Pond pump, on or off ?

[T o m]

I've recently inherited a pond after moving house, and any thoughts would be greatly appreciated on whether to shut down the pond pump for winter or not.

There's a lot of conflicting ideas out there, so anyone's personal experience would be good.

Thanks

T o m

[T o m]

[hippydave]

i leave mine on all year and never turn it off, but i do keep an eye on it during the very cold times to make sure its still working, but if your pond is a shallow one make sure the pump is not at the very bottom just in case something does go wrong that it wont empty the whole pond.

[T o m]

Cheers mate, good tip that.

T o m

[tricia]

Pond pump and filter - on 24/7 all year round although it makes a noticeable to my electricity bill. Lovely clear water so it's worth it and the fish seem happy too.

Tricia

[grawrc]

Mine gets switched off about now and left at the bottom of the pond till Feb/March  depending on the weather. Once the pond is iced over there is no way the pump will be able to function. It gets a thorough clean after the winter and then switched on again. But I am in Scotland. Further south is probably different. Oh my pond at its deepest is 3 feet.

[T o m]

Thanks folks, for your input. I think I'll err on the side of caution and leave it on for the time being, though I've taken the UV tube out as I've read they can freeze and shatter.

T o m

[goodlife]

It is good thing to leave the pump on as other have suggested as cold temperature in water will have dropping effect to the oxygen levels and if there is fish in the pond there is big risk of loosing them if the pump is off.

[grawrc]

I don't have fish, so it isn't an issue.

I just checked my pump instructions and it says to switch off over winter and/or when temperatures fall below zero. But it's quite an old pump. They are probably more efficient now.

[Nomspatch]

Our pump stays on ALL year...but we do keep fish....the biggest benefit is that even if the ponds freeze over the moving water does NOT freeze, the pump acts as a heat source for one, so consequently the waterfalls always keep a hole in the ice/snow whatever and the fish are much happier...If we didn't do it this last winter would have seen the two shallow ponds frozen solid here...N Wales ,halfway up a mountainside...

[rowbow]

I leave mine on 24/7, the pump is in the deepest part on top of a plastic crate, the crate has bricks zip tied inside to stop it moving about, on stormy days the air pressure forces the oxygen out of the pond, so having it on keeps the levels up, I think the manufacturers are covering their backs.