Top 6 Solar Aerators and Fountains for Councils
Looking for a solar aerator or fountain for your council lake or stormwater catchment? We’ve been testing solar aerators and fountains in Australia for more than a decade. After putting dozens of different models and solar setups to the test, we’ve settled on the below list. We chose these specific aerators and fountains because they are high performing, good value for money and extremely reliable at operating on solar setups.
Fountains
1. Font’N-Aire Centrifugal Fountain
Fountains for aesthetics only (without aeration)
Don’t need aeration but want to add a feature fountain to a council lake or park? Air-O-Lator’s Font’N-Aire Centrifugal Fountain is a great entry-level fountain, providing spectacular aesthetics without breaking the bank. The specially engineered nozzle on the Centrifugal Fountain allows for exceptional spray height to be achieved at far less horsepower than most fountains on the market. This is one of the reasons why the Centrifugal Fountain is perfect for solar setups, because a smaller horsepower motor means less power—fewer solar panels—are needed to run the fountain. There are 5 nozzles to choose from providing different patterned water displays: Galaxy, Diana, Northstar, Solace and Nova.
Aerating Fountains
2. Carnival Aerating Fountain
Fountain aesthetic meets high-performance aeration
If you’re looking for aeration and an aesthetic fountain-look, we recommend Air-O-Lator’s Aquarian Carnival Aerating Fountain. There is a reason the Carnival Fountain is one of our bestselling aerators, these monstrous machines are about as powerful as aerating fountains get. A single unit operating on 100% solar can aerate up to one surface acre of water—pumping up to 4,300 litres of water per minute and transferring up to 1.4kg of oxygen into the water per hour. All the while, producing a beautiful water display—up to 1.2m high and 3m in diameter.
Aerators
3. Aquarian Professional Aerator
Low-key aeration for lakes and parks
If you are looking for an aerator that is more subtle (i.e., not a fountain but rather a boil on the surface of the water) with a low spray-drift to reduce airborne water, we recommend Air-O-Lator’s Aquarian Professional Aerator. The Professional Aerator is a small, compact surface aerator that packs a punch—pumping up to 3,600 litres of water per minute. A single unit operating on 100% solar can aerate up to ⅔ surface acres of water—transferring up to 1.4kg of oxygen per hour. The nozzle on the Professional Aerator is specially designed with a spray guard to push the ejected water back down, this reduces airborne water so people walking by don’t feel spray-drift.
4. Aquarian Commercial
Aeration for serious water problems
If you’re having a serious problem with water quality (e.g., wastewater, ammonia issues, excess organic material) then Air-O-Lator’s Aquarian Commercial Aerator is our number one recommendation. The Commercial Aerator was specially designed for the wastewater industry where both serious mixing and aeration are required to break down large amounts of organic material. The nozzle on the Commercial Aerator features a specially designed diffuser guard (even more elaborate than the guard on the Professional Aerator) which minimises spray drift. This is obviously extremely important as airborne water could potentially contain toxins. These aerators are extremely powerful. A single unit can aerate up to one acre of water—pumping up to 8,700 litres of water per minute and transferring up to 4.2kg of oxygen per hour. You can easily combine units for larger waterbodies.
5. Enterprise Aerator
Aeration for stormwater basins and stagnant lakes
If you’re not having a super serious issue with your water but you you would like to mix your water more while benefiting from aeration (e.g. in a stormwater basin), we recommend Air-O-Lator’s Enterprise Aerator—the king of mixing. The Enterprise Aerator features a horizontal aspirating propeller which pumps the water in a horizontal direction (see video below). The ½ horsepower model pumps up to 3,700 litres of water per minute. In the video below you can see that within two minutes a ½ hp Enterprise Aerator discharges over 7,000 litres of water over a 30m diameter area.
6. Nanobubble Aerators
Aeration for areas of zoological importance
If you need to get a heap of oxygen into your water quickly, there is no better aeration system than the Nanobubble Aerator. Nanobubble Aerators are ideal for waterbodies where you really want to enhance the natural eco-system and bring it to life, e.g., improving fish stocks, supporting rare populations of amphibians, birds, mammals etc, growing aquatic plants or aquaponic vegetables. A real-world example is the Nanobubble Aerator we installed at Melbourne Zoo to help one of their wetlands really come to life with thriving populations of aquatic plants and animals.
Nanobubble Aerators can provide a staggering 40 times more oxygen to water than other aerators. While most aerators transfer 1-3% oxygen per foot of water, Nanobubble Aerators can achieve greater than 85% oxygen transfer (tested in two feet of water). The reason Nanobubble Aerators are so much more effective at adding oxygen to water than other aerators is because they produce tiny microscopic bubbles (nanobubbles) that are 500 times smaller than typical microbubbles and 10,000 times smaller than regular bubbles. Because these bubbles are so small, they act completely differently to regular bubbles. Want to know exactly how nanobubbles work differently to other bubbles and how this makes them so much better at supplying oxygen to water? Read our article: How nanobubble aerators work.
Interested in one of the aerators above or just after some advice?
We stock all of the aerators listed above, as well as many more. To chat to us about a specific aerator, or to get help finding the right aerator for you, complete this form and we’ll be in touch. We provide free, no-obligation advice.
