Often people install pool pumps to run their water feature because of initial cost savings of purchasing such a pump. This is ill-advised for a variety of reasons; most importantly, use of a pool pump can lead to massive increases in your electricity bill.

Also, many unscrupulous landscapers and some retailers provide quotations that include supply of a pool pump rather than a pond pump in order to reduce final cost of quotation in an effort to win work. They do not inform recipient of quotation of running costs of a pool pump.

Simple arithmetic proves that initial cost savings of purchasing a pool pump to run your water feature can cause a blow out of staggering proportions in your annual budget. This is especially true when keeping fish or plants, which requires that your pump is running 24 hours a day to oxygenate water.

Running Costs

To calculate your operating costs per year multiply watts your pump uses per hour, by number of hours you run it per year (if you run it 24/7 then use 8,760 hours per year), then divide by 1,000 to convert it to kilowatts, then multiply by your cost per kWh (kilowatt-hour) ($0.1447 in QLD – see www.energexinstitute.com).

watts x 8,760 / 1,000 x $kWh = $ operating costs per year

Example 1:

A Blagdon Amphibious P8000 Fountain Pump (169 watt)

169 (watt) x 8760 (hours per year) / 1000 x $0.1447 = $214.22 per year

Example 2:

An Average 1.0 HP Pool Pump (750 watt)

750 (watt) x 8760 (hours per year) / 1000 x $0.1447 = $950.68 per year

Total Cost Savings = $736.46 per year ($184.12 every quarter!)

If you have ever experienced a leak in your pond you will know how time consuming and frustrating pinpointing source of leak can be! While all ponds will lose some water due to normal environmental issues such as evaporation through sun or wind and splash, major water loss is a significant problem.

The following steps should help make task a little easier:

1.Turn off pump and observe water levels

(a) Does water level continue to drop? If yes go to Step 3

(b) Does water level remain same? If yes go to step 2

2.The leak is not in your base pond.

(a)Inspect your plumbing, making sure that all joins and fastenings are tight and waterproof.

(b)Ensure no plant matter is intruding into creek/waterfall causing water to run along plant stems and out of pond.

(c)Check positioning of your rocks / pebbles. They may have moved into water, raising water level thus causing water to spill out.