Originally Posted by
hambone
My pond is about five years old and the water flow is not at all what it used to be when the pond was new. What used to be a sheet of water coming down the sheer descent waterfall is now a trickle. I have pretty simple pond plumbing. A bottom drain and skimmer merge and lead to a basket and then to an Elite pump which goes through an Ultima II filter. From the filter, the water returns through a UV light and then to a sheer descent and a simple pipe outlet in the pond.
I have pretty much eliminated the filter as part of the problem. I just had it professionally cleaned and if I bypass it (Recirc) the water flow from the waterfall is about the same. If I run the water to waste, the flow is about the same as from backwash. So, it must be the pump or the pipes, right? The pros who cleaned the filter want to sell me a much more powerful variable speed pentair pump to replace the Elite pump.
But why was my pond running so well when it was new? What happened? I was talking to my swimming pool service guy about it and he said that in his business pumps don't lose their effectiveness. "It's all or nothing!" But I was thinking pond pumps process a lot more gunk than a swimming pool pump. So, maybe the pump is all gunked up. Do pumps need to be cleaned? Can pumps be cleaned? I saw some new pumps that can handle solids so it seems that some pumps CANT handle solids - and mine is one of them. Full disclosure, my pump had a rough early life. The check valve was not installed correctly so for a couple of years, the pump would run dry for long stretches when it would periodically lose prime. Finally someone came along and fixed the check valve but maybe there was damage done. But I keep coming back to what my swimming pool guy said - a pump doesn't pump less water as it gets older.
So, the questions are, should I replace the pump? Clean the pump? Hire someone to scope the pipes?