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Building a waterfall...

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Jeff Rugen

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Nov 30, 2001, 8:43:10 PM11/30/01
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Ok, unlike most of the things I've found references for, my main purpose is to build a decorative waterfall in the
backyard. Of course, this requires a pond below it :)

I don't plan to raise fish, so I don't think the pond itself needs nearly as much effort as for one that would store fish,
but I'm not really sure what I'm doing yet, and am looking for good pointers/advice.

First, I don't want to just use a simple liner and underwater pump. That would be easy, and I don't like the fact that
all the underwater pumps have a 3-prong outlet on them (even though I could pull that off and run power directly to that
wire, it just seems wrong to me). Also, I have desert landscaping in the backyard, so its mainly lighter browns, rather
than darker colors, and I fear the liner would draw attention away from the waterfall. I plan to use natural rock from
the backyard (yes, I have plenty :) ) or area, but there are a couple parts I'm still trying to learn about (even before
the design itself).

1) The drain. How should I put in a drain to cycle the water to the pump? Should I put it in the bottom, and use one of
the standard mechanisms for cutting a hole in the liner? Is there a good or bad kind of drain to use? My closest
experience to this kind of thing is a pool drain.

2) Concrete/liner. I don't know if concrete is a good material to make the pond out of ether... its still not really a
natural color... And if I do concrete, should I still have a liner underneath? Is there a way to change the coloring of
the concrete, or a good way to make the floor of the pond look more natural (yeah yeah, natural + desert landscaping means
no water, right? ;-) )

3) Underwater lighting. Would this be worth having? Does a light underwater shining up on the waterfall look any
better/worse than one to the side? Would it be worth the effort?

4) How much space should I allow for portions of the system aside from the waterfall and pond itself?

Any suggestions on other things to keep in mind would be much appreciated. If possible, email replies as well as replying
to the list. Thanks for any help

Jeff Rugen

Jody Reese

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Dec 1, 2001, 4:33:42 AM12/1/01
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Phil Toseland

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Dec 1, 2001, 9:17:50 AM12/1/01
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If you plan to use cement and are worried about the colour(Uk spelling) the best way around that is to get the cement to look as if it been there years.
To do this is easy take a bucket and add Natural yogart then add cow or horse dung mix in to a paste and paint it on to the cement let that stay on with out using the water fall for a few weeks. You will then see that natural growth starts on the cement giving it a years old look and it wont hurt the fish if you put any in the pond after.
Hope this helps
Regards phil
Sounds like your fixing to embark on a very Interesting project. I
would lo like to add one to my cement pond next spring,so i too could
use a few pointers on this one,but i think i can answer a few of your
questions as well..
You said:1) The drain. How should I put in a drain to cycle the water to

the pump? Should I put it in the bottom, and use one of the standard
mechanisms for cutting a hole in the liner? Is there a good or bad kind
of drain to use? My closest experience to this kind of thing is a pool
drain.

 == As far as running it through the filter, i  would make the drain for
it at the top of the water line as to where it draws all the surface
debris off.

2) Concrete/liner. I don't know if concrete is a good material to make
the pond out of ether...

 == I'm not too keen on liners eiher,but cement is a good way to go.
Especially sinse your going to incorperate Rocks into the scene.


 its still not really a natural color... And if I do concrete,  Is there

a way to change the coloring of the concrete

 == You can find coloring for cement in the powder form at the local
hardware stores. It comes in black,green,brown & red.
 Also..I don't know how well Moss grows where you live,but here it
naturally colors both Rock & Cement a deep shade of green after just a
year.. There's several recipes to artificially introduce moss.
   Maybe you can find the answers to some of your remaining questions at
this website:
Building a backyard waterfall.
Address:http://www.freeplants.com/waterfall.htm

 Good luck:)    Jody

 
 

Hal

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Dec 1, 2001, 11:12:52 AM12/1/01
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On Sat, 1 Dec 2001 01:43:10 +0000 (UTC), Jeff Rugen
<jru...@primenet.com> wrote:

>First, I don't want to just use a simple liner and underwater pump. That would be easy, and I don't like the fact that
>all the underwater pumps have a 3-prong outlet on them (even though I could pull that off and run power directly to that
>wire, it just seems wrong to me).

If you know all about electricity I won't try to change your mind, but
if you need a bit of help with ground fault interrupters several of us
would be happy to oblige.

Regards,

Hal

Jody Reese

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Dec 1, 2001, 1:33:31 PM12/1/01
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men...@earthink.net

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Dec 1, 2001, 8:12:31 PM12/1/01
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On Sat, 1 Dec 2001 01:43:10 +0000 (UTC), Jeff Rugen
<jru...@primenet.com> wrote:

heya,

I am NOT and experienced ponder, but I can tell you from experience
that my parents' pond (Which I spent forever trying to rehabilitate)
and waterfall were both concrete and both leaked like a sieve. When
there were temperature changes it leaked, when someone jumped off a
chair in china, the earth tremors made it leak, in short, it leaked
worse than a busload of preschoolers who accidentally ingested
diuretics because they thought that they were mints . . . On the
advice of the more experienced ponders of this group, I ended up
slathering the whole thing with silicone until the leaks mostly went
away.

With the benefit of that experience, I am now in the final phases of
constructing my own pond and small waterfall. I did the very small
waterfall directly in place over the liner and held everything in
place with a mixture of gravity and "great stuff" foam. Thus far, no
collapses and no leaks. Even when a large mule deer walked right over
it, it held together.

I got preliminary pictures here

http://home.earthlink.net/~menaxe/pond/pond.html

good luck

Hal

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Dec 2, 2001, 1:08:27 PM12/2/01
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Simply put the GFI monitors the amount of power going through an
electric circuit and if 400 meg amps is lost from the circuit the GFI
shuts off the power.

To better understand a GFI in relation to a pond I'd like to present a
fact about electricity. Electricity is the movement of electrons and
that can occur through one wire to ground. (Water is a very good
ground.) One wire to ground isn't efficient use of power because much
power is lost in this method so we use a "ground wire" to complete the
path back to the source of power or a two wire circuit, which is most
efficient and no power is lost. The purpose of the third wire in
some power cords is to provide an alternate return path for the
electrical power in the event something happens to allow the
electricity to escape it's normal two wire route. When electricity
escapes the normal circuit that amount of power is lost to the
circuit, but it can find another path to ground which may be through
the third wire or the path may include you or your fish if not
interrupted by a GFI.

Regards,

Hal


On Sat, 1 Dec 2001 12:33:31 -0600 (CST), quack...@webtv.net (Jody
Reese) wrote:

> I wouldn't mind having the low-down on this one myself. <seg>
>Jody
>
>Hal said: If you know all about electricity I won't try to change your

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