I have what is known as a dry well. That's a concrete tank with slots that does exactly the same thing that a drain field does; it gets rid of water in a septic system. Years ago (maybe 8 or 10), the dry well was totally backed up; all the slots were clogged. After some frantic desperation, I decided to take a chance on an aerator. It pumps air into the the dry well just like an aquarium pump aerates the water in an aquarium. The theory is that the more aggressive bacteria that will "eat anything" CANNOT live unless there is oxygen in the water. You could search this; it's backed up by science. What do you know!?? It REALLY worked!! That dry well, that had needed to be pumped (at big expense) every two weeks or so, has now gotten rid of water and has not needed to be pumped at all since the installation (I installed it) EVEN ONCE! That original aerator had cost me close to $1000 and it was designed not to be taken apart. Only I got taken. Great customer service during business hours as long as you send the unit back to them to be repaired. I'm very glad I'll never know how much that would have cost. Fool me once.... and all that... I researched and ordered this. Consider the solution to my problem to be fine tuned! -------This thing is great in several ways. One thing I really could have used is a specification on the depth it will pump to BEFORE HAND. That's my only negative; that it wasn't listed anywhere before I bought it, making me chew my fingernails needlessly. The great thing is that is IS in the literature that comes with it!! This one is rated at seven feet. The next one up (AP-40) is rated at 10 feet. I'm sure it would pump deeper than that, but I'm also sure too much pressure (depth) would stress the rubber diaphrams in the pump. I done good!! But it was scary. It pumps more air than my old one did. It's even quieter than my old one was (until my old one broke, of course). It's all plastic outside and it appears to be more or less hermetically sealed, in any case it's fanless and self cooling. It takes about 20 watts, which is about a third to a quarter of what my old one took. The rebuild kit is available for a few bucks and the manual actually tells you how to take it apart and gives you the URL for the company and, sure enough, there's the rebuid kit. My AP-20, by the way, has been sitting outside without an enclosure (even though that is recommended in the manual) since I bought it a couple months ago. Unlike my old one, as I wrote, it doesn't have a cooling fan. There have been very hot days and it's rained and thunderstormed a couple times. You're only taking a chance in that mine hasn't been covered by snow yet. This time I didn't have to do anything else. I just connected it to the plastic tubing that already ran into the tank through a hole I had already drilled in the lid down to the aerator stone already in the tank.--------I couldn't be happier! Absolutely no complaints. So! There you have it! Here's a brand new application for this thing and my complete recommendation for the unit even as a fish pond aerator.