Hello All,

I recently installed a water feature in my backyard and I am having a
problem with the waterflow that has dumbfounded me.

I installed a 20 gallon circular pond container. In the container, I
have a couple of cement blocks that support a ceramic garden planter
just above the surface of the water. A 1/2 tube from the pump (lying
at the bottom of the pond container) runs through the bottom of the
ceramic planter. The intended effect is for the planter to fill with
water and spill over the sides into the pond container below. The
distance from the pump to the discharge is about 3 feet in height. The
pump is 310 gph.

My issue is that the pump runs and fills the planter until it spills
over the side (as intended). It does this for about 25 seconds. Then
the pump reverses and sucks water back down through the 1/2 inch tubing
(slowly for about 90 seconds). Then the process starts over again:
filling the planter and spilling over the sides for 25 seconds followed
by 90 seconds of reversal.

I can't figure this out - why is the pump switching back and forth on
its own? At first I had the discharge sticking straight up in the
planter. Then I thought I would add another length and bend the tube
under so the discharge now faces the bottom of the pot (Hypothesis
being that the weight of the water on the discharge tube was forcing
the water back down). However, this has not solved the problem.

Any suggestions anyone may have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
in advance.

Marty
Cleveland, Ohio