Pardon the pun, but I think we have a pipe dream here.
Simple math ..... three 3000gph pumps ...... less than 100 gal. of
water .... that's one complete turnover every 30 seconds.
Simple hydraulics ..... Too much turbulence. Pumps would cavitate.
Water could not return to the pumps fast enough.
Have you ever watered your lawn or washed your car on a windy day? You
get as wet as the car.
Like the song says "Don't tug on superman's cape or spit into the
wind!"
Try using a garden hose to simulate the effect you want. I think you
will find it much less than 3000gph. (IMO)
Time your garden hose into a 5 gal. bucket ......... See how far you
get in 30 sec.

"Little Scooby" wrote in message
om...
"Anne Lurie" wrote in message
.com...
Based on responses from other posters, I guess I may be alone in
thinking
that Scooby is describing an *indoor* water feature -- if so,
wind would
presumably not factor into things, but what happens if there is a
disruption
in your water source? I have visions of the house burning down
when all
those pumps get overheated!

Just my $.02 worth,

Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC


Unfortunately, it is in my nature to defy the odds so I have to make
this an outdoor feature versus an indoor one, somehow there must be
a
way (perhaps upgrading to a slightly bigger pond immediately if
needed
(but only as big as needed to adjust for the wind blowing which is
why
I need to find out about how far the wind would blow the jet streams
(perhaps if I also trim the height of the jet streams down to lower
levels).

I'm curious though, if this were to be an indoor pond, what do you
mean by disruption in my water source?

Do you mean if I left the feature unattended for weeks and all the
water evaporated or something? Or if the preformed liner cracked and
all the water leaked out?

A feature like this would require daily attention and I never go on
vacations and if I did, I would unplug the pumps first. I'm
confused.
How would the pumps possibly burn out because I would never let the
water level get to even a slightly dangerous low level (I have a 55
gallon aquarium that I fill with water every couple of days just
because I don't like to see the water level dip more than an inch in
the aquarium.

Plus, don't these pumps have safety mechanisms built in that would
prevent them from starting on fire? Especially the nice Cal-pumps,
etc? I would only use a top of the line but resonably priced pump.
Although, even if they didn't start on fire, smoke damage could be
just as bad so I would hope they would just shut off after so many
minutes of no water in them (or is this totally off base?). I've
never
let a pump run dry on any of my indoor fountains (tabletop versions)
so I don't know what would happen to them, let alone a 3000 or 4000
GPH pump.

-Little Scooby