Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Solar Transfer Pump

I just finished a rebuild of my pond and need to supplement the rainfall to fill this sucker up! There's a creek right next to it, maybe 50 feet away. Curious if any of you have used any good solar pump systems for something like this? I know it won't be quick but anything is better than no water movement at all. Thanks for any advice!

My Uncle built a pump one time that needed NO power at all. It worked off the power of the stream. Do some searching on you tube, it’s built using pvc and one way check valves. If the creek is that close then it should work. Good luck.

It's called a ram pump. It works on the water hammer principle. It needs a certain amount of fall to work properly

That’s it, couldn’t remember the name.

You could make a pretty inexpensive set up with a 12 volt pump like what is used for boat bilges. You would want some type of housing/filter to keep debris out, but the pumps themselves can be had for less than $20 and would run off a single solar panel. Wouldn't be overly quick, but would be an inexpensive setup to add water consistently.

I love the inexpensive little pumps that Imoore is mentioning. I use them frequently to lift water from my trailer tank into the dedicated tanks for the drip irrigation systems at my farm.

However, they can only lift water about 8-10' (since they are a bilge pump), and they certainly ARE NOT rated for continuous duty. I am not sure you could run one for an entire 10-hour solar day without burning it up.

Use a small micron filter sock to ensure you aren't getting any nasties from the creek into the pond.