Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Pumping Well Water Into The Pond Questions...

I was thinking of having a well drilled to top off my pond in the summer and to water the yard. A few questions:


Where would be the best place to pump the water?

Onto the water surface
Mid column
bottom of the pond

Would a solar pump keep up with evaporation in a 5 acre pond in NE Texas

What about pumping the water through a fountain


Thanks in advance for your input.

Well water is oxygen depleted when it comes out, so anything you can do to have it hit the air before going into the pond would be beneficial.

You would have to do the math and figure out how much you are losing due to evaporation and seepage.

My pond is just under 5 acres and it takes quite a bit of water to keep the water level constant.
These 10-20 gallon a minute solar and windmill wells are pointless for a pond your size

Estimation of water volume needed
1 inch of water in a 5 acre pond is about 140,000 gallons
A well pumping 15 gallons a minute will pump 21,600 gallons a day
Your pond is probably losing an inch a week minimum in evaporation + seepage
I guess you could maybe maintain, in the cooler months but that’s about it.

Not an expert on this but Jason is giving sound advice.

I spoke with Mr. Lusk about this at Pondology in October and he said the minimum requirement for my 2 acre pond would be a well/pump that can handle at least 50 Gallons per minute, and running it 24/7 at a volume of at least 35 gallons a minute to keep ahead of evaporation during the summer. I'm in NW Oklahoma so temps would be lower than where you are. You should run it over rocks (or something) before it enters the pond as straight well water is not oxygenated.

There are many more people on the forum with much more expertise in this area. Hopefully you will get more advice from them.

I have used my well water on my 2 acre pond in Central Texas for years. Mine pumps into the pond through a large PVC pipe that is above the waterline. I had 3.5 horse pump put in when they dug my well and it puts out 35 gallons a minute.

My pond is fed by a wet weather creek so I turn the pump off when it is running. The only downside is it does affect my electric cost - nothing huge but does bump up the cost. During summer evaporation it keeps my pond level if running 24/7.

tim k,

Thanks for that good Texas "data point" for the discussion.

35 GPM is 50,000 gallons/day.

In a 2-acre pond, that is 0.93" of water losses that it is balancing every day.

That "seems" a little high, since a lot of the literature estimates summer evaporative losses of 1/4-1/2" of water per day. However, in the real world, the pond almost certainly also has a leak rate greater than zero, and the emergent plants and the shore plants near the edge of the pond have a significant transpiration rate of water loss to the atmosphere when they are growing in full summer daylight.

If goal is to offset evaporation , on a 5 acre BOW , IMHO , doubt the well water needs oxygenation , especially if entering , say 2-3 feet above water line, the splash will provide some oxygen and the Well water is a miniscule amount of water of a 5 Acre BOW , I wouldn't sweat it. Even if the Well water enters smoothly into the pond. At the end of 24 hours , all the Well water is les than 1 percent of a 5 Acre pond averaging 8' deep. Next, if running 24-7 , better check your flow rate , you could be dropping your aquifer. Mine , was pumping 15 gallons per minute when first drilled , now 12 gpm , 1st 2 hours and then drops to 6 gpm within 5 hours . I've installed 120VAC timers on my two 240VAC Wells , I run on 2 hours , off 4 hours , on 2 hours , off 4 hours , etc. This way I keep my Aquifer up and don't pay for the same Electricity to pump 6 gallons as I do for twelve. Truly , if pumping 40 gallons per minute , that's 57,600 gpm in 24 hours, that's a tad over 1/3rd of an inch per 24 hour period ( Using Jason D's numbers above of 140,000 gallons = 1 inch for 5 Acre BOW ) , over the course of a year, your probably short 1/6th to 2/3rds of an inch short covering your evaporation , even during winter , temperature may drop , but if RH also drops , then evaporation rate may not drop." A lot of depends " on Well water and Ponds. Probably most important thing you can do , keep the Willows and Cottonwoods well away from your pond . Just a guess , but 5,000 little Willows and cottonwoods 2' - 10' tall may suck on average ?7? gallons of precious water per day each , 35,000 gallons of water per day. (A Pondmeister with more knowledge may correct me on the trees and Math ) I hired 4 college boys , with shears , Tordon , and Chemical gloves , working for 4 hours each , and in 24 hours you could clearly see the reduction in water loss , I've never seen the water level gain with my 2 240VAC Wells and 1 Solar Well . My shore line is around a barely 2 Acre pond , and I don't know how many gallons the trees were stealing . Scary how many gallons you may lose to Trees around a 5 Acre BOW. Sorry for my rambling on this post . So to wind up my comments. 1 , Well water probably isn't going to cause an oxygen problem in a healthy 5 Acre Pond. ( Unless pumping more than ?150? gpm ) 2 , Trees affect my Pond level a lot more than my Water Wells . 3 , Beware of your effect on the Aquifer , excessive pumping may hurt you , and may hurt a neighbor who needs the Aquifer for a family , and maybe multiple Families , water supply . Hope my comments are understandable . Oh , 1 more thought , Farmers no longer throw water in the air to irrigate , just wasting water , your evaporating your water that your paying electricity bill for , to replace the water that's evaporating out of pond. Just flow the water into the pond , in 5 Acres , the low oxygen Well water is negligible. ( In 4 years of flowing 2 Wells into my 2 Acre Pond , have never had a problem with Low Oxygen levels . ) (Just started the timers 3 weeks ago ) . If those with true knowledge correct my thoughts and/or numbers , please listen to them , not me.

Here's a place to check for data. It will tell you historically how much water you have lost. https://waterdatafortexas.org/lake-evaporation-rainfall

It looks like annually you have been in a net defecit of 8"-14" per year. So, for a 5 acre pond that is between 1,086,170 to 1,900,780 gallons of water per year, which isn't really that bad. I looked at data for area 511 and 512 since I don't know where your pond is.

That is a very informative link, esshup.

I wish every state had that resource.

As expected, the evaporation in July and August is really the only brutal interval. If your pond can make it through that period with an acceptable minimum water level, then you are probably good - for most years.

The water well might be worth it, if your pond populations will suffer significant damage during either a very severe drought, or a more moderate, but multi-year drought.

Of course, if money is not a significant issue, then keeping the lake at a near constant water level to keep your fish habitat at the preferred depth, the water line at the swimming beach at the optimal mark, the ease of loading a boat from a fixed dock, etc. then the supplemental well and pump are good solutions for that, even if they do run slightly behind your water requirements in July and August.

Very informative....Thank you! And you nailed it with area 512.

I may run it through a fountain to aerate the water.

Good input...thank you. I'm just kicking the idea around. Even thought about making it 220v with a solar controller and panels. Run solar when the sun is shining and utility power when its not.

512 has serious droughts and flooding so you never know what to expect - since my pond is in my backyard I drilled the well because I want the pond to stay level

Man posting pictures here is a mess - I cannot even rotate one of the pictures

You must really have an excellent, high-volume water well ... when you can keep your vertical pond full!