Why You Must Not Use Sump Pumps In Your Fish Pond Water Garden
What is a Sump Pump and why are they bad for Fish Ponds or Water Gardens ?
They are often referred to as basement pumps. They are used to remove water from a basement or sump. Unlike a Submersible Pond Pump, designed for continuous operation within a pond environment, a sump pump has been engineered for intermittent use. Fish pond pumps need to run 24/7/365 days a year, supplying valuable oxygen to the biofilter, koi and other fish. There are other reasons why you mustn't use sump pumps and these are explained in this article.
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Why Sump Pumps Must Not be used in Fish Ponds
Sump pumps contain a water seal that will after a period of time (usually about 1 year or 10,000 hours) break, allowing water to reach the electrical components. This will cause the sump pump to fail in addition to electrocuting your pond fish. Sump pumps by nature are designed to pump water to significant heights (or Head) in order to clear water from a basement. They are often advertised as ... buy this low cost strong pump, capable of pumping to a height of say 12 feet. True they can pump water to this height but at a cost to you. Powerful pumps usually require lots more energy to function and can result in expensive utility bills ... Click here to see how Pump Electricity Costs can be a major cost factor in pump selection.
This
is what A sump pump look like
This is a diagram of a typical sump pump. As you can see the suction inlet is at the bottom of the unit, MEANING THAT if you used a sump pump in your fish pond water garden it would in essence suck up debris from the pond floor. This doesn't make sense to me. However when emptying a basement of water it would make perfect sense for the inlet to be at the bottom. The watts consumed by this type of unit is typically about 250 - 300 watts, compared with about 90 watts for the average fish pond pump. However the price for such a powerful pump will be quite low.
Using the above 300 watt sump pump that costs $160 as an example here are some interesting statistics ... Capable of pumping 1300 gallons of water per hour to a vertical head of 9 feet. Supplied with only a 1 year guarantee. The electricity costs to run this pump is $262 per year based on electricity costs of $0.10 KWhr. This equates to $951.39 after 3 years.
My recommended choice of Garden Pond Pump
Firstly on the grounds of safety and secondly on the grounds of cost I would advise you not to use sump pumps in any fish pond or water garden application. Instead opt for reliable, low power consumption models from reputable and proven pond pump manufacturers such as Hozelock Cyprio, Fish Mate, Oase and Heissner to name but a few
Click here for unbeatable money saving offers on USA Pond Supplies and Pond Keeping Equipment in the UK, Guaranteed.
