Pump question for unique situation.

[Fireguy]

thank you in advance for any guidance you can offer me!

Part of my new job is to get the pond/reflecting pools going at the condo building I work at and I have no idea what I am doing.

There are two pools, about 20 feet apart, one is about 3 feet deep and the other is less than a foot deep. The deeper one flows into the shallow one by gravity and the shallow one has a pump connected to a manifold that circulates the water and returns it to the larger pool through five different outputs. The total volume of the pools is probably 1500 gallons. The manifold looks to be about a 5/8 connection, or a typical garden hose width.

The pump they had previously was a 10 amp 1/4 hp utility pump that is now completely dead, so I am tasked with buying the new pump. I know that is the wrong kind of pump, but I am very confused as to what is the correct pump.

 

[tbendl]

Welcome Fireguy. Any pictures would be helpful. Are there fish or plants?

 

[j.w]

@Fireguy
Is this an external pump that you need? I have only dealt w/submersible's and my choice is Laguna but others here use external so will be able to help you better.

 

[AlyssaFish]

How much higher up is the deeper one than the shallow one? The distance the water has to travel from the pump to the other pool is measured vertically and horizontally.

I'm not an expert at different kinds of pumps, I merely know what there are two varieties. Submerged and in line. In line stay out of the water and uptake and put out water through a hose. Submerged sits directly in the water.

The vertical distance is called "head." The more a pump has to fight gravity, the less water it call push, so it's very important to get the right strength of pump.

Additionally, you'll want to consider whether the water is meant to trickle gently, or pour through like a stream. Plants or animals will change what kind of flow is acceptable, but otherwise it's up to aesthetics.

 

[Fireguy]

The larger pool is about 3 feet higher than the lower pool; there are no fish or plants; the pump is submerged.

 

[sissy]

easy save money on pump and get a laguna but really pump should have a bigger hose than a garden hose .Is the water clear ,do they use chemicals to keep water clean .Like a swimming pool .Some pumps can't handle those kinds of chemicals

 

[tbendl]

Yeah I was wondering how they keep the water clear as well. And good catch on the hose diameter sissy, you're on it!

 

[sissy]

Thought it could be why the pump burned out .I have seen that here with a couple of ponders .They buy a 2400 gph pump and use a 1/4 inch hose and then wonder why they don't have water flow and why a pump burns out fast .Seen that mistake a few times .

 

[Usman]

do u have waterfall or some thing that needs to run? how much water u want to flow from 1st pond ? and how heigh is the 1st pond from 2nd , as u have long distance 20 ft and height must b 3 feet , i would say around 3000g/h pump would be at least bcz the distance and height will lower its pressure by 30%

 

[tbendl]

He might not need that much since he doesn't have fish so his turnover rate will be for water movement and just plain enjoyment.

 

[Usman]

Thought it could be why the pump burned out .I have seen that here with a couple of ponders .They buy a 2400 gph pump and use a 1/4 inch hose and then wonder why they don't have water flow and why a pump burns out fast .Seen that mistake a few times .

but if the output is 1/4 then does it make difference if we make it larger or leave it at same width ? ur right the dimention has its role , i know one thing for sure , never reduce diameter u will loss alot of pressure and pump will be in stress , i have 2 openings from same pump i tried best to add thickest pipe possible but not possible at the initial output nozzle if its not that wide thats what im wondering .

 

[sissy]

The pump they had came with 3 adapters and they used the smallest one for a 15 foot long hose that went out of the water another 5 feet and they extended that to 10 more feet and thought that would help with water quality .Not when you are restricting the flow of water with a tiny hose .I use 1 1/2 inch hose on my 2400 gph .

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Do you have any information on the old pump? Manufacturer? Model Number? Flow Rate?
This would help immensely in buying a replacement to duplicate the flow that this Water Feature was designed to have.

 

[Fireguy]

This is the manifold which is located in the shallower, lower pond. The hoses lead out to five different points around the pools. No idea how they keep the water clean. I am learning as I go. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

A 1/4 HP Utility pump, depending on manufacturer, will pump between 1200 gph and 2000 gph. Since the Manifold is totally valved, the greater flow rating (2000 gph) would be OK since the flow is totally controllable.