I've got this "pond" in the back that previous owners of the property used
to throw their junk into. It is about 40-45 feet in diameter and some 5
feet deep in the center. I've got some guy who's going to clean out the
junk and run a bulldozer over the hole to clean out the weeds and small
trees (willows and stuff). I noticed the "pond" was filling up again with
water, it's having rained after being pretty dry. Not wanting this guy to
have to drive his equipment in deep water, I got me a pump. It looks
pretty much like your standard household basement sump pump on steroids.
The manufacturer claims some 59 gal/min, but figuring those claims to be a
tad optimistic, I guess it might do about 50 gal/min, or 3,000 gal/hr. It
has a 2 in exhaust that I've got running into a 100 ft hose so that the
water I pump out doesn't run right back in. The land here is classic
"poorly drained," and the area I pumped the water into you could grow rice
in, it's got water a couple inches deep in places. Luckily it is mostly
swampy woodland anyway, so it will be able to deal with the water. Not so
these huge tadpoles that weren't at all pleased with the results of my
pumping. It took me a few false starts and a few days, but now I have most
of the water out of the "pond." (The pump sucks water from it's base, and
can only suck down so far before it starts sucking air.) Anyway, I was
feeling pretty impressed by my (I thought pretty big) pump. Then I started
reading some of the postings here a bit more closely. Seems that 3,000 gal
ponds aren't all that uncommon, and neither are pumps that can easily move
that much water in an hour. I'd need a whole fleet of pumps to try to
cycle my pond's water in a day, let alone an hour, not to mention some
really heavy duty electric service. What do people do with these pumps,
and can I do a much slower job with the pump I have? Is there a better
group to inflict my questions upon? I've been told where to go and what to
do before, but this time could it have something to do with water?

Galen Hekhuis NpD, JFR, GWA
We are the CroMagnon of the future