by: Gerry Fung
A common mistake that beginner water gardeners often make is that they fail to take the height and width of their waterfall into consideration, when they purchase a waterfall pump. Because of this, it is quite common for water gardeners to underestimate the size of the pump required for their pond.
Calculating the proper pump for waterfalls can be tricky, because waterfall pumps are rated by both GPH and maximum waterfall height. To estimate your waterfall's height, you must measure the vertical height from the top of your pump to the top of your waterfall or stream. In addition, you must add another foot of height or lift for every 10 feet of hosing you will be using (this will allow for loss of volume from resistance within the hose). To calculate the required pump GPH, a general rule of thumb is that each inch of width of the channel will require an extra 100 GPH. For example, if your stream or waterfall spillway will be 10 inches wide, you will need a pump that produces an excess flow of 1000 GPH at your waterfall's height.
Do not make the mistake of underestimating the pump size that you require, otherwise, your waterfall will be reduced to a trickle of water. If you have a large waterfall, you will need a specialized pump that will provide you sufficient GPH. GardenSM.com is proud to introduce a new product line of high-end Master DW submersible waterfall pumps that can run at ratings of up to 2780 GPH. The pumps in the Master DW series have been designed for medium to large ponds, for particularly dirty water, and to create waterfalls.
One of the most significant benefits of the Master DW series is that they have been designed to be clog-free. In addition to their built-in double filtration intake that can filter waste particles up to 8mm in size, all Master DW pumps feature an anti-clog system which consists of a double-rotation impeller. This "self-cleaning" feature is particularly useful when there is an abundance of leaves and sediment in your pond water. If one of the rotors is ever blocked by an object, the impeller will reverse direction, until the object is removed and normal operating status can be restored. And if these two fail-safe anti-clog mechanisms are not enough, the pump can also be combined with external filters for increased filtration.
The Master DW currently comes in 1430 GPH (Master DW 5500) and 2780 GPH (Master DW 10500) versions. Both run on SICCE's patented NRG energy system, which utilizes magnet-synchronous motors for exceptional power and reliability. However, the 10500 model is a top-of-the-line pump which offers an unprecedented 10,500 lt/h power/head performance at 10 mt.