Pond Pumps and Head Height
How to Choose the Right Pump for Your Pond or Water Feature
Choosing the right pump for your pond or water feature can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be! Whether you have a small backyard pond, or a grand waterfall, getting the right pump is key to keeping the water moving, circulating, oxygenated, and looking great.
Pumps and Gallons Per Hour (gph)
A general rule of thumb is that the pump should circulate the total volume of your pond at least once every hour. So, the first step is figuring out how many gallons you have. Use our Gallons Calculator to find out.
Pumps are generally rated for the gallons per hour (gph) or gallons per minute (gpm) that they pump. We are going to stick with gph.
A good example is that if you have a 1,000 gallon pond and the waterfall goes directly into the pond and doesn’t drop more than say, 6 inches, and is within 2 feet, a 1000 gph pump should be fine. If there is a stream or larger waterfall, you will need a pump with somewhat more gph than the total volume.
What is Head Height and why it matters.
Head height is the maximum vertical height a pump can lift water. Different pumps are have different head height capacity.
We use the vertical height from the pump to the top of the waterfall along with the length of the stream to determine the strength of the pump needed.
If you have a waterfall, measure the vertical height (straight up) from the surface of the pond to the waterfall height.
Then measure the distance between the pump and the top of the waterfall.
Enter these measurements in feet into our Head Height Calculator (below). You can use this information when finding the right size pump.
Choosing your pond pump.
Once you know the gallons of water in the pond and the head height you can choose a pump.
But WAIT, there is more information to consider!
Do you have a skimmer that the pump will go into? You’ll need to measure the space where the pump will go. Some pumps are larger and even if they have the right gph and head height, might be too large for your particular skimmer.
Maybe your pump has been directly in the pond rather than in the skimmer. Then you will need to make sure you are purchasing a solids handling pump if it going right into a pond. There can be debris and gunk that the pump will have to deal with.
You may be replacing an external pump. If so, you’ll be using this information to find an external pump.
Need help selecting a pump? I know, it can be a lot of information. We are here to help! Contact us today if you need a pond pump replaced or for expert advice (and installation).
* This blog was NOT written by AI. This was written by me. I am not a professional writer, I am a pond person. Therefore, if you see a typo, please forgive me!
*No koi were harmed in the making of this content.