Hello. I have been thinking of late to possibly aerating my pond. The best fit for my budget and resources would be a windmill type device. After reading some of the old archived links and such, it is mentioned that when starting this on an established pond to gradually ease into this. 15 minutes first day, 30 minutes next, and so on. I am not sure how to do this with a windmill type system as no electric power AC/DC , opposed to solar or ac powered pumps and using a timer. I just have not had a time to read or lookup everything yet as so much information on here and other places.

I have a one acre pond with the deepest portion in center being 10ft. I have a balanced population of bluegill/bass and forage minnows. Due to the abundance of rains the past few years it seems the filmentous algae is trying to take off stronger than past. I noticed this on most all of the ponds in the area. I am chemically treating this to control a good portion of it before I fertilize to get my plankton bloom to the right amount using secchi disk. Possibly wanted to start aeration to help with algae and also create a better pond habitat.

Thanks for any insight or other comment.

I have two windmills and my lake is in a spot that gets A LOT of wind. I would highly suggest to NOT get a windmill. Get a solar rig instead. I think you will be much happier.

One problem with wind-based aeration is that windless, hot days are the days you're most likely to have a problem with dissolved oxygen.

Cannot afford Solar, double or triple the cost of windmill system and running power to the pond is not feasible or cost effective either.

Maybe I will have to save up for Solar.

Agree on the hot windless days as well, but wonder if some aeration is better than none at all.

Personally I would save the windmill $$ and add to solar fund. I am not sure which windmill you are looking at, but either one of mine would have paid for a "direct drive" solar rig.


There are some affordable solar aeration rigs out there. You don't need battery backup, just direct driven solar powered. It will only run while the sun is shining. There was a member of this forum that lives up North that was building them. You could probably find him with a search.

thanks, all for the info. I will just save for a bit for the Solar, seems the only way I can control my aeration where this pond is. Now I need to check on my algae kill and keep a few more fish.

Another concern for windmill use in a 1 ac TX pond is it does not create a strong enough circulation even in good wind to mix well a larger 1 ac pond during the heat of summer when chance is high for summer kill. Windmill circulation actually works best in winter in northern places / locations where they were first developed (Canada-Koenders). Southern copycats "jumped" on the technology without knowing the complete theory of windmill circulation. During winter water mixes a lot easier and more much more water volume can be impacted compared to the same amount of air diffuser circulation in summer when stratification and resistance to mixing is strongest.

I'm no expert on anything regarding ponds, so just a suggestion here.

When you put in your system, you may want to consider having it run thru a battery bank. If the situation should ever arise where your surface temps start getting too warm, you may need to run the system during predawn hours, which is when your DO will be at its lowest. You cant do that if you're running straight off the panels, since you need the sun to run. Batteries give you more flexibility to when you NEED to be aerating.

I've already adjusted run times to early daylight hours because temps were crowding 80f on top and we're no where near the dog days of summer yet.

IMO, adding batteries would be ideal BUT..... BUT.... it totally changes the complexity and significantly increases the cost. I am no expert either by an means, but I have been aerating 100% off battery power for a couple years now.

Thanks for all the great comments and thought. Yes if I do go solar I will have a battery bank. The best bang for your buck even though it will cost more up front. Just have to save my money.

Electric is cheaper than solar or windmills. If you're not worried about money go for it.

Electric isn't cheaper for EVERYONE. It wasn't for me. As usual, it depends.

Thanks for all the info and input. Yes electric would not be cheaper for me, due to distance and stuff I would have to go through to get power to the place. Will just save up for Solar, or Save a Bunch more and build a second pond on the back of the property and build exactly like I want via all the info I have gained on here already. I think I have information overload, LOL.

I saw in your post that you couldn't run the electric, why? Is your pond to far from a power source? I had a similar issue and ended up going with an electric system but installed my pump at my power supply then just ran air lines to my pond. Worked well, just as idea, worked in my situation. Good luck.

Its definitely cheaper to run a buried air line than wire!! Irrigation tubing is pretty cheap.