Landscape water feature advice

[Budweiser John]

Looking for advice on landscape water features.
We are in the beginning stages of creating a interesting water feature along the lines of a disappearing waterfall rather than a water impoundment (pond) as a pond would become a private playground for our yellow lab.
Matters of pump capacity, pipe sizing, Reservoir capacity, spillway design, and liner thickness are beyond my current pay grade but I currently have acquired a large inventory of granite rocks many with one split face and a yard or so of 1 river rock.

We did consult with a landscape contractor who tossed around five figure numbers, well beyond our play money budget.
In as much as I have a Loader tractor with SSQA bucket, grapple, pallet forks, and a sub frame mounted back hoe I知 ready to tackle the project as soon as I can get hy head wrapped around the technicalities listed above.

Suggestions, experiences, comments?
B. John

 

[/pine]

The biggest factor design wise would likely be where you are going to put it...is your land flat or on a grade? how much grade?

If the purpose is to attract wildlife as well as just a garden feature etc...it should make a little noise...

 

[Industrial Toys]

I had considered it and have the perfect place for it.

A concern would be to creat a major and on-going maintenance headache.

Will it just be a moskito breeding farm? We don't have a lot of them, but if I got just one more, I would say no to the feature.

Also, I'm sure pump power adds up in a hurry. So are you always turning the thing on and off, which would be a hassle. I'm not wealthy enough just to leave something like that running.

 

[i7win7]

Will it just be a moskito breeding farm? We don't have a lot of them, but if I got just one more, I would say no to the feature.

Add goldfish to control "skeeters" or chlorine or pool chemicals to kill everything.

 

[airbiscuit]

Maybe install a motion control switch so it only runs when someone is nearby.

 

[Topzide]

Saw that they now make plastic cages that you can stack, then lay your rock on top of to create your basin for a disappearing waterfall. Not sure if thats what your going for or not. Just Google pond building or diy disappearing waterfall. Sound like a great project. Might want to see if you could do solar for the pumping.

 

[Budweiser John]

Replying to comments.

First off, location would be visible from our favorite lounging spot on our front porch. The grade drops off rather quickly thus offering a natural slope suitable for moving water. Since there will be no standing water mosquitoes will not breed in moving water and we will not have any ponded water or the hassle of maintaining a fish habitat and yes, a ‘babbling brook’ noise effect is desirable.
I’m planning on controlling the pump from a conveniently located switch and the concept of a motion sensor is a great idea but for the night time activity of the wild critters and barn cats. Our motion sensor security lights are on and off all night every night.

Lots of pretty pictures of water features out there But not a lot of technical data at least that I’ve found so far.

B. John

 

[airbiscuit]

 

[3Ts]

If you're going to have a "babbling brook" where are you going to store the water when it's off? I assume you will be recirculating the water, otherwise you'll be pumping water that will dump into a creek or drainage ditch.

Edit: Never mind, I'm to slow in typing and I get distracted from time to time.

 

[kthompson]

You might find your county agents office has some help in this at least on guidance. We had a pond about 12 by 20 at our back door for years. Deepest was two feet deep with vinyl liner. We had Kois in it and no insect issue.

 

[Industrial Toys]

WOW! What Universe do you live in? We had department of Agriculture offices. I was fortunate enough to enjoy income providing security for them for a few decades. Now, ALL LONG GONE! Brick and mortor offices sold off long ago. Probably some web site where you can waste your time, only to find nothing usefull. Maybe some FAQs, that never touch on anything you want to know.

 

[Big Barn]

It hard to provide technical advice without a plan. When I built my house in 1994 I put in a pond and waterfall with a bridge that led to the path wandering through the garden to work. ( the farm maintenance yard behind my house.

Here are a few pics from that timeframe.

The first pic shows level elevation and the building of a berm to screen the farm buildings and equipment.

[












As you can see the water feature and berm were necessary to create my own views from the house and to segregate the workplace from home life.

 

[Oldtractorfixer]

We did this a few years ago. You need to figure out how high the water fall is and how big is the feature. Making a little sketch will help. Then you have a starting point on how much water. The irrigation supply people can help you spec the pump(s) depending on water flow. That's the hard part getting the right gpm to make the feature work right. Pipe size will be dependent on the pump. . We use two pumps a 3" and a 4" low pressure high volume pumps. It starts with two water falls each about 2 foot wide flow into another pond then down a creek bed over some small falls to a larger 30 x 60 pond. You are going to have to have some kind of water impound for the water to go to when it is off and for the pump to get a good supply for the intake. A large tank of some kind might work but it seems to me it would be hard to keep leaves and dirt out and clean if they got in. FYI we bought our liner from "The Pond Guy" online. Hope this helps.

 

[SmallTimin]

The slope and the length of the feature will be major factors in pump size. Pump size will regulate pipe size. As mentioned above, measurements and a sketch will be very useful. Also mentioned above a local irrigation supply company will be most helpful. I used to get a water feature supply catalog, back when I landscaped, I will have to look and see if I can find an old one to pass along the name. If you do not want a pool of water, you could have your water storage in ground. Biggest problem with that would be monitoring your water level. At least with a pool you can check your water level and add accordingly. If you buried a large enough tank then it would not have to be filled as often, but evaporation is an issue.

 

[Egon]

With no idea of the topography no help for design.

But I can suggest a septic tank at the low end for water storage and pump location.

 

[Budweiser John]

BIG BARN, regrettably I cannot open your attachments, might there be another avenue as I’m very interested in seeing your presentation.

 

[Budweiser John]

EGON, good idea on using a septic tank for water storage. I think that would be much better than those Mickey Mouse plastic baskets I see advertised.
I’m becoming a little more savvy on what my options are thanks to U Tube and other internet sources and like what I see on the ‘Pond Guy’ sight.

 

[Big Barn]

BIG BARN, regrettably I cannot open your attachments, might there be another avenue as I’m very interested in seeing your presentation.

Hmm I have no idea why that happens. They appeared fine yesterday. I will edit and try again.