I have a small pond, roughly 8' x 12', 3' deep. It's about 1 1/2 years old
now, stocked with a few goldfish and koi, and I have a waterfall built out
of boulders and river rock.

I also have a bit of land behind the pond that I'm thinking about clearing
off, then building a larger 20' x 30' pond about 2-3' higher than the small
pond. Then, I would use more boulders and flat rocks to have the large pon
d overflow in to the small pond, with a free-falling waterfall.

Then, of course, I would pump from the small pond back to a waterfall built
behind the larger pond.

I'm still in the planning stages now, and wouldn't really begin working unt
il the Spring. In planning, though, I realize that with the option of a fre
e-falling waterfall, I could potentially have a small turbine behind the wa
terfall, and use it to generate the electricity for the pumps, and maybe th
e landscape lighting.

Have any of you done such a thing? I would like to keep the turbine behind
the waterfall so that it's not seen, and with enough rock I'm pretty sure i
t could be completely hidden. Is it inexpensive and practical enough, thoug
h, to generate enough electricity for this purpose? Or more?

Any other suggestions on what I might expect from this project, good or bad
?