Not an expert at all on this topic, so just throwing out ideas.
If that is primarily a "swimming" pond, then might it benefit more from a pond skimmer than from aeration?
Do you have deep cycle batteries available from some other purpose on your farm? If so, then perhaps you could experiment with a skimmer or aeration before making the big investment in the solar power equipment.
Finally, I believe a stratified pond has a lower average temperature in the summer than a pond that is turned over from top to bottom. (The hotter water at the surface allows for more heat losses at night.) OTOH, a stratified pond in the summer could be warmer for swimmers if they swim in the surface warm layer and don't disturb the water column too much.
P.S. Air line is cheaper than electrical line. If you have grid electricity somewhere on the property, then running a large diameter air line (to make up for your frictional pressure losses) may be cheaper than installing solar power at the pond.
Hopefully, an actual expert will drop into your thread!
As a matter of fact, I have two deep cycle batteries sitting on battery tenders in the barn. I also have a 200 ah portable suitcase solar panel. (We upgraded the batteries in our camper.) So, I’m part of the way there to a solar install. I have never heard of a “skimmer” before, I’ll have to do some research. Just cleans up pond surface?
I’d like to run an airline down from the barn, but we have our living quarters in the barn. Any compressor running at night would be a no go. The CFO is a light sleeper. The compressor almost has to be on the pond bank due to noise issues. The CFO is not so much of a swimmer. Really just a floater. Usually with grandchild in her lap. She likes warmer surface temps. I prefer to swim, and moving the water around definitely brings up the much colder water. I think I can sell the overall higher water temp scenario though.
Will aeration alone make the scum disappear? I hope so.
