Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Which way is best

Russ - I'm not sure what kind of information you want from your "rate of circulation" question. The amount of circulation a body of water needs is based on how fast the oxygen is being consumed in the water overlying the sediment. This mud water interface is where the oxygen is lost the quickest. Oxygen loss is due to the biological oxygen demand of the decay/decomposition of the organic material as "bugs" consume the dead organic materials. Organics in ponds are almost always thickest on the bottom.
Ideally. The pond's need for oxygen renewal in the bottom actually determines how often you should circulate or the rate of circulation.
In general, your rate of circulation or how fast you can mix the pond is dependant on strength (volume/flow)of the water moving up boil. With the exact same aeration unit, one can get a higher (faster) rate of circulation (mix the pond volume faster) in a smaller pond abt 1 acre vs a larger pond.

Your diffuser moves X number of gallons per hour. Your pond has X number of gallons. Pond gallons/diffuser flow volume per hr = time required to mix the pond.
Your rate will be greater when you introduce more CFM to the diffuser or add additional diffusers. Providing your pump has some air to spare. If we add too much CFM to a diffuser (more than it is designed to handle) we force the bubbles to be larger and reduce our circulation efficiency causing less volume or flow). Based on how many gallons your diffuser moves will depend on how long you need to run it to circulate the pond at last one circulation.
At the surface the boil from the diffuser only spreads the water just so far based on volume of the upwelling water and somewhat on wind speed/direction. A "wimpy" boil from low CFM does not spread the water very far and doesn't have much force which produces less circulation or more time require to circulate the water. Thus circulation is not as good as with a stronger boil from putting more CFM to the diffuser.
DID THIS ANSWER YOUR QUESTION?