How to build a Waterfall for any Pond or Water Garden

How to build a Waterfall for any Pond or Water Garden
Waterfalls are generally the most beautiful part of a pond. The sight and sound of water falling is simply peaceful. It is also believed by many that listening to and watching waterfalls can have an aphrodisiac like effect. There are a number of ways to make a waterfall. Here are just a few suggestions.
Stage 1 - Placement of pumpSecure flexible tubing to the outlet of pump using a stainless steel hose clamp. Submerse at the furthest point from the waterfall. Route the tubing over side of pond (can be hidden under perimeter stones). Make sure the stone does not pinch the tubing, and avoid sharp bends in the tubing so it does not kink and reduce flow. PVC or Flex PVC can also be used as tubing. Though this is generally seen more often with external pumps, it is the sturdiest and most reliable way, to hold water without kinking.
Stage 2 - TubingRoute the tubing to the waterfall. Bury under soil. The shorter the distance and the larger the opening, the better. Water gushing through tubing (even smooth tubing) experiences friction against the sides of the tubing, this is called Water Friction. Water friction reduced the flow of your pump wasting electricity. The larger the diameter of the tubing the less water friction you will experience. Also, the shorter the run the better.
Stage 3 - Building the waterfall pond (or biofalls/spillway etc)There are two general ways to build a waterfall, with a liner or with a biofalls/spillway. The easiest and most gemon way would be to use a biofalls. A biofalls is a spillway at the top of your waterfall. It is usually like a big bucket containing some filter pads or biomedia. One side of the bucket has an even lip (spillway). Water enters the biofalls from the side toward the bottom, pushes its way through the filter media and out over the lip, creating a dramatic fall. The second way to make a waterfall would be to use a liner and build a second, upper pond. You can do this by using displaced soil from the pond to build an elevated area for the waterfall. Dig again a small portion of this mound out and lay in your liner. The liner should be positioned in such a way that one side of the upper pond is lower than the rest of it, which is pointed toward the pond. Now, drape a piece of liner from under the upper pond liner, over the bottom pond liner and place rocks in front of it (see #4). Water always follows the easiest path, so make sure that path leads into the pond, not the grass! Important! Be sure the liner drapes underneath the waterfall spillway stones, otherwise you will experience water loss when the waterfall is in operation. You may need to use liner seam tape in this stage.
Stage 4 - Building spillwayOnce the upper pond or spillway is in place, start to pump water up to the falls and watch it flow down the liner spillway. (at this stage - your pond should be full of water). Carefully select stones and, while the water is running, position them until you achieve the desired water spills you desire. Add as many stones as needed. Next, place plant moss and small plants between the stones around the waterfall to achieve a natural look. Many people also use expanding foam that gees in cans. This foam can be sprayed in between the rocks of your waterfall to help unsure a leak proof install. He spray also helps hold the rocks in place but should not be used as glue.
Note: The discharge from filters can be routed to the waterfall pond or into the water stream. Because the water flows by gravity out the bottom of most of the filters, it must be positioned higher than the waterfall. If this is difficult to achieve, consider a "Y" or "T" connector in your tubing or use a pump diverter, with some water being diverted to the filter and some to the waterfall. You may also want to use two separate pumps, one for the waterfall and one for the filter. Other filters such as pressurized filters can be placed anywhere and allow water to be pushed through them up to the falls.
If you have any questions installing your waterfall, you can contact me through my okay store Pet and Pond Supplies.
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