Pump control

[Nittany North]

We just built a new house on land that has an old man-made pond/lake on it ... ~300' x 150'. We were thinking of stocking it with some trout, so I was looking for a pump to both aerate the pond and provide something to look at from the house (which is 250' from the pond). From earlier readings, I thought I would order the most powerful pump I could find, so I ordered the Algreen MaxFlow 20,000. http://www.gardensupermart.com/store/c230094p16750414.2.html#more

Watts	Max Flow Rate	Max Flow Height
420 W	5,000 GPH	22'	1 1/2 "

I'm unsure of how high it will shoot the water into the air, as in part I don't know the depth of the pond. a few questions:
1. Can I put a rheostat (or dimmer control switch) on the pump to both control the water flow and the amperage used?

2. Will a 250' roll of underground 12/2 wire do the trick to go from the house to the 33' cord on the pump.

Re: the latter, it looks like the voltage drop over this length of 12/2 wire would be less than 5v, which would still give me over 115v.

3. I was thinking of putting a piece of 1.5" pvc pipe with a cap on top on the outbound end ... and then drilling holes in a design to provide some kind of pattern to the flow rather than having geyser effect. Will this work?

 

[mgmine]

No you can't put a restate on the pump but you could put a valve to adjust the flow. I don't think the pipe cap idea would be a good idea as you will be restricting the flow too much and could harm the pump. I would look for something designed for the purpose such as this

Outdoor Water Solutions Floating Pond Fountain 1/2 HP, 4 Nozzles, Model# FTN0421 | Northern Tool

This 1/2 HP Outdoor Water Solutions Floating Pond Fountain adds a beautiful display of water streams that shoot 15ft. to 20ft. in the air with side...

www.northerntool.com

 

[poconojoe]

No you can't put a restate on the pump but you could put a valve to adjust the flow. I don't think the pipe cap idea would be a good idea as you will be restricting the flow too much and could harm the pump. I would look for something designed for the purpose such as this

Outdoor Water Solutions Floating Pond Fountain 1/2 HP, 4 Nozzles, Model# FTN0421 | Northern Tool

This 1/2 HP Outdoor Water Solutions Floating Pond Fountain adds a beautiful display of water streams that shoot 15ft. to 20ft. in the air with side...

www.northerntool.com

Agree. No way to do it with a rheostat. This can only be done with a valve.

There are many commercially made fountains that look great, but if you want to give it a try, there are various ways you can do it. As far as ideas go, the sky is the limit. You can just have the pipe from the pump end right below the surface of the water and the water will shoot straight up. Or maybe heat the end of the PVC pipe and smash it a bit to get a different effect. You can make something easily out of a piece of PVC pipe with holes drilled in it. Put a "T" on the output pipe add a short horizontal PVC pipe with holes drilled into it. Cap off the ends of the horizontal piece. It will be trial and error possibly with many modifications until you get it "just right". The amount of holes. The size of the holes...etc.
Take in account having to keep dropping the thing in and pulling it out until you get it to look good. Is it worth all that trouble?
It might pay to just buy the commercially made one.

 

[brc]

Personally, I wouldn't use a valve to cut down water flow - at least not by a lot. I would either get a smaller pump if needed, or divert some of that flow elsewhere. The electric usage will end up costing more than the pump within a year or two, so you probably don't want to throw too much of that energy away.

12/2 wire at 250' should be more than enough though.