I have a small water feature in our yard that's a bit over 200 gallons, and also concrete. We purchased a submersible utility pump - this one, at Lowe's. It does a fine job, but you could get the next larger one if you wish. It is submersible, and will remove water from a level area down to 1/4". I simply screw a garden hose to one end, run the other end out to the yard where I need water in the summer, and plug it in. You do have to stay with it, net out debris to keep the pump from getting clogged, and unplug it when the water level gets low enough that no water is pumping. I find this fast and easy.

Thanks "2Many". I'll look into it. By the way, I can identify with your handle, "2ManyDiversions." Ain't it the truth.

Bill

I found one at Amazon for $24 that looks like it will do the job. Others have said that they use it for a similar job. The Amazon title is:

VIVOSUN 800GPH Submersible Pump(3000L/H, 24W), Ultra Quiet Water Pump with 10ft High Lift, Fountain Pump with 5ft Power Cord, 3 Nozzles for Fish Tank, Pond, Aquarium, Statuary, Hydroponics

It will work with a garden hose whose end has been cut off. I have an old hose I can use that way.

Especially since the water doesn't have to be lifted but rather flows downhill, it should work fine.

Bill

"Ain't it the truth"

Sure is!

I have a couple small water gardens (50-300 gal). I just leave the pump running and then attach whatever I can to to the outlet tube on the pump and drain it that way. Unfortunately, the pump is in a filter box and can't drain down to the bottom, like I'd like. I could take the pump out of the filter box, but since I have a lot of crud in the water, I fear it would clog very quickly. Then I have to get the rest out by using a bucket.....which isn't easy since I'm an old lady. 2ManyDiversions........I imagine the pump you gave a link to would get clogged too, right?

Yes, catherinet, it can. It isn't nearly as fussy as the pond pumps though, regarding clogging. I've clogged it quite a bit, pull the plug, turn a hose on it, then start it up again - the area that gets clogged with debris is smaller and doesn't have a bunch of 'grooves' like the small pond pumps, where I need to pull out gunk with my fingers. The pond pumps take more effort, for me, anyway. Also, I tend to net the water every so often when I'm draining. Just swoosh the net around the water, which raises debris, and scoop it out. Take a break in the shade (said one 'older' lady to another!), and swoosh some more! And I hate to dip out water! I think the utility pumps are faster and so handy. We use it to empty our large fish pond when needed.

Thanks for that info, 2ManyDiversions! :)

Concerning the pump clogging, I have some scrap window screen lying around and was thinking I might make a barrier to completely enclose the pump, kind of a mesh "overcoat," that would allow the water through but would stop the crud. Then, if the screen gets too full of crud, stop the pump, lift off the screen, clean it, and reset it over the pump. I suppose one possible drawback would be that if you don't keep an eye on the process and the screen becomes too clogged, the pump would stop getting a water flow, which could harm the pump. Interested in anyone's thoughts about this idea.

bsquared18, We have a fish pond with water lilies, underwater plants, bog plants, fish, frogs, and flowers/shrubs/trees surrounding the pond, and our water feature has nothing but a water fountain pump, but surrounded with shrubs and trees; clogged filters are the bane of my existence! Well, not that bad... I have other 'banes' : ) I have always meant to construct a screen covering for the small in-water pump at our water feature... I have screen too, as well as a tupperware container which would fit over the pump. I thought I'd make a structure of the tupperware by cutting squares on the sides, lining the inside with the screen (I think it'd stay inside if it were fitted well enough), cutting a hole for the outlet tubing and electrical corn and placing it over the pump (I'd also intended to glue rocks to the top to make it less noticeable and weight it down). *I've not gotten around to it*. I think the idea might be a good one with one caveat; the bottom of our concrete water feature is ever so slightly curved, so very small debris (leaf fragments) would still get in. The small in-water pumps we use (basically fountain pumps) have grooves where the water is pulled in, and those are a pain to clean out. Screen mesh would be easier to clean. I think one would have to be careful not to limit water flow, and to keep an eye on the mesh, but shaking debris or hosing it off mesh has to be better than trying to dig out tiny twigs and mucky debris from the pump grooves. You might have a better or easier way to construct a screen covering. Ours is aluminum, with some bend. Simple aluminum screen from the big box store (I use it in the bottom of my planters, with rocks, to prevent so much dirt from coming out during heavy rains).

It's hot here, and we are rather busy with gardening, but I still plan to get around to this, eventually. If any of us here make something along those lines, let's make a friendly pact to share photos, how-to's, and results/experiences, shall we? I think when people work together to solve problems or make life easier, it's always beneficial.

Bill, I didn't see your latest comment about the pump (houzz is really playing games right now). That will work great as a water fountain pump, but keep in mind the intake is not located on the bottom, so if you use it for drainage, you'll have some water to dip out after : )

"2Many," Good luck with your project. If I use the pump with the normal orientation, I have a wet/dry vac I could use to suck out the last of the water.

Or I'm wondering if I could somehow macgyver short legs on the pump so that it could be tilted 90 degrees and have the intake closer to the bottom of the pond. ????

It would seem that if you fashioned some wire mesh around the pump, just make it big enough so that it wouldn't clog up too quickly. I'm thinking you'll start hearing the pump making a bit of noise if the water intake decreases a lot, and hopefully you'd have time to rescue it. 2ManyDiversions.........LOL about all the banes. Banes is my middle name. hahaha

Hi,

I thought you all might want to see my filter solution for the small VivoSun pump that I purchased to drain the pond. The picture shows the setup during the spring cleanup. Because it is located at the deeper end of the pond, once the pump has sucked out as much water as it can, my wet/dry ShopVac easily removes the last five gallons or so of remaining water.

I wanted to keep the construction of the screen simple. I used scrap aluminum window screen to build a cylinder. It is tall enough so that the water level will never be above the top of the filter. The aluminum is sturdy enough to provide support, yet easy to cut and fold. Both ends are folded over, and a couple of wire fasteners are used along the edge to hold it in place. The pump-plus-hose and the electrical cord are simply inserted from the upper opening.

The hose shown fits very tightly onto the smallest hose-to-pump connector that is provided with the pump. The fitting is so tight than no hose clamp is necessary.

The hose shown is only a few feet long. However, there is a hose connector on the other end of the hose, so that an additional length of hose can be attached if desired.

I just have to remember to monitor the pump so that it doesn't run dry. The pump's instructions say to be sure to avoid a dry operation.

Thanks everyone for your help. Hope y'all have a great summer.

Bill