Pond Boss
Posted By: G.DUB OWS vs Koenders windmills Vs Solar - 05/07/21 11:41 PM
Hi Everyone,

I’ve been looking at options for Aerating my pond near Rimbey Alberta. My pond is approximately 0.16 acres and will be about 300,000 gallons. It is still filling from being dug. Pictures attached. The pond has one area that is about 60 x 60 feet and 12-13 feet deep; then there is another part that comes off the deep end that is about 60 x 15 feet and goes from 10 feet deep to 2 feet deep. It’s a bit of an odd shape. I just want to have clean water that I can swim in. Maybe down the road, we’ll add fish.
I’ve spoken to a few dealers/sellers about windmills and solar, and I can’t seem to get a straight answer because they all sell different products and will “make up” anything bad about their competitors.

I’m hoping someone here can give me some unbiased information.

I’m currently between the OWS windmills and the Koenders double diaphragm windmill or getting a solar system to control a Can-Air 2 system.

When I spoke to the person who sells OWS he told me that no windmill would work for me. He said that I needed to get something that plugs in so that it’s constant. He told me that all the claims that Koenders made a not true. That I would need 60 kmh winds to get 3 CFM from theirs since it has 2 diaphragms and harder to move. He said their study was done in no water, but the study said itself it was in 15 feet of water and 7.5psi. He said the video they show about how 2 diaphrams compared to 1 is based on theory and not an actual study. He said that Koenders sells a lot of windmills because people believe them, and don’t bother to return it because it takes 10 hours to build. He said that the Can-Air SS diffusers move 800% more air than stone diffusers and sent me a chart. He said the only thing that would work for me is a plug in Can-Air 2 system, because I had a “shallow” pond I needed the consistency.

When I spoke to Koenders rep he said their double diaphragm would work for me no problem. He claimed that the Koenders works in 3-5mph winds, but wouldn’t say what wind speed was needed for 3 CFM. He wouldn’t commit to a number or provide a chart that shows CFM as it relates to wind speed. He just told me to watch all the videos on youtube that show it moving in low wind speeds and to look at the testimonials on their website. He said the OWS system bases their claims of CFM on not being in water.

The guy who sells the OWS told me that a windmill wouldn’t work for me, and that I needed a solar system. He said I’d need about 1300 watts of panels and a 100ah battery bank. When I spoke to a soalr guy he said that if the system is pulling 300 watts an hour (which it does), I would need a way bigger solar system. Like 5000Watts. That way, it could keep up since the solar system would use 7000 watts a day.

I guess to make my point, does anyone here have an OWS windmill or a Koenders windmill and how do they like them? Do they work well? Are the claims true? Does the OWS need a ton of wind to work? Could I use a windmill in my pond, or do I need to get a solar system?

Thanks!

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Posted By: Augie Re: OWS vs Koenders windmills Vs Solar - 05/18/21 01:08 PM
I can't really speak to the technicalities of your question, but I have observed over the years, that it's best to run far and fast
from a company that spends more time trash-talking the competition than they do explaining the benefits of their own offering.
Posted By: Quarter Acre Re: OWS vs Koenders windmills Vs Solar - 05/18/21 01:58 PM
I've never been able to wrap my head around a windmill bottom diffused aeration system. My understanding is that you need to keep the pond turning over on a daily basis and wind is not very cooperative in that regard. Maybe I'm splitting hairs, but If I wanted to maximize my pond for swimming (or fish)...I would want something that I could rely on every day. If you have to stay green (very respectable), I'd advise solar with electric back up. This way the reliability is up to you, your budget and maintenance habits, not entirely mother nature.

If I were to use a windmill at my pond, it would be to pump some water for a little waterfall-like feature...cool, but not a part of the major health efforts of the pond. I'd love to hear the answers to your windmill questions and will keep an eye on your post. Windmills don't get a lot of thread-time here however.

Keep in the back of your mind that your small pond is a good candidate for a small electric diaphragm pump and a membrane diffuser or two. This would be a very affordable option with a small monthly electric bill.
Posted By: wbuffetjr Re: OWS vs Koenders windmills Vs Solar - 05/18/21 04:57 PM
I have two windmills at my pond AND a solar system. I have a Koenders double diaphragm and an American Eagle. After owning both and having multiple friends with windmills, I could not recommend a windmill. QA hit the nail on the head with reliability. Go with the electric or a solar system and thank me later. IMHO
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: OWS vs Koenders windmills Vs Solar - 05/19/21 03:00 PM
If you have electricity available USE IT. With the right sized compressor and appropriate membrane diffuser you in NY would need to run a good designed system for a 0.16 ac pond around 1 to 4 hours a day May 01 to Oct 31. I do it in two ponds. The main exception would be if the pond was in a woods. Then requirements change. Proper sizing of ample cfm is critical to the compressor run time. It is better to have excess cfm with more diffuser surface area than just enough or too little. The extra more money for up sizing the compressor is IMO well invested. With more cfm the pond can be turned over quicker and the compressor runs less and lasts many years longer.
Posted By: esshup Re: OWS vs Koenders windmills Vs Solar - 05/20/21 01:57 AM
Another thing to think about with the windmills. When they need maintenance (and they WILL need maintenance - almost yearly) how do you access the parts that need work? Sure, some tip over so you can work on them on the ground. What equipment is needed to make sure that it tips over slowly and doesn't come crashing down the last 5'-10' or so?

A customer has Koenders feeding his 4 ponds. He also had an electric grid based system in 3 of the ponds. One winter do you want to guess which pond had a winterkill?
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: OWS vs Koenders windmills Vs Solar - 05/21/21 01:56 AM
Another feature with an electric aerator is it can be operated on demand especially when it is needed most importantly.
Posted By: G.DUB Re: OWS vs Koenders windmills Vs Solar - 05/26/21 04:54 AM
Thanks for all the replies. I don't have power ran to the property and I don't want to for quite some time. I have a decent solar setup for my trailer that does me just fine. It's 600 watts with 500ah battery storage.

I looked into solar and the solar setup I was told I would need to run a can-air 3 system was huge. The Can-air 3 pulls about 3.5 amps or 400 watts. That being said, it was recommended that I need at least 1300watts and 1000ah of battery. Is that over kill?

What solar aerators would people recommend here? Would Direct Drive (only running when there's sun) work for what I need?
Posted By: joe Obiden Re: OWS vs Koenders windmills Vs Solar - 05/26/21 11:44 AM
i also looked into the solar deal with my pond. i have too much shade for it to work for me. and the solar power requirements will be huge. sorry to tell ya you are going to have to pay a lot of money for that setup. and if you get a few cloudy days in a row it will start to suck wind. i have been there. but with a large enough investment there are systems out there.
Posted By: aneebajee Re: OWS vs Koenders windmills Vs Solar - 06/02/21 12:37 PM
I will recommend you to use a solar system just install a sub-meter with it and you can easily check your bill through (deleted the link, irrelevant) I am also using the same method.
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