Diffuser just off the deck for de-icing
Running Diffusers in Winter is a good plan, but we need to doing a couple things first. First up is the water temperature, once it drops to 50 degrees it would be time to move the diffusers to a shallow part of the pond. Let’s say you have one diffuser in the center of the pond that is 10 deep. Move the diffuser to an area where the pond depth is 4-5 feet deep to run during winter. (Video Below)
What if you have more than one diffuser? Simply move one diffuser to a 4-5’ deep area and turn the valve off on the other diffusers. Same would go if you had multiple systems, leave the shallowest one run and shut down the rest.
Why would we run the diffusers during winter?
- Added oxygen from the diffuser and the open water can absorb oxygen as well
- Continued water movement and an area that will be oxygen rich just in case the pond does crash
- Ice damage, keeping deck, docks and piers ice free will help them to survive any ice heaving and or damage.
- Caution: keeping a hole in the ice is dangerous as it will create a thin ice condition. Keep a life ring close by and post a sign to warn others of the potential danger.
Some conditions may steer us from not running the aeration system during winter, power consumption and maybe we want to use the pond for ice skating. If you are ice skating definitely turn off the compressor. If power consumption is a concern we can use a different set up for keeping a hole in the ice using a different compressor. Simply shoot us an email and we help you out.
Yes there are pros and cons of running the diffusers in winter, does it really help? After seeing what happened last year to so many ponds it seems it is a good idea. Folks went to go ice fishing and once the hole was drilled the fish started coming up the hole, dead.
Last year was a tough year on the ponds, we had an early ice covering, plenty of extreme cold air for long duration, no mid winter melt and a spring that kept the ice on longer than it should of.
Since we’ve started using aeration in our ponds we’ve always had an aerator running in each pond, mainly for the decks and pier but glad we did to prevent major fish kills.
Also check out our, Pond Season is almost over post.
Check out the video Running Diffusers in Winter below:
