Large Scale Central

GPH waterfall?

I’m trying to make my first water feature. I would like to have the water fall over maybe three levels of rocks a couple feet high. I went to Lowes and was looking over their pumps and didn’t know what GPH to buy? I got one 560 GPH. Before I open it up, I thought it might not be enough?? Just want to see some decent water flowing over the rocks.

560 GPH is 9.33 GPM I think that would be more than enough flow rate.

Did you calculate how many gallons are in your pond?

Vincent D’Agostino said:

Did you calculate how many gallons are in your pond?

No, I would guess it’s not a big number.

Give this a read:

http://www.123ponds.com/ponding101.html

What I did on my pond to help with the volume of water over the waterfall was to put a Y after the pump.

This way my filterbox at the top of the waterfall receives half of the water coming from the pump, the other half I direct straight over the fall itself.

This helps in getting much greater waterflow, plus instead of having a single outlet where the water is coming from there are multiple ones which also help in directing where the water is to go.

Now, if you are using a Filter Falls:

http://www.123ponds.com/bf1000.html

You will not need to do what I just mentioned.

As far as pumps go, I have had the best luck using Pondmaster brand pumps…and always buy the next size up then what you think you will need!

In this picture you can see that I have (3) returns that flow over the waterfall.

(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/139vinny/New%20Pond/Newpond18_zps10099b67.jpg)

Thanks!

Lots of good info there.

Just as a reference, my pond is approx 15-1600 gallons and I am using a 2400gph pump.

I used a 3500 gph pump in a 750 gallon puddle, and still wanted more. I was more interested in the “river” and waterfall, than in the pond. I did loose a lot of water to evaporation, though, as water was set free to the atmosphere by the rocks it fell over. About every third day I would have to refill about a third of the pond. I am pretty sure that I had solved all of the liner problems.

560 gph will give you just a trickle.

The size of the pond doesn’t matter.

EDIT: One other thing… You have to take into account how high you want the pump to raise the water. The higher the rise, the less the effective pump output there is. There is a formula, but I forget what it is.

Ah sugar. Thanks for the help. I should have asked what you guys use. I just went back to the store and decided to keep that pump.

Now, I want a bigger pump again!!

Saw a utility one at Sears with a good warranty. Might give that a try. I bet the pond is only around 100-150 gallons though. That should have went bigger too.

Don’t get a utility pump, or a sump pump, or anything not rated for pond use. They are not designed for continuous use.

If you want a waterfall, you will have to fork over the $300.00 or so that it will take to get what you want.

Don’t worry about the size of your pond. I know a guy who has a waterfall with a very small catch basin, and he uses a 4500 gph pump. All of the water is in the falls.

Its hard to judge as I don’t know how deep your pond is, but I’ll bet it could easily go to 400 gallons.

I’m with Steve on this. The first pump I got was a 2600 gph pump. It was ok but I wasn’t happy with the flow of the water down my river. I switched to a 4000 GPH and have been real happy with it.

My setup is I have 10 ft of lift from my pond to the waterfall. The pond is 160 gallons. I have about another 150 gallons in the river. If you look at the rules of thumb, my pond is undersized for my setup, and I would like to someday expand my pond, but it works fine.

A few things to keep in mind…

You can get as large of a pump as you want, but be careful on what you select for a filter setup.

That is I am assuming you are going to use a filter, or, are you just going to pump water up over the falls and be done with it?

Any filter box you buy will have a GPH recommendation that it can handle safely…too much water flow and the filter most likely will not be able to process the volume of water it is taking in and just overflow.

This is why I suggest installing a valve type Y fitting so you can regulate how much flow goes into the filter and the rest can just flow free over the falls.

Thanks for the help. It’s tuff to guess standing in a store. I think you guys just saved me from buying pumps that wouldn’t cut it. Might have to save up a bit.

And to add…

Make sure you pay close attention to the pipe/tubing size recommended for the pump you purchase.

This may or may not be a issue for you and your build, but when you get into the larger size pumps (2400gph +) you will have to use actual piping somewhere in the 1-1/2" - 2" size, you won’t be able to use the flexible tubing which in most cases is a little easier to install.

I have a very small pond (150 gallons?). I use a 1,750 gph pump and get a very pleasant sound/movement. The key is setting rocks in the “fall area” to create the separation/falls…otherwise you just have a fast moving stream.

(http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj222/Noble_Dreg/c2e0246a-f32d-45a3-bce0-ebae5d4f9899_zps7eac49c1.jpg)

The ‘spitting frog’ had to go…too noisy! I wanted a nice sound, not Niagara!

:slight_smile:

Our waterfall pump is 2500GPH, I added a Y-valve after the pump which allows to regulate the flow on the waterfall mountain stream i.e. allow more water on straight return in the pond to cut down the flow. We also have a smaller 800GPH pump to feed our creek, which is definitely too small for a swift waterfall with volume.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/1693825[/vimeo]

Good points Vincent.

I experienced both problems, I bought the pump and then figured out my filter was too small and then had to buy a bigger one. The rule of thumb is to figure out the filter and match the pump to it.

The pipe diameter is also a big deal.

I originally used a 3/4" pex pipe to plumb the water to my waterfall. I found that this was entirely too small. I ended up with 1 1/2" irrigation pipe and the 3/4" pipe for a total of 2 1/4". Originally, I thought the 3/4" pipe was just fine because it works in the house. But we are dealing with high -vs- low pressure so you need to have a large diameter pipe.

Additional info on my setup. The pipe from the pump to the waterfall is 65’.

Well, this is good stuff here.

I ordered a Pondmaster model 2000 and will give it a try. It seemed like a good balance of price vs. GPH.

I ordered 1 1/2" flex pipe to try also with a small top water falls spout. I held off on the filter as they didn’t seem to match the pump? I may try to make my own pump box to protect it with a scotch type screen? I liked the idea of a skimmer. They looked like they were made for a different pump?

This is a lot to take in all at once. I never thought U need so much stuff for a small water feature.

In this picture you can almost see everything I did:

(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/139vinny/New%20Pond/Newpond13_zpsa6bc4c22.jpg)

Pre-filter located on the shelf (bottom of pic)

Flex tubing goes from there to the UV Filter (hidden under the next batch of stones you see underwater)

Then flows into the 2400gph pump (which you can see in the pond right before the waterfall)

Then into the Y valve.

Then 2-lines go up into the waterfall rocks (you can kind of see the one on the right of the waterfall in the pond)

1-line goes to the filterbox located above and the other just feeds right back into the waterfall at the top where the filterbox is.

The filterbox also has 2-outlets that flow over the fall (this is why in my previous pic you can see 3-return lines, two from the filterbox and one from the pump.