Pond Fountains

Make sure that you consider how much it will cost in electricity to run the fountain. I did some calculations a few years ago, and if I remember correctly a 3 horse power lake fountain would cost about $4,000 per year in electricity if run for around 20 hours per day.

They also break down a lot and require a good bit of maintenance.

I worked at an aquaculture research station for 3 + decades and we had over 200 submersible fountain types aerators for research ponds of just about every manufacturer - all brands will have issues of motor failure over time - in most cases it will an internal capacitor that goes bad (just as they do on HVACs) or bearing failure - in time we learned to repair them ourselves.

I’d recommend a manufacturer that might have a “nearby” service center where they have the potential to repair the motor without having to ship it 1/2 way across the country. Nearby service centers are likely to be in AR & MS b/c of the large number of commercial baitfish or catfish ponds.


For a recreational pond, no more than 1/2 HP motor per surface acre is required, or 1 HP for a 2 acre pond.

Be aware that continuous operation of surface spray aerators, though very pleasing aesthetically, does rapidly hasten the rate of bank erosion - don’t ask me the cost of having to repair bank erosion or installing bulkheads to prevent it - you don’t want to know.

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I’d recommend a manufacturer that might have a “nearby” service center where they have the potential to repair the motor without having to ship it 1/2 way across the country.

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Yeah, aquamaster service is done at their factory in WI and can only be shipped, etc through an authorized dealer.