Choosing the Correct Water Pump for Your Fountain

When you are creating a fountain, you need to know that each nozzle, spray ring or jet has a specific requirement.

You may think that any pump will due when you’re creating a fountain.

That is not at all correct. When you are creating a fountain, you need to know that each nozzle, spray ring or jet has a specific requirement. You need to know what result you want to achieve when you are sizing a pump.

Do you want a gentle trickle of water, or Niagara Falls? How high do you want the column of water to reach, six inches or perhaps six feet?

You could choose something as simple as the infinity, which is a complete pump, filter and nozzle. Your fountain may also have a more complex system of rings, jets and muzzles. When you are either replacing a fountain pump or creating a new one, you should be aware of a few terms. Head the maximum vertical lift of the pump. If you have a six-foot head, that means that the pump is capable of pumping water up to six feet high. You should be aware, though, that at six feet, the pump would be providing very little water, a gallons per hour around zero.

If you need your pump to pump something like 200 gallons per hour at 72 inches, you will likely need a 500 to 600 gallon per hour pump to do the job. You can use a “pump curve” to help determine the amount of water pumped to various heights.

GPH gallons per hour, generally rated at different heights

GPM gallons per minute, generally rated at different heights

Pump Curve This is the amount of water volume “curved” at various heights. A 500 gallon per hour pump, for instance, might pump 500 gallons per hour at a zero inch life, 350 gallons per hour at a 24 inch lift and so on.

Water Volume The water volume is controlled by a few factors. One factor is the size of the pump, which has been mentioned above. To determine how wide your tubing should be, you will measure in two ways: inside diameter (i.d.) and outside diameter (o.d.). Very thin i.d. tubing greatly reduces water flow.

After hooking up their 500 gallon per hour pump to ½ inch inside diameter tubing, many consumers are shocked to find that they are only getting what they consider to be a trickle of water. The most they will get under this circumstance is about 200 gallons per hour or so.

This set up restricts the flow too much. Before purchasing a pump, be sure to find out what size tubing is supposed to go with that particular pump. Another problem with setting up the pump is running the tubing too far in. Long lengths of tubing create resistance.

If the pump you are using calls for ½ inch i/d. tubing, for example, but you are running the tubing twenty feet from the pump, it’s a good idea to use ¾ inch tubing instead so as not to cut down too much on the flow.

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