Ponds and Water Gardens - question on exterior electric for pond

I will be constructing a water pond in my backyard. I want to know the best and easiest way to get power to the pond(pump, filteration system). I am thinking of 2 ways. Either I run the electrical from the main box in the basement on its own breaker, and that would involve drilling through the concrete to get the electric outside, or I was wondering if I could add a switch to an existing receptacle that is outside on the house, and run the cable to where the pond would be, around 30ft. What would you recommend? As well, how much power would I need? I don't know if I would need more than a 15amp breaker to run a pump, filteration system. Thank you, much appreciated.

Whichever way you choose you should GFCI protect the circuit. Most electrical codes require any electrical outside be GFCI protected, plus it's just a good idea when you are mixing water and electricity.

You did not say how much load you are going to put on the circuit so I can't say if 15 amps will be enough. If you are building a small pond with pumps like you get at your local home center than 15 amps should be plenty. If you are doing a larger pond with a 1 hp or larger pump than you may want to go up to a 20 or 30 amp circuit (GFCI are difficult to find larger than 20 amps).

If at all possible have a designated circuit from the panel box. Run it in an underground pvc conduit and install an outdoor circuit box near the pond. You can purchase it at local store and will have the gfc built right in. You will have several options as to quality. Have fun.

I just completed this over the weekend. My buddy and I put in two GFCI 20Amp circuits and ran the PVC.

He's a EE, I helped...

You did it the right way!