Pond Aeration

Free Pond Aeration calculator with clear step-by-step results.

About Pond Aeration

Aeration demand comes from fish respiration and sediment oxygen uptake, both of which rise with temperature while the water's capacity to hold oxygen falls - the reason summer nights are when ponds crash. Dividing demand by the aerator's oxygen transfer rate gives the power needed.

Formulas

Oxygen saturation

mg/L = 14.6 - 0.35 T + 0.004 T^2

Aerator power

kW = oxygen demand kg per hour / oxygen transfer rate kg per kWh

Worked example

With the default values below, Pond Aeration returns Aerator power required of 0.551. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Pond surface areaminimum 1 m2: 250 m2
Average depthaccepts 0.2–15 m: 1.5 m
Water temperatureaccepts 0–40 C: 24 C
Fish biomassminimum 0 kg: 120 kg
Aerator oxygen transfer rateaccepts 0.2–4 kg O2/kWh: 1.4 kg O2/kWh

Results

Aerator power required: 0.551 kW
Oxygen demand: 0.7720 kg/h
Pond volume: 375.0 m3
Oxygen saturation at this temperature: 8.50 mg/L

Step by step

1Values used
2Oxygen saturation
3Aerator power
4Aerator power required= 0.551 kW
5Oxygen demand= 0.7720 kg/h
6Pond volume= 375.0 m3
7Oxygen saturation at this temperature= 8.50 mg/L

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 5 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 4 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is night-time the critical period?

Photosynthesis stops after dark while respiration continues, so dissolved oxygen falls all night and bottoms out just before dawn. Aeration must be sized for that minimum, not the daily average.

Does a fountain aerate effectively?

Surface fountains are poor aerators relative to their power draw. Diffused air from the bottom or a paddlewheel transfers far more oxygen per kilowatt-hour.