From a Pond Owner in Michigan

I just want to share my experience with pond owners and make sure they do not make the same mistakes when they look at buying an aeration system for their pond.

This will help in the decision. First decide what type of aeration system you are going to install. There are electric aeration systems and Windmill Aeration Systems.

Due to the rising costs of energy and costs in running electricity to most ponds the electric aeration is usually not the most cost effective solution.

Many pond owners are looking at windmill aeration systems as a way to aerate their ponds.

When considering buying a windmill aeration system you should really think about asking the vendors who you are potentially buying from the following questions:

• 1) Are they the manufacturers or are they just selling a manufacturers product and really do not understand the details of the product that they are representing?
• 2) How long has the product been manufactured – is it the 1st year the product has been built or has it been around for many years or decades like some companies, (example – Koenders Windmills Inc – founded in 1988 or Superior Windmill Inc 1999)
  Companies that have been around for many years have a track record and proof of warranty claims etc.. . This companies would not still be around if the product they were building was not a quality, durable, high performing product.
• 3) Check out the testimonials and PR for the company. Most of the manufacture’s sites that have been around for a while will have blogs that you can click into and read the articles and comments that have been posted.
• 4) There is a lot of engineering that goes into the manufacturing of these windmill aeration products so beware of knock off products that have only been around for just a few years, especially ones that claim bigger and better performance and less costs – chances are they have not thought through all the engineering details of the product when they made them – (example – like the windmill product that I had whose main crank shaft snapped within 19 months because of the engineering of the compressor to blade size ratio – there was too much pressure being forced down on the crank shaft due to some of the physical attributes of the blade size in relation to the compressor components)

Windmill Aeration Systems are an innovative and cost effective approach to keeping a pond healthy and clean without the use of electricity – choosing the right windmill aeration system will keep your pond and its fish healthy for decades with minimal to no operational costs for maintenance.

Yours Sincerely
Jason Winters
Michigan, USA

© 2007, Pond Owner Magazine.
www.pondowner.com

Best Time of Year to Install an Aeration System

Pond owners are always asking us what time of year is the best to install an aeration system in their pond. For those of you who do not know what aeration is – it’s the process of adding oxygen to water in an effort to either maintain or restore a pond back to its natural health. It’s the single most important thing you can do to keep your pond healthy and clean.

Let us begin by suggesting every pond owner should be considering a pond aeration system if they do not already have one installed in their pond.

Next – be assured that anytime of year is a good time for aeration. At this time of year, pond owners are installing aeration systems so that they can keep an area of their ponds open and provide adequate oxygen levels for their fish to avoid fish kill during the winter months.

By installing an aeration system in the Fall you are able to speed up the decomposition process of any organic matter that penetrates the pond body during this period of the year; leaves and other foliage sink to the bottom of the pond and need to be decomposed otherwise they build up and create a layer of sludge that over time can lead to pond stagnation.

Keeping an area of the pond open also allows the water to release CO2 gases that can otherwise kill the aquatic life that is living in the water.

Windmill Aeration Systems seem to be growing in interest around the world. These systems use the wind to drive air compressor pumps which produce oxygen for the water.

They are easy to install and maintenance free providing you buy the right brand. Look for the brands that have been around for several years with proven track records. The undisputed leader in this space is Koenders Windmills Inc. They have been manufacturing windmill aeration systems for 20 Years and have over 50,000 installed in North America. The second company that comes to mind and has been around for almost a decade is Superior Windmill Inc. These two brands own about 85% of the windmill aeration market.

© 2007, Pond Owner Magazine.
www.pondowner.com