18 replies to this topic

[newday3000]

Thought I would post this as pictures to show where I started 6 weeks ago until now. With water in I calculated volume of water fall, water fall basin and pond at total 3000 Gallons. Main pond is 53" at the deepest with 2 shelves for plants at different heights.

[newday3000]

[leeannecastro]

Looking good!

[newday3000]

Tested the water fall today, and measured flow rate with a bucket and stop watch and calcuated 950GPH at the falls. Which is good but also sounds like a jet turbine when it hits the rocks. Plan on filling with rocks to the very top. Today was water flow test which worked out well.

Need to figure out how to diffuse the water a bit more on the way down to silence it. Neighbours won't like it.

Small stream that connects the water fall basin to the main pond.

[DrDave]

What are you filling to the top with rocks?

[D&RW]

what a hole. wow. and a shovel too! where'd ya put all the dirt?
how long did it take you?

BTW, you are just like me, i.e. right against the fence. What I did you might consider--I created a cantilevered boardwalk by mounting huge L braces on the fence posts.

Go to your neighbor and be sure it's ok with them. then, to a metal works and get some 1 inch steel bars about 5 ft. long. have them bent to 90 degrees and drilled with 4 holes, at maybe 6 inches from tips and from the bend. You'll need one for each fence post behind that fence. What you'll do is drill through the post and bolt them to it with the bottom sticking out over your pond about 26-28".

Next order 2 - 2 in square steel rods however long you need, looks like you might need 16-20 ft. Get two and lay them perpendicular along the "L"s mounted to the posts. You'll need to drill them and then bolt them to the "Ls" about 18 inches apart. I spaced mine about 6 inches from the tip and from the bend

Then get some standard 2X4 and 2X6 lumber. Not treated, but you could use composite if you can afford it. Divide the length of the proposed boardwalk into 1/4s or 1/3s so you'll be creating removable pieces. I did this so I could remove the boardwalk for maintenance.

Lay the 2x4s down and screw the 2X6s across them so the 2x4s fit inside the two 2" rails. You'll create individual sections that'll drop down onto the rails and allow you to walk out along that side of the pond. I went ahead and bolted the pieces once at each end of each section and closest to the fence into the 2 in square rail. The outside doesn't really need bolting unless you just want to .

You can also put plantings out there, but it get's tight for walking.

[koikeepr]

ask your neighbors if they mind the waterfall noise--mine don't. They get the beauty of the sound while YOU do all the work. LOL.

What happens if you remove that horizontal piece of slate and just let the water trickle down naturally into the pond? Do you still get the same sound.

You could simply put a ball valve in before the waterfall so that you can control the flow...

[newday3000]

D&RW I wish I could put something on the fence but it's rather old and not sure I trust it to hold any weight. Need to figure out something else.

To give a better idea of how I plan to finish the water fall. I removed the flat rock at the top and the water falls straight down now which is better and I plan to buildup the rock from the lower basin all the way up to the top where the liner currently covers in the picture. The sound is better now but I would rather not reduce the flow as this is my filter as well. I think I may put another drum filter behind the water fall so I can keep the flow up and divert some to the water fall. Not sure I can finish all this before the snow comes.

[koikeepr]

make sure to get liner up and around and behind your waterfall (even if you've got to cut and add and extra piece and seam it to your main piece). I see too much dirt exposed. If you get a good wind the water could blow sideways and will exit your pond.

Trust me, I've had it happen. You'd be surprised how much water you can lose without even realizing it. I went back to the pond once and I had lost half the water and it would have kept going until it reached the pump had I not caught it.

[newday3000]

good catch. It's on my to do list. I have excess liner I planned on using to put under the overflow or moving the overflow closer.

I need more rock to figure out the water flow to decide if I move the overflow forward or backwards (or lower) to land higher on the water fall. I want to minimize splashing and slowly loosing water. I had this issue on my other pond and it took a lot of tinkering to get it stable so I didn't loose water each week from the water fall.

[koikeepr]

yeah, build up that area so that you don't have that gap. Get dirt and rock in there and then lay that liner on top all the way back and around the lip of that waterfall. Use some of that black pond sprayfoam all around the edges of it, too.

Waterfalls are notorious spots for leaks and water-loss. There is no worse heart-stopping surprise than seeing your pond half empty or more!

[newday3000]

and 3000 gallons of water has not too many places it can go. Luckily my backyard has the 12" round storm drain grating to take excess run off water underground via 1' diameter concrete drain system and feed it underground to the sewers. It's great for water changes since I can dump water directly underground in my backhard.

[D&RW]

I hear you NewDay. The fence we have is newer--my neighbor and I built it 10 years ago when my wife and I moved in--the old fence was falling down. So, I know how it was built--each post is 3 ft in concrete.

waterfalls, waterfalls, waterfalls. at this juncture in my limited experience (built one pond and one waterfall a year ago and am now rebuilding the whole thing) waterfalls are an enigma. preserving the water seems fairly straight forward by using liner and placing it correctly. What is tricky is developing and adjusting the proper flow, like you say for your filter, and the sound and appearance you want to create.

in my mind and to my liking I'd use a few really big rocks, I mean 3-4 X 2X 2. But I have no way to move and place them, nor do I have a proper foundation on which to place them. So, I'm going to opt for more smaller rocks of say 1 ft. X 1 ft X 6 inches. Still be really heavy, but much more manageable.

I'm going to try and attach a foto of a waterfall at my work. I love it, but it uses the big rocks.

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[Buck]

newday3000 said:

Not sure I can finish all this before the snow comes.

I hear ya there, thats why I think Im going to wait till spring to get mine done, it may kill me but I dont want to rush and screw it up or worst yet, settle for something I know dang well I didnt want to begin with.

Just to touch a little more on what koikeeper suggested about the waterfall , I am wondering if you wouldnt want to thicken up the sides of your spillway a bit more. (?) If you put a lot of stone weight on the fresh soil and it compress's and settle's with time you could be in for a problem there. By looking at that last photo, it appears like the sides are 10-12' high which is plenty tall enough and makes a very nice pool but its width is very narrow looking and thats what will keep the soil at the height you have.

I have no experience with ponds yet as Im still working on my first one but I do have a lot of experience with dirt and rock...

Your pond is looking great, cant wait to see how it turns out !

[DrCase]

Thats why i pour long small pads of concreet around my ponds to have a good solid base for rocks to sit on..it is all ready mix but when you pour it ,it is there..