The joy of a pond skimmer
If someone were to ask me what the most valued part of my pond setup is, I would tell them hands down that it’s my skimmers. I would never build a pond without a skimmer, and I would certainly never want to have a pond without one. There are so many advantages to having a skimmer, it’s hard to come up with anything more valuable to my pond ecosystem and to making the pond lower maintenance.
The pond skimmer provides several advantages over having a pump sitting on the bottom of your pond, so let’s just look at a few in no particular order;
#1. Protecting the pump
Ever had your pump clogged with leaves and barely passing water? Ever had your pump die after sitting in the muck or mud on the bottom of your pond? Not with a skimmer. The skimmer sits along the edge of the pond connected to the liner and houses the pump inside. But before the water is pulled into the pump chamber, it passes through a debris basket and a filter mat. The basket captures large items that are floating on the surface, like leaves, and the filter mat captures smaller particulates before they reach the pump. The combination of these two ensure that your pump is always clear of debris so it will not clog up. It also protects the pump from early burnout due to the overwork of pumping while partially clogged.
#2. Keeping the pond clean
The skimmer pulls water from the surface of the pond into the debris basket, where it can be easily removed. Without a skimmer, leaves and other items that fall into the pond will eventually sink to the bottom creating muck and detritus. Not only is this unsightly, but it will feed algae blooms and can turn the water brown or green. The skimmer mat also provides mechanical filtration, removing those hard to get small particles that pass through your normal hand skimmer net. The also aids in better water quality.
#3 Reducing Maintenance
We’ve all spent time with a hand net trying to scoop leaves out of our pond, and we know how frustrating and ineffective the process is. This is one the the truly beautiful things about having a skimmer - the leaves are pulled into an easy to empty basket which can be emptied one a week or so, depending on the season and amount of leaves falling into the pond. In two minutes, I can empty both of my skimmer baskets and be on my way to more important things (my pond has two skimmers - that’s how much I love them!).
As you can see, I’m a big fan of the pond skimmer! It is one of the most exciting inventions in the pond industry in the last 50 years, and is installed in thousands and thousands of ponds across the world. If your pond does not have a skimmer, you are definitely missing out on this great innovation and are spending more time than you should be maintaining your pond.