Windmills for Pond Aeration

Monte · Feb 28, 2001

Does anyone here have experience using Windmills for pond aeration? I've done a lot of research and there is a lot of conflicting testimony... Of course, it would be "neat"...

Monte

Boondox · Feb 28, 2001

Now that sounds interesting! Where did you find the info you've gotten so far?

Pete

Monte · Feb 28, 2001

The following are Northern Ohio vendors with slightly conflicting information (and businesses!)
http://www.pondaeration.com/
http://www.ibnature.com/
The following comes from Ohio State Extension Office
http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~ohioline/b374/b374_4.html

There are some good references from University of Texas and different vendors in North Carolina that I've seen, too (there are probably more). But arid Texas and rainy Ohio require some real differences in Pond Management (mostly due to the water source). Check out these then check with your own state extension office.

I just need to feel more comfortable that the hardware will actually do what is promised... I want /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif to spend my money... but not just for an expensive ornament!

Monte

Knight9 · Feb 28, 2001

I too thought this might be interesting and was looking around. There is some info at:

http://www.pondaeration.com
http://www.trilliumwindmills.com/pond.html

Hope these help.
Kevin

RJohnson · Feb 28, 2001

Here is a California company that I have been looking at to pump water out of a lake and it can also be used to aerate a tank (we don't call em ponds in Texas /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif).
http://bowjon.net/

Monte · Feb 28, 2001

And we wouldn't swim in a tank /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif!! The windmill aeration starts at around $700 - depending on the wind and the size and shape of the pond...

Monte

LilRhody · Feb 28, 2001

Monte, I too am interested in a windmill for a pond. I got thinking about it after I read an article in Countryside & Small Stock Journal (Vol. 85 No. 1, Jan/Feb 2001). I think the cost is going to keep me away from doing it for now though.

TWINKLE_TOES · Feb 28, 2001

Monte,

<font color=blue>it would be "neat"...</font color=blue>

Windmills are way cool even if they do nothing but go round and round. As far as aeration is concerned it seems like pond chemistry is a delicate subject. Maybe "fishman" will jump in with some guidance. I put a sump aerator in my pond one spring and developed the best pond scum ever. Lots and lots of algae. Figured that it was lack of disolved oxygen so I continued to aerate.. more and more algea... Fianally stopped the aeration and by and by things returned to normal.. no algea.

I don't have a clue about why, just what. Before you commit to a windmill you might try the sump aerator and see what happens.

fishman · Mar 1, 2001

Monte,

I have to say up front that I don't have any direct experience with windmill aeration systems. It is possible that they could serve the purpose where electricity is not available. I do think that there is a real risk that these systems will not be available when needed. That is, a warm spring day when it is overcast, and there is no wind. When there is enough wind to run a windmill, there probably is enough mechanical aeration of the water's surface to prevent low dissolved oxygen problems. Unless the system has storage batteries to provide power, it seems to me that it could fail you when you need it most. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

I think that where electricity is readily available, it's hard to beat a good old reliable electric pump.

Thanks for the bookmarks. Hopefully I will have some time to go check them out. Then I could perhaps give a more informed opinion.

fishman · Mar 1, 2001

Twinkle Toes,

The sump pump probably circulated the nutrients in your pond very effectively in addition to aerating the water. So more available nutrients probably gave your algae quite a jump start. Just a guess.