Folks I have a waterfall that faces directly south. I use this waterfalls to warm the pond up in the spring by running it during the day time 7-7. Come summer I run it at night 7-7 to cool the pond with the night air. The pond is aerated 24/7 year round 2 diffusers in the shallows in the winter and two diffusers in the 15' and 14 foot deep ends in the summer months.

Right now we have about 40% ice on the pond and still running only the shallow diffusers. The water fall pump pulls water from the one deep section about 12 feet deep and pumps it over the falls. I also run water into the pond like a race track at 4500 gallons per hour year round over the falls. This water in the winter months is 53* coming in.

My question is with the next few days to hit 14*c or about 58*F with sun on the falls. Would it be ok to turn on the waterfall pump that draws from the pond to warm it up with still 50% ice on the pond?

Cheers Don.

I don't know the answer to your question but it doesn't sound to me that it would hurt anything. Do you have any pictures of your waterfall? How much does running it year round increase your electric bill?

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This is about 14000 gallons per hour going over her. I don't really know the power cost per year really. I could figure it out. There is two 1/3 HP 110v semi trash pumps and one 1/2 hp brushless. You can see the 2" pipe running up the back where the two pumps from the creek pump into the pond at 9000 gph.

I never really noticed the extra cost of the aerator or the water pumps down there. Nothing like the dehumidifier in the old house. Man I seen $40 per month with that in a big hurry.

Cheers Don.

EDIT: see those big rocks on the bottom? Then the first row of flat 8" stones? The top of the flat 8" stones is our full pool level. There is river rock that runs 12 feet in to the bottom of the pond for the shiners to spawn in with the FA that grows there.

The longer the water takes to travel down the falls the more heat it will absorb from the sun. Works like an AC unit with chilled/ or hot water, slow it down for max heat absorption


Pat

You shouldn't warm the water enough by running it through your water falls to have a significant impact on your pond. The direct sunshine on a bright day with a breeze on the whole pond surface will warm the entire pond (total heat absorbed) quicker than water running over the water falls.

Thanks Bill. I do know that in the summer running the falls really makes a big difference in temp at night. There is only about one million gallons in her.

Cheers Don.