Waterfalls and winter

Hi there.. i'm not sure if i should have posted this in the newbie section or not.. but we JUST finished building a our pond.. I know, its DECEMBER.. but the people we ordered the liner from REALLY took a long time to get it to us, and then we had to wait for the rocks that we ordered.

ANYWAYS, i have been getting conflicting information from people regarding waterfalls in the winter. Some people said you can not keep them on in the winter, others said you can..

So i was wondering what your thoughts were.

We have a pond that is about 8ft wide by 6ft long and its about 3.5 feet deep in the deepest part.. The water fall is about 3 feet tall (from the ground) and is a straight drop down (no trickle like you usually see) its more like a cliff fall.

SO I was wondering, can i turn the pump on and let the water continue to circulate?

p.s. there are NO fish or plants in the pond yet. I just want the fall on because i think that it would look pretty in the winter with snow and stuff..

Thanks for your time..

I think you will find that the running water will freeze and start to accumulate until it flows somewhere other than your pond. Eventually, you will run out of water and the pump will burn up.

hey thar! :icon_smile:you've been getting conflicting information because different people have different plumbing for their ponds; for instance, my pond also has a three foot cliff-like waterfall. however, it doesn't freeze during winter because 1) it doesn't get as cold here in redding as it does most other places, and 2) i have most of my plumbing underground. dr. dave is absolutely right, it is possible to run out of water and burn your pump; however, it sounds like your pond is quite a bit like mine-the waterfall is nice and steep so that it keeps the water moving, which raises the temperature of the water, keeps oxygen flowing, keeps the surface from completely freezing, and keeps my koi alive because it allows toxic gases to escape (ice keeps gases trapped in the water). because you don't have koi and plants yet, it wouldn't hurt anything at all to turn the water off. so honestly, you're safe this year either way you go, but once you have fish and plants, in my experience you gotta keep that water running! hope that helps!

The one thing that's missing here is location, something the writer should have stated first. I know Redding gets cold (been there in the winter) but North Dakota gets colder.

So where are you..............???

Oh my.. i'm sorry. i'm in Southern Connecticut - I think thats a ZONE 7 ??

Thats why my pond was 3ft deep.. The thing is, i WANTED my waterfall to run all winter because it looks nice. I forgot too, i thought you could see in the pics, but the hoses are just plastic bendable ones that are above ground.. Would that make a difference if the water is constantly flowing through it? I thought it would only freeze if the water was stopped in it..

It all depends on how cold it gets. I remember a winter in ND where it was so cold, the water froze as fast as the firemen could spray it on a fire. They eventually had to use foam to put out the fire. When it was over, the base of the 2 story building had Ice 60 foot thick at the base forming a triangle to the top of the building. That closed Highway 10 and they had to detour traffic around the ice for weeks.

It helps to know how cold and where.

in my experience, pipes with water running through them have never frozen (as long as the water's being released somewhere-like out of a waterfall). but again, all my pipes are insulated. yours may be a different story, so take a look at this article on freezing pipes: http://www.weather.com/activities/ho...e_prevent.html. hope that helps!

It's not the water in the pipes, it is when the water hits the cold air. Did you read what I said?

sure did! did you read the article i posted?

i run my water fall all winter in arkansas,,,i just keep a eye out on the weather,,i do run it with some ice in the pond,,but i watch the weather closer,,,my pipes are not insulated,but they all will drain out when i pull the plug..and turn off the pump.. if you want to run the fall just do it..keep a eye on it when its going to stay below 32 for a few days in a row..turn it off if it gets to cold.