Building my Own Waterfall

[carolinaguy]

whats ancient method

The romans discovered a technique of using finely ground silica sand almost like talc that they mixed into the concrete. The fine particles clog the open spaces in the concrete and create a permanent, watertight seal. They used the technique for aqueducts and sisterns. Xypex corporation uses a similar technique today when they build their massive, multimillion dollar water systems worldwide. You can buy their products to add to concrete and coat the interior walls.

 

[Lisak1]

A he fall is loud and a she fall is soft and sheets with no noise. No mystery here. As for foam in our experience we have never seen that stuff work over time. Breaks down and leaks. Terrible stuff in our experience.epdm is great if you assemble it correctly. Personally we don't like the look in the end. A reinforced concrete trough is our preference or a block system with a xypex seal. We also like the formula that uses two thirds schedule 40 and one third thin set mortar to seal the concrete interior. The nice thing is you can dye the concrete and xypex to match the natural area stone. In our current installation we avoided all leakage by building 4 she falls that flow out of four plant chambers and drop into the pond without touching the sidewalks. It's an attractive, leakproof technique. The plant chambers are sealed with xypex. Of course this is a display pond, so we don't go for the faux natural look. Just our preference.

Ah! Gotcha. I think that's another cold vs warm climate difference. Concrete here in the midwest is destined to leak - too much freezing and thawing plus water equals disaster. There's nothing attractive about cracked concrete.

I agree about waterfall foam - it will break down over time, especially if left exposed. But it's easy to use and easy to re-apply if necessary. It's also great for tweaking your waterfall after it's constructed and you realize water is going somewhere you'd rather it didn't. Not waterproof by any means, but it is useful for re-directing water flow.

What do you mean about EPDM and not liking the look - if you build it correctly you don't even know the liner is there? The liner goes down, the rock is placed on top and the whole thing gets foamed to keep the water flowing over the rocks. In the end all you see is rock and water.

 

[Gordo33]

Ah! Gotcha. I think that's another cold vs warm climate difference. Concrete here in the midwest is destined to leak - too much freezing and thawing plus water equals disaster. There's nothing attractive about cracked concrete.

There was a pond forum that no longer exists by Pond Lady. One of the members lives up your way and has a pond he build with concrete. Over the the years he has created and tweaked a mixture that survives your climate. He uses an ancient tech called ferrocement. He uses his cement mixes for ponds and faux rock.Check out his videos on you tube. His name is Don Perry.

 

[Waterbug]

Yeah, pools certainly aren't required. In addition to great tips given I'd add that pump size can overcome all. That's used in the Aquascape type ponds. Faster and easier to build, but owner has to pay more for electric to push more water to make up for poor workmanship.

To the max falls per watt of pumping, sheet of water free falling vs running down rocks, the key is to have a perfectly level edge for the water to go over that overhangs the lower rock. A drip edge on this is key to stop water from running back on the underside and down the next vertical face.

There's a trick for the top most level where the pipe from the pump ends with a perfectly level piece (1" to 2" pipe). A slit is cut most of the length of the pipe with a cap. The slit is made level and water from the pump comes out in a very nice even sheet. Having water just shoot out of a normal pipe end can look unnatural. Normally people do put a pool, at least at the top, to slow down the flow coming out of the pump, spread it out. But sure isn't needed.

Don's Pond video is very good. To make the level drip edge I like mortar or a slate tile that I hammer the edge to make natural. Don has a good tip on using regular mortar inside of mason mortar which has clay and too soft for a falls.

I also like a calm surface in the pond and do not like any chance of foam so I general add a catch basin.

 

[mgmine]

As long as the water runs over the edge you will have a water fall. The more water coming into the top the more each step will have. As mentioned you will have to make sure that the water doesn't go over the sides instead of the front.