Pond pumps. Water pumps are pretty much the key to the operation of moving water in the pool

For the most part consider submersible pumps and look for something that has been specifically designed for use in water gardens and that has been continuously rated which is particularly important for pumps that are expected to be used in conjunction with biological filter systems. So as a result in this highly competitive market, you tend to get what you pay for. You will also find that the guarantee will correlate to the expected life of the pump and that in turn will relate to the price.

Even though these pumps might use 240 volts of electricity, they are quite safe to use as long they are plumbed in to the power supply through a RCD isolating trip switch that is on a separate mains loop from the main domestic supply. This is not casual advice, its a must do and usually turns out to be quite a significant expense and the same expense whether your pump costs 30 or 300.

Pumps and pumping energy consumption and other hidden costs

There are pumps that suit filters, others that suit fountains and some that have the real pushing power ideal for waterfalls. They usually come with a such mind boggling miasma of fittings, tubes and jets that you feel guilty only using a fraction of it and let it clutter up all the spare space in the garage until the next bout of Feng-shui hits.

The net result of big companies wrestling with each other for top end of the market is that most of products are of high quality, genuinely efficient and look very similar. The manufacturers of cheaper products copy this look to get in on the market. Even though mechanical Armadillo or space station platter look seems de rigueur at the moment, when it comes to the cheaper pumps, looks arent everything. Performance varies enormously. Some pumps from some sources are outward copies of products that have been meticulously researched and developed, but inside the mechanics and the electronics may be very different. The price and the guarantee are the clues to this.

As for suitability to the task, it is the information on the side of the pump box that helps you decide. So scour that with the analytical and deductive mind of an old fashioned detective, even though the performance figures are often stated in different units of measurement, like for instance litres per minute to height in metres (Oase) as opposed to gallons per hour to a height in feet (Hozelock).

The purchase price is just a portion of the total costs of the pump in the long term. Compare performance by taking the most efficient level of performance as indicated on a typical pump performance table at halfway along the performance curve if it is mapped out on a graph, or between 40% and 80% of the full flow with no restriction.

Once you have two pumps or more comparable on performance, say with the same performance at pumping to 1 metre, they might have distinctly different power consumption levels, which might make a significant difference in costs over the life of the pump if it is running all the time.

Running costs = (Watts x Hrs/1000) x KWH rate.

EXAMPLE: two pumps of very similar performance, but one was rated at 80watts and the other (a very modern one) at 15Watts. Over the period of a year with a KWH unit rate of 9p, the 80Watt motor would have cost 26.28p to run and the 15Watt would have cost 4.92p. So add this into an equation for the real costs of your pump by simply multiplying by the length of the guarantee and adding it on to purchase price of the pump.

Now, guarantees are another factor of the price. One year long guarantees are a thing of the dim and distant past. The average punter nowadays is coming to expect 3 or even 5year guarantees. To mean anything at all this must be continuously rated i.e. if it is a 5 year guarantee the pump must still be guaranteed to run for 5years continuously non-stop. So taking this into account, if guarantees are any indication of life expectancy, they must surely be added to the equation in cost estimates.

EXAMPLE: two pumps I had in mind before, the 80watt pump had a three year guarantee and the 15watt had a 5year guarantee. It was then quite possibly going to last another two thirds longer than the first one, so in fairness two thirds of the cost of the first needs to be added to its original cost to be a comparison. At this rate they ought to have been giving the first one away in order to make it a viable comparable economic choice.