I hooked up a pool pump and PVC lines in my 3/4 acre pond. It's probably 7-8 ft deep on the deep end.
The pick up is on the bottom in 3-4 ft of water in the middle and I have some sprayers made that hit the surface in the shallow end and towards the middle.
After a few minutes running it gets a pretty good cw movement of the water going.
Do you think this is enough to help keep oxygen level up and to slow down algae growth on the surface?
I'm in GA. Drought conditions this summer. Record temps.
Lake level down about 2 ft.
Thanks for your input.

I'm also in Georgia. I'm currently draining my pond for renovation. I've never used an aerator but am considering it after cleaning out the pond. I've looked at various sump pumps as aerators and other "substitutes" given the prices of actual aerators. I irrigate out of my pond for farming with a 2HP Goulds pump. I think I am going to make a bypass valve to put water back into the pond in a homemade fountain. I can't justify buying another pump for aeration when I have the irrigation pump right next to the pond with a 220 outlet. The only time I've had any algae problems is during this pull down where the pond has NO turnover and is half it's full size.

Bottom diffused aeration is your best option. (cheapest, most water moved, best value.) Everything else is playing with water, and money.

If I was in a drought and we are, I would not be using sprayers (sprinklers?). I won't use them in my pond during our droughts here in Texas because they will increase the amount of water I lose to evaporation. Some days I might lose a 1/2" to evaporation, so I don't want to lose more. If I had some fish piping in the pond due to low DO then that is a different story, I would turn on some sprayers if I had them.

I think highflyer is spot on. there are some people who have built some aeration systems that may have saved them some bucks when using diffusers.

Yeah, I considered the evaporation aspect of it. As it keeps dropping I start worrying about the fishies. I reckon you just hang on mother nature's skirt tails.
But she can be a mean old b**** sometimes.
I'd best shut up before I piss her off.
What about moving the spraying action under water to just circulate the water? I don't really have the money for a diffuser set up right now. I guess the diffuser is a strong pump that moves the water straight up but not a fountain per say?
Thanks

Water contacting air is what you want. Without geeking out too much, the pressure on your water is greater with depth. This higher pressure allows your deep water to hold more gasses in suspension. As the water rises, it will start to release those trapped gasses. Also, water in contact with air will re-oxygenate in very short order. If sprayed, it will saturate in 18 to 24 inches of air travel. You will loose some water to evaporation, but if O2 is your only problem, spraying your deep water through the air will re-oxygenate that moved water. An outboard motor will also move a lot of water in a crisis, exposing it to the air.

A diffuser is just a large bubbler kinda like an air stone for an aquarium. One will move approximately 2500 gallons per MINUTE in 8 foot of water. How many gallons does your pool pump push? I bet it's ALOT less than 2500 GPM (more like 2500 gallons per HOUR) and you would likely need 2 diffusers for your pond at a minimum.

A pump system like you describe used to create a fountain has some benefits with respect to surface aesthetics and some oxygen levels, but those benefits will be minimal compared to a full blown aeration system.

Along the lines of what Highflyer stated...you need to move alot of water and get it in contact with the air. A diffuser system does not spray the water into the air, it just moves it to the surface so that it can absorb the oxygen.

Welcome to the forums! You've come to the right place for al things ponds.

You've got me saying "hmmm".
I looked on that pump for a gph number but couldn't find anything. Since I have it set up like it is now I may redo my sprayers to just one output line and fix it to try to make it run just below the surface with a little ripple.
Being that the pick up is at the bottom towards the middle it might produce a decent circulation of the water which will help oxygen level some anyhow without too much evaporation. Might even cool it some. I could be wrong though,ask my wife. Head scratching time now and a run to Home Depot.
Thanks for the info.
.

I would not pull water from below the thermocline with a small pump. Do you know where your thermocline is? It's probably close to the 4 - 5 foot depth (hopefully deeper). Doing so would be pumping bad (read toxic) waters up into the water column that the fishies live in. Raise your suction hose up to be in a foot or two of water to avoid this.

What horsepower is the pump motor? It doesn't really matter as all residential pool pumps, even the largest residential pool pumps, will be too small for a 3/4 pond to act as an aerator. It could make for a good fountain pump, but that's mostly for aesthetics and does little for aeration unless you have many of them.

The best you can hope for is to spray the water into the air in as large of a fan as you can get. This maximizes oxygen absorption and surface agitation, but maximizes evaporation too. I think you are taking a knife to a gun fight. Don't mind my frankness...I'm just trying to help.

Im not sure where the thermocline is. I ran 1 1/2" PVC into a plastic 15 gallon jug with holes drilled in it and put it out in the middle. It's 3/4 hp I pump. I didn't think about it pulling toxic water. How do I send a picture or short video? Thanks

Unrelated question. - Do you watch baseball? I just noticed where you're located. Go Braves. I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. 🙄

I tried to send emoji rolling his eyes. Bye