Superpumps Banner

Save Electricity & Save Money on Your Pond Pump Running Costs

This article is specifically written for South African pond keepers but the principle described here is the same for every country... so it's important I suggest to review your own situation no matter where you live..

Pond pumps with biofilters MUST run 24/7. This means the cost of running a pump can be very significant. This articles shows you how to save money by buying the right pump.

The recent very steep increases in cost of power supplied by Eskom will have a major impact upon your pond running costs this summer.

Read this extract about future power costs from http://www.southafrica.co.za/2010/03/18/tariff-increases/

Finally, in a real blow to the domestic segment, NERSA announced the long awaited “residential inclining block tariff structure.” In simple terms, the more you use the higher your tariff.
* Very small household users, less than 50 kwh/mo, will see a 10.59% reduction in 2010 followed by increases of 5.4% and 5.5% in the succeeding 2 years.
* The next level up, households using 51 – 250 kwh/mo will see a reduction of 5.2% in 2010 followed by increases of 13.23% and 13.5% in years 2 and 3.
* Households using 351 – 600 kwh/mo will face a much larger increase of 21.95% in 2010 followed by increases of 25.8% and 25.9% in years 2 and 3.
* Finally, larger households using 601 or more kwh/mo face a punitive tariff increase of 35.82% in 2010, followed by increases of 25.8% in 011 and 25.9% in 2012 which ultimately brings this tariff to R1.32/kwh in 2013. This is in stark contrast to the average domestic tariff of R0.7862/kwh in 2013.
These residential block tariffs will be carried over to the municipalities so all residential customers will be subject to these tariffs. The average consumption of all households in South Africa is 1100 kwh/mo according to Eskom. This means that hundreds of thousands, if not millions of individual homeowners will see their electricity bill more than double over the next three years.

So what does this mean to a pond keeper?

Interpolating the above information means the cost of 1kWh today on average is about R0.83 countrywide

Traditionally in South Africa pond pumps have been grossly over specified... indeed many ponds are equipped with swimming pool pumps or upright sump pumps. Both these types of pumps consume enormous amounts of power.

A fish pond pump MUST run 24/7 in order to keep the bacteria in the biofilter alive. This means the annual cost of running variously sized fish pond pumps can be seen below

  1. A 50 Watts pump will cost R363 pa in 2010 and R578 in 2013
  2. A 150 Watts pump will cost R1,090 pa in 2010 and R1,734 in 2013
  3. A 300 Watts pump will cost R2,181 pa in 2010 and R3,468 in 2013
  4. A 450 Watts pump will cost R3,271 pa in 2010 and R5,203 in 2013
  5. A 750 Watts pump will cost R5,453 pa in 2010 and R8,672 in 2013

A quick look at this table immediately indicates that a great deal of money can be saved by installing a more efficient pump.

This is the reason why we have now sourced a series modern highly efficient yet powerful range of submersible pumps that will handle up to 25,000 litres per hour and cover 99% of all garden fish pond installations from the very small to the very large and at fantastic prices.

Here's the message.... take a close look at your pond pump. Ask yourself the question... how much is this pump costing me (interpolate the above example to get the cost of your pump).

You will quickly realise that for a modest investment in a new pump you will save an enormous amount of money over the next few years.

You can work out any pump running cost for 2011/2012 using following formula

Rands per year cost = 7,27 x Pump Watts.

For example 100 watt pump will cost R727 per year to run.

Visit these pages below to see the wide range of LOW POWER CONSUMPTION HIGH PERFORMANCE pumps to choose from or go to www.superpumps.co.za and follow the links in the left hand column of each page.

  1. Small to medium fountain pumps... click here
  2. Large fountain pumps... click here
  3. Complete range of powerful yet efficient solids handling pond pumps... click here

Or if you need help to make the right pump choice give us a call 083-441-2331 in Pretoria to discuss these brand new pond pumps as well as a wide range of water features and other pond products.

If you are interested in an air pump... click here