Pump size?

[allif]

Hi folks
I'm sure this has been discussed but in parsing the threads and searching the internet I can't really make sense of the bottom line.
We have what I estimate to be a 720 gal pond with a 90 gal bog. The bog is about 18 inches about the pond, the spillway about 1 ft, the spillway is about a foot wide.
We're using what I think is a 420 gph pump and are getting barely a trickle from our spillway.
(It was a bigger trickle at first but I think we have sediment clogging the slats in our pvc (pipe itself seems clear) so flow has slowed).
We want to keep the flow low enough to get adequate filtration (2 ducks use this pond) but would love to get more flow over the spillway too.
Not sure if we're aiming to keep it moving enough to have open water year round (we're in NYS) but we definitely want to improve the turnover.
What size pump would you recommend? Should it be a "waterfall" pump or is a pump a pump?

I'm looking at the Laguna 960 but maybe there's something else?
Any other thoughts or suggestions?

 

[combatwombat]

With ducks, I would shoot for 1500 GPH minimum. With the head height you’re working with (assuming pretty short pipe runs of adequate size) you don’t need any special waterfall pump. Those are for high head situations and use a lot of electricity.

 

[allif]

With ducks, I would shoot for 1500 GPH minimum. With the head height you’re working with (assuming pretty short pipe runs of adequate size) you don’t need any special waterfall pump. Those are for high head situations and use a lot of electricity.

Wow, ok , that's a bigger pump than I would have thought. Happy we don't need a waterfall pump though - always glad to save energy.
Thanks for the thoughts!

 

[brokensword]

Wow, ok , that's a bigger pump than I would have thought. Happy we don't need a waterfall pump though - always glad to save energy.
Thanks for the thoughts!

I’d put a wye on and ball valves, giving you two controllable feeds to fulfill your vision.

 

[GBBUDD]

I'd go for 2000 gph like was mentioned put a sp;itter on the line and have one go to the bog and the other split back to the pond and circulation. make sure to add ball valves so you can regulate how much water goes where

 

[Laaf]

When the flow at my bog slows down, it is most often the pump getting clogged up. I have my bog pump in a basket with pea gravel as an attempted pre pump filter. When the flow slows, I squirt my hose into the pea gravel and it stirs up sediment and must clear the pump blockage and the bog flow increases. I also have clean outs on my bog that I can open and the water flows out with some gunk and that can help too. But so far the main reason flow has slowed down is a clog at my pump itself.

A higher pressure pump may help push through clogs in the bog pipes. But it also may suck more gunk into the pump, and even powerful pumps get clogged.

 

[allif]

Thank you all. Sounds like we have a plan. Massively larger pump with wye splitter and ball valves.
We've been keeping our pump in a bucket with a wire mesh screen cover, it keeps out the big stuff and the plants
like the gunk we pull out when we clean the pump every week. I like the basket and pea gravel idea, but was also cinsidering a simple mesh bag this time around. Anyone used one of those with good success?

 

[brokensword]

Thank you all. Sounds like we have a plan. Massively larger pump with wye splitter and ball valves.
We've been keeping our pump in a bucket with a wire mesh screen cover, it keeps out the big stuff and the plants
like the gunk we pull out when we clean the pump every week. I like the basket and pea gravel idea, but was also cinsidering a simple mesh bag this time around. Anyone used one of those with good success?

wow, you have to clean the pump every week? Seems excessive but maybe your ducks are making a helluva mess, hey? If you're not, it's a good idea to have the pump up off the bottom by 12" or so. This keeps bottom much/debris out of your pump and it will keep your pond from being totally drained.

 

[allif]

wow, you have to clean the pump every week? Seems excessive but maybe your ducks are making a helluva mess, hey? If you're not, it's a good idea to have the pump up off the bottom by 12" or so. This keeps bottom much/debris out of your pump and it will keep your pond from being totally drained.

every 1-2 weeks probably. just a quick rinse off, it's rarely terrible. the pump is off the ground, it sits on a cinder block in the bucket.
and yes the ducks really do make a mess. and the bog has not taken off as expected so it's probably not cleaning as well as it could.

 

[GBBUDD]

Nothing poops more then ducks not even koi. the mesh bag will obviously strain more from the water but will require more maintenance but a little removal of those solids are not a bad thing. you'll have plenty of organics to feed the plants

 

[allif]

Nothing poops more then ducks not even koi. the mesh bag will obviously strain more from the water but will require more maintenance but a little removal of those solids are not a bad thing. you'll have plenty of organics to feed the plants

i dont mind a little more maintenance. it's been pretty care free for the most part, especially relative to the original (non-bogged) duck pond.
i dont know what counts as a "solid" in this context. the ducks are indeed filthy but most of their waste seems fine enough to pass through most of the screens i've seen. those solids need to go somewhere and i dont think we're about to engineer any sort of trap or catchment, so it's a matter of figuring out the most practical (and least onerous) way to keep the big stuff away from the pump. leaning more towards the gravel prefilter in a basket that @Laaf uses. it's clever and shouldn't be hard to construct.

 

[jgrandmont]

We have what I estimate to be a 720 gal pond with a 90 gal bog.

My pond is around the same 700 gal size. I have 2 waterfalls -- 1 large one coming from about an 8 ft stream and a smaller one that basically just dumps into the pond near where the larger one terminates. The head is probably around 8 ft and I'm getting plenty of flow with a 4100 gph pump. As others have suggested, be sure to add enough valves to be able to fine-tune all flows.