How to Build a Professional Pond and Waterfall
Who wouldn’t want to invest in a water feature that will last for decades? If you are going to spend several thousand dollars on a waterfall and pond, don’t you want it to be trouble free and add equity to your home? If so, then you do not want to cut corners by using a rubber liner, along with the accompanying cheap plastic biofalls, filter, skimmer and energy wasting sump pumps.
I have been building concrete and rebar reinforced rock waterfalls and ponds for over 25 years and have never had one crack or leak. Hundreds of “do-it-yourselfers” have professionally constructed their own water features with the help of my Construction Manual, and they will never have to worry about the high cost of maintenance that is a given when using a pond liner.
Pond liner contractors boast that their liners have twenty to thirty year warranties, depending on the manufacturer of the liner itself. What they don’t tell you is that the liner is warranted against factory defects only. They won’t tell you that twenty to thirty percent of ponds built with liners leak within the first year from causes such as rats, mice, ground squirrels, gophers, chipmunks, woodchucks, tree roots, stretching and punctures from heavy rocks placed on the liners, not to mention dogs, raccoons, and many other animals. The list goes on.
In addition, unlike the rocks that are secured with mortar in concrete constructions, pond liners are covered with loose rock, including the construction of the waterfall. Consequently, it presents a hazard for both children and adults who attempt to climb on the rocks. The loose rocks placed around the pond’s edge and in the waterfall attract burrowing rodents, snakes and other animals. Because the rocks are not well-secured with mortar, as in concrete construction, they can easily shift and reveal the unsightly liner underneath.
Liner ponds utilize gravity filters that require frequent cleaning; and this is a hard, messy and stinky job. Liner ponds also utilize sump pumps to circulate the water. Sump pumps use sixty percent more energy than the centrifugal pumps that are used in concrete construction and are normally installed close to the edge of the pond. Consequently, they do not properly circulate the water, so all the fish waste and debris ends up collecting and rotting on the bottom, causing serious problems to the aquatic life. In addition, sump pumps have a short life span and most have only one or two-year warranties.
With concrete construction, two anti-vortex drains are installed in the center of the pond; so fish waste and other particulates gravitate to the drains and are sucked up and collected in a pressurized bead filter. This type of filter only requires the turning of a handle once or twice a week to back-flush the water, which insures a clean, crystal-clear pond.
Concrete ponds use professional pool skimmers to remove leaves and debris before it has a chance to waterlog and settle to the bottom. Concrete construction costs only twenty percent more than liner ponds and they will last for decades. With the proper instructions, any “do-it-yourselfer” can build their own water feature by hiring professional subcontractors and ordering their own concrete company and rebar installers.
In as little as one to two weeks, you can have a well built pond and waterfall that will last for decades and cost only twenty percent more than a leak-prone rubber liner pond. Plus, you will experience a nearly maintenance-free water feature.
About the Author
Douglas C. Hoover; CEO of Aquamedia Corp, master Waterfall Builder, freelance writer and author designer, architect, inventor, engineer, writer, author and builder of over 1,900 waterfall and ponds in California or the past 26 years. Inventor and manufacturer of the “AquaFill” T.M., electronic float control system for ponds, pools, fountains and hot tubs. Read more: http://www.aquafill.com. Aquamedia also manufactures the solar oven dehydrator kit.
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