Pond Boss Forums AERATION Should I aerate? best lake fountain

Just got my lake finished. Its 1.5 acre. want to put a lake fountain in the middle. I know nothing about them. was wondering what is the best thing to do.

Thought about making my own. Running pvc on the bottom of my lake and 90 up above water level and putting a cap on it with holes drilled in it. it is about 15ft deep there. Then put a electric pump from lowes on the dock and run the pipe to it.
Dont know what size pvc or pump to buy. Any info will help

will this work. Sorry for such a long post and alot of questions.

I think it'd work. Then only thing that i'm not sure of is what size to make the holes, what pattern to use, and what size of pump to use.

In designing the holes, I'd put a pressure gauge somewhere in the line so you could monitor the back pressure on the pump. Less pressure will let the pump live longer.

URUP, I did the same thing with a submersible pump 3 years ago, the nice thing is you can experiment with spray patterns drilling your own caps.
Many fountain pumps come with different spray heads, I like the Bell shaped fountain spray pattern in my mini pond.

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=fountain+nozzles+&_fscr=1&_ipg=&_trksid=p3286.c0.m19

Good link. Just don't buy the eigth product listed.. I doubt it's the kind of fountain your looking for lol..

Good site but I'm talking about a 1.5 acre lake. I'll look at that site again but might make my own. If anyone knows what size PVC to use let me know. Thanks

The first information you need is the flow and head pressure ratings of some commercial fountain heads in the size and pattern you want to use.

Select a pump that is ENERGY EFFICENT AT THIS FLOW AND HEAD

Then use a free line calculator to calculate the pipe size making sure you don't add too much additinal pipe friction loss. The best I have seen is http://www.freecalc.com/fric.htm
Cheers

I have seen people build fountains this way before one of the biggest mistakes people tend to make is to build the fountain with a pump that is not rated for continues duty. Do not forget to plan ahead for how many hours a day you are running the fountain and buy a pump that can handle your use. The second biggest mistake people tend to make is to buy an undersized pump. http://texasprolakemanageme.ipage.com/fountains.html Here is a link to my websites fountain page, I would look at a spray pattern similar to what you like and compare the hp of the pump to the height and width it produces. This may be a good reference tool for your future design.

Steven Bardin
www.texasprolakemanagement.com

If your goal is aeration, go with a properly sized air compressor and diffuser system.