How to build an antique hand pump fountain pond in the garden

How to build an antique hand pump fountain pond in the garden will require a fountain pump large enough to push the water up through the hand pump (in my case the pump has to push water about 4 feet), a pond for the water to flow in and out, and plastic tubing the size of the output valve of your pump. There are many ways to create ponds and my hand pump is actually an antique from husband’s family farm we sold many years ago. Most of these pumps are ‘hollow’ inside and very doable as a fountain in your garden. There are moving parts in the hand pumps but the small plastic tubing should easily fit right up through the body of the fountain and out through the spout. I like preformed ponds but you could use anything that will hold water. There will be splashing so the water levels may go down and it is not uncommon to fill the pond every once in while.

I knew I wanted a stable base for the hand pump and I happened to have had a 12×12 patio block that worked perfect for the base to hold the fountain up. To drill through any concrete or cement you will need masonry bits and screws. Before I drilled the hole for the tubing I made sure to take my pump to the home store and get the plastic tubing about a foot longer than I needed and then walked over to the drills bits to find a masonry bit one size up from the size of the outside diameter of the tubing. I already had masonry screws so I used them to anchor the fountain to the patio block. When you place your hand pump next to the pond you will need to make sure that you run the tubing so that it does not kink or get crushed by the base. What I did was use flat stones to build up around my plastic pond insert and ran the tubing between and under the rocks.

I wish I had complete pictures of how I built this fountain but I think the picture above can help guide you. To be honest, my ponds get drained and completely scrubbed every spring (just did it) and sometimes once during the summer because they do get gunky with algae. There are products you can buy and even bio filters but since my animals drink out of the pond I will not use any chemicals. To slow down and greatly help with algae floating plants like Water Hyacinth and Water Lettuce which will multiply quickly so 1 plant is all you need to buy! You can even put 25 cent Goldfish from the pet store and they will grow and thrive. Goldfish will help take care of mosquito eggs and larvae too. Do not fill the pond up with too many fish or you will be cleaning the pond a lot more.

For 7 years this antique hand pump fountain pond has been running and most of animals love to drink from the running water. I love the sound of running water and the nostalgia of having a piece of personal history in my garden. Adding a pond to any garden brings other animals- frogs, toads, birds, and other critters to drink. One year I even had a Red Shouldered Hawk bring her 3 babies down to my larger pond to show them how to catch fish! Yes they ate all my 3″ Goldfish in one afternoon but it was well worth it to share my pond with those beautiful Hawks.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you bring more of nature into your backyard. Happy gardening and if you ever have a question, feel free to contact me