 pumps get shut off

 

[teeemkay]

I think this is going to be my last year running the pump/waterfalls during the winter. Today one of the two outlets by the pond died a sudden death. The pond de-icer was off for quite some time--possibly 6-7 hours--and everything iced over. Once I discovered all this, I ran an extension cord from another outlet on the side of the house and plugged the de-icer in so the pump and the de-icer aren't on the same outlet by the pond. The de-icer heated back up quickly, but the water level in the pond is pretty low. I'm going to check things in about 30 minutes to make sure water is still getting into the skimmer box and then I have to get some sleep. I can hook up the hose to the tap in the basement and run water out there tomorrow morning if I have to.

But as I was saying.... this is a whole lotta fuss especially when the weather is so cold. Something goes wrong EVERY year around this time when we get the first sub-zero cold snap. I am thinking a pond breather may be the way to go next winter.

 

[PondMutt]

im still pumping water in Tennessee ,,,
to the fellow in Chicago ..

i bet an iced over water fall would be a lovely display ... got pics ?

if i had a pond up there i would want it pretty deep

if the pumps and water lines freeze one can always move water with an airlift ..
BIG air pump .. forget the air stones use 1/4 inch tubing to 1/4 inch pvc . drill numerous little holes in the pvc as desired .maybe 50 holes 1/16 ?? 1/32 ?? 1/64 ? . cap it.

holes in the pvc tip is the air emitter [bubbler].. place the emitter in a larger pvc pipe [lift tube] , 2 inch or 3 inch suggested ,
bubbler in the lift tube and a 90 degree bend up top will circulate the water ..lair lift will move water overthe top to another tank

big air pump

 

[PondMutt]

in a frozen pond emergency...

 

[Lisak1]

@teeemkay I was outside yesterday filling the pond too - I think the combination of the sudden cold snap caused a lot of evaporation and then the ice forming "consumed" a lot of the moving water. My husband happened to look out and realized he couldn't see water moving under the ice. Luckily we have learned to keep a hose that's just long enough to reach from the spigot to the pond in the basement to keep it warm and pliable for just these kinds of emergencies! I'm just glad we were home to catch it. It's not fun to work outside on a day like yesterday, but at least it was sunny... or that's what I kept telling myself anyway!

@PondMutt it's always fun to see the ice sculptures that result from a frozen waterfall. This is from a few years ago -

 

[addy1]

I think this is going to be my last year running the pump/waterfalls during the winter.

I turn everything off, pull my external pump, put in the pond breathers and take a breather from moving water. Even if I had submersible pumps I would not leave them running. Usually mid March I get things back up and running depending on our weather.

 

[Lisak1]

I turn everything off, pull my external pump, put in the pond breathers and take a breather from moving water. Even if I had submersible pumps I would not leave them running.

I think every pond is so different when it comes to handling cold weather. We didn't really factor in the winter when we built our pond - our intent was to shut things down every year - but we had some beginner's luck when we built our waterfall. After watching our pond work over winter for six years now, I know that you really have to build your falls with the ability to handle ice. If they are too narrow or too flat you could very well have ice dams form that will direct all your water out of the pond. We built our falls wide and "deep" with the liner extending well beyond the actual area where water flows, so the ice can form but the water keeps flowing underneath.