Greetings everyone!
This msg is aimed mostly at new folks as the seasoned ponders have
probably heard it before.

We recently had a series of storms in our area. One batch knocked out
electricity to more homes in our city than happened back in the
killer tornados of 1978.

If you have a pond that is over stocked and your fishies rely on
your pond pump to survive you should think about the possibility
of an extended power outage.

When our power went out I stopped at Wall-Mart and bought a cheap
boat bilge pump for less than 10 bucks. I rigged it to a hundred foot
extension cord and with some simple alligater jumpers I hooked it
to a car battery - still in the car in my garage.
This kept my waterfall and veggie/bio/garbage can filter running nicely.

The little bilge pump only draws slightly more than an amp so it will
run for hours and hours off a car battery. If you drive the car once
a day it's not going to be a problem.

If you plan for this possibility now when your lights are on it will be
one less hassle to deal with when your lights are off and you're worrying
about how to cook, save the freezer, save the milk, (keep the beer cold)
etc...

A few years back my main pond pump died an early death. I used a bilge
pump while I waited and waited for the manufacturer to get around to
sending me a new one. At that time I had power so I just hooked it to
a little battery charger and stuck a 5 gallon bucket over the charger
to keep it dry. I ran that way for nearly 2 months before the little
bilge pump finally wore completely out. It's also a good emergency pump
to have in case your main pump dies!

Peace!
Dan Dobson Louisville KY good ole USA
http://ky-dan.com
(email address in the headers is dead due to spammers)