Given the same environment (air and water temps, humidity, air speed above), does the water level drop at different rates due to evaporation when comparing a large pond, small pond or even a 5-gal bucket?
In: Physics
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The rate of evaporation will vary by surface area so a large pond will evaporate faster than a small pond.
The answers here are all wrong. You asked about water level. Evaporation depends on surface area. And water level also depends on surface area, since a wider area means a lower level. These two things exactly cancel out. Evaporation will affect both water levels the same.
Another way to think about it. Let’s say you have a pond and its water level drops by 1 mm per day. Now I construct a thin dam that divides it into two smaller ponds. Well the water is still evaporating the same from both sides (each a small pond), 1 mm per day.
A shallow but large pond will evaporate faster then a deep and small pond. The evaporation rate depends on the surface of the water, so the deeper the pond, the slower it evaporates, but the overall size is mostly irrelevant.
A 1000 gallon bucket and a 5 gallon bucket with the same proportions will evaporate at mostly the same rate.
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