Pond Vacuums - Are they worth it?
I just got my first question of the season concerning pond vacuums for cleaning out fountains and ponds. Some of them can be very helpful in cleaning the muck from the bottom of the pond after a long winter. Personally I like a complete clean-out in the spring but vacuums definitely have their place.
There are definitely some pieces of junk out there that cause more frustration than benefit. We have had to remove three products off of our site due to the ridiculously high return rate. Virtually every one of the motor-driven Matala Muckbusters were returned. These retailed around $250. The manufacturer’s response was always “It’s the customer’s fault” and refused to take them back sticking us – the retailer – with the product. (Anyone need a really cheap Muckbuster? We still have a returned one in the warehouse.)
The AquaQuik Pool & Spa Vac and the Ulti-Vac from Python were very inexpensive but as many were returned as we sold so we finally quit stocking them as well. These two products were driven by water pressure from the hose or hand-pumping to create suction.
The Muck Vac has been around for a million years and is great for fountains, very small ponds or spot clean-up. It costs $87.33 for the unit and I would strongly recommend the 10′ extension hose for the discharge. This works off of water pressure (50 psi minimum) so the greater the pressure, the greater the sucking action. It is a bit clumsy to use and you cannot see how much muck you are getting out unless you view the discharge tube but it will clean a small pond or fountain..
Muck Vac in a fountain
The top-of-the-line is the Pondovac 3 by OASE and sells for $379. This has a powerful electric motor that sucks the muck from the pond, fills up one chamber, spews out the muck through an extension tube and then fills up the second chamber. This one really works and is great because there is a clear handle where you can actually see how much muck you are getting so you can move on to the next area when the water becomes clear as it comes through the handle. This is pretty strong so you have to be careful if you have very small pebbles in the bottom of the pond. The suction hose is 16′ and the discharge hose is 8′ so you have plenty of room to maneuver the machine which has wheels like a canister vacuum cleaner. It comes with a fine mesh filter bag so you can trap the dirt as it is discharged. I would recommend this for a small to mid-sized pond and any fountains.
- Pondovac 3 in action
One quick note. Please DO NOTdo as the PondMeister did. We have a sparkling pool and spa next to our pond. I spent 2 hours intensely vacuuming our 6,000 gallon pond sending a bunch of muck into our drainage system in the backyard which carries out to the street (probably not a great idea). I was amazed at how much muck was being sucked through the Pondovac’s handle. Nearing completion, I stepped back to admire my handiwork and the pond looked awesome. And then I looked at the “sparkling pool”. Whoops – our drainage system had backed up with all the muck and was all routed into – you guessed it – the pool! Ugh – what a mess! I had the prettiest pond and the most disgusting pool ever. Had to drain the whole pool and start over. The moral of the story is – make sure you know where you are directing all the muck too – it makes great fertilizer…but not in a pool!
Posted on: Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 10:11 am 
Pond Products, Pond Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
thank you…
November 19th, 2011 at 11:52 pm