How to Remove Your Pump For Winter

You've heard you should shut your water feature down for winter. How do you go about that?

You can't just unplug your pump from the electrical outlet. 

There are some additional steps to take to make sure your pump is safe and the rest of your water feature remains unscathed through a harsh winter.

If your pump is at the bottom of your pond:

• Unplug your pump from the electrical outlet.
• If you're running a fountain (a stem in the center of your pond), then your job is done.
• If you're running a waterfall, make sure the waterfall reservoir (if you have one) drains back into the pond. If you notice that your waterfall reservoir / filter box is still full of water, then you have a check valve as a part of your plumbing assembly coming off of your pump. You'll need to disconnect the pump from the check valve. You can keep the pump at the bottom of the pond -- just make sure all the water is drained from the waterfall reservoir / filter box.
• If you have a canister filter or a pressure filter, unhook it from your tubing and empty it. There should be no standing water left inside.

If your pump is in a pond-free pump vault:

• Unplug your pump from the electrical outlet.
• You can keep your basin filled with water -- there's no need to drain any water.
• Disconnect your pump from the tubing. If you have a Cool Ponds pond-free waterfall, then that's just a matter of twisting the check valve nut. Check out the video below to see how to remove your pump from the tubing.
• Keep your pump in a freeze-proof location in a bucket of water. 

If your pump is in a pond skimmer:

• Unplug your pump from the electrical outlet.
• No need to drain the skimmer. You can keep water in the skimmer even without the pump running.
• Disconnect your pump from the tubing (see the video above).
• Keep your pump in a freeze-proof location inside in a bucket of distilled water.

Here is what a Cool Ponds' check valve assembly will look like in both a pond-free pump vault AND a pond skimmer:

In your pump vault or pond skimmer, there is a check valve assembly attached to your pump. To remove the pump AND the check valve assembly (they come out together), you will unscrew the top nut on the check valve assembly, circled here in yellow.

In most circumstances, you can unscrew the nut by hand, but sometimes you may need a channel lock pliers to loosen the nut.

After unscrewing the nut, check valve assembly and attached pump will be free. 

Remember if you have fish that they still need a hole in the ice to breathe.

The key is to make sure that once your pump is unplugged, there is no stagnant water sitting in your tubing that goes to your waterfall or filter.

That stagnant water can freeze and crack your tubing -- yikes! Disconnecting the pump from your tubing is a sure-fire way to make sure there's no stagnant water left. 

If you need any clarification or you'd just rather have us remove your pump for you for winter, give us a call.