Waterfall pump selection

13 years ago

Hello,
I'm building a 6-level pondless waterfall. It's 10' from the bottom of the bottom pond to the top pond and the widest waterfall is 40" (though I could adjust that if needed.

I am looking for input on the type of pump to use. I was thinking about the Laguna Max-Flo 4280.
http://ca-en.hagen.com/Water-Gardening/Pumps/Solid-Handling/PT8256

Thanks!

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Comments (4)

basevinyl
13 years ago
Looks like a good pump.

At a 10' head the pump will only give 1968 GPH and if you add the friction loss over 10' of 1.5" tubing you might end up with a flow of 1800 GPH by the time you go from the basin to the top....

That might be enough depending on how you arrange your cascade but 1800 GPH over a 40" space is not huge.

In my system I used a bigger flow pump than I thought I would need and installed a ball valve to adjust it to the prefect flow size.

If you have 1800 GPH coming over a 42" weir it might not be enough depending on the sight and sound you desired.

It also depends on how much volume your bottom reservoir holds.

Sounds like a fun project! Can't wait to see pictures!
chas045
13 years ago
I've got to agree with basevinyl. I don't know how he found a good flow rate for a 10 foot head. However I have a max flow 2400 and the box shows my 2400 dropping to 500 with a 10' head. I find that this is a great pump to clean up and it hasn't failed me in 5 years. But I think basevinyl is probably right about the decreased flow and I think that would be entirely too little for your plan. I really like my max flow but I have almost no drop and max of one foot wide spills.
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crcorc
Original Author
13 years ago
Hi,
More details now, as I continue to do more research:
I'm looking at three pumps:
1. Matala G3500, 3000 gph @ 8', 250 watts, $330, 2 year warranty.
2. AquaSurge 4000, 3500 gph @ 8', 215 watts, $384, 3yr warranty.
3. ProEco SP3700, 2500 gph @ 8', 170 watts, $290, 5 yr warranty.

I don't think I want "Raging Rivers" in my backyard but I want decent flow so I don't really know if the lowest gph noted above would be good enough, and I could also reduce the weir size, as I'm pretty early in the construction stage. I hear I could add a ball valve to dial down too much florw if needed.

The ProEco sounds pretty good for electrical consumption, warranty and cost.
I'm just not sure what the reputations are on any of these.....any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
chas045
13 years ago
Can't help with your other pumps but I would like to assure you that my max flow 2400 which is probably running near that value does not generate 'raging waters'. It gives a nice pleasant spill. The initial spill with a narrow spill is quite large and bubbly but my other spillways of eight to 12 inches are gentle.