Noob waterfall with pond.

[Gazza]

Hi all. Little bit nervous so please be gentle.

I am starting a new project building a waterfall into an approximate 6' x 4' x 24" deep pond holding a few goldfish.

I wouldn't describe myself as a DIY expert, but i can use most tools. Having done a fair bit of research, my main problem seems to be with how to set up my bog filtration.

I will do my best to describe my proposed setup. Max 2' high fountain with no feeder pond, falling into the main pond directly below. I was thinking of having a submerged pump directly under the falls to reduce plumbing to the feed at the top. What I am struggling with the most is how I get a water flow to an adjacent bog and whether I would be capable of plumbing the solution?

Hopefully I am over thinking an easy fix and would appreciate any help you can offer.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

 

[GBBUDD]

your over thinking once you learn the basics youll catch on.

welcome happy reading

 

[SarahT]

Welcome. There's lots of advice and examples out on the forum.
Take a picture of where this is going to go and do a quick sketch of what you're thinking and where pond, fountain/ falls, and bog (how big?) will go. Are you thinking you'll use a single pump to send water to both the bog and the fountain? If so, it's probably a "WYE" ("Y") connection from the pump, which sends 2 connection legs out. You'll want to adjust the flow to both bog and fountain, so put a valve on each hose/ flex PVC. Several members have all their hose connections within the pond liner area so the system is all contained, in case of leaks.
I didn't find the plumbing connections difficult, but figure out (first) what the correct glue or epoxy is for each of the materials (hose, valve, connectors). I found it useful to do a practice run of each (ended up using the practice run, as I got good advice in the first place.)

 

[Gazza]

Welcome. There's lots of advice and examples out on the forum.
Take a picture of where this is going to go and do a quick sketch of what you're thinking and where pond, fountain/ falls, and bog (how big?) will go. Are you thinking you'll use a single pump to send water to both the bog and the fountain? If so, it's probably a "WYE" ("Y") connection from the pump, which sends 2 connection legs out. You'll want to adjust the flow to both bog and fountain, so put a valve on each hose/ flex PVC. Several members have all their hose connections within the pond liner area so the system is all contained, in case of leaks.
I didn't find the plumbing connections difficult, but figure out (first) what the correct glue or epoxy is for each of the materials (hose, valve, connectors). I found it useful to do a practice run of each (ended up using the practice run, as I got good advice in the first place.)

Hi, Thanks for the reply. The 1 or 2 pumps is what I am not sure about. If I use the Y connection how much pressure will I loose at the waterfall head. How would I work out what size pump to purchase? The other thing is I cannot picture in my mind the bog plumbing and flow required, so again cannot decide whether 1 or 2 pumps. Ideally I would prefer a 1 pump solution.

 

[j.w]

@Gazza

 

[Lisak1]

The Y connection would allow you to install ball valves which could be used to direct the amount of water flow you need to each spot.

I'm not so sure about the pump under the waterfall idea - do you have plans for a skimmer?

 

[combatwombat]

If I use the Y connection how much pressure will I loose at the waterfall head.

Assuming a properly sized pump and plumbing, not enough to worry about. How wide will the waterfall be? How strong do you want the flow to be at the waterfall? A raging waterfall? Just a trickle? Generally, you'd look for 100 GPH per inch of width in the falls.

How big is the bog? How far away from the pump?

Those answers can help us tell you what size pump to look for.

 

[Gazza]

Assuming a properly sized pump and plumbing, not enough to worry about. How wide will the waterfall be? How strong do you want the flow to be at the waterfall? A raging waterfall? Just a trickle? Generally, you'd look for 100 GPH per inch of width in the falls.

How big is the bog? How far away from the pump?

Those answers can help us tell you what size pump to look for.

Thanks for replying.

The project is still on paper at the moment, but this is what I am planning.

Pond 6' (l) x 4' (w) x 2' (d)
Waterfall 2' (h) x either 2' or 18" (w) steady flow (some noise) but not a torrent.
Bog 2' x 1' adjacent to the submerged pump directly below the falls separated by a stone wall from the pond. The bog wall would only be about 2' from the pump.

I have space to adjust these measurements as I am not starting the project for 4 weeks, but I am starting to buy the components and need to start finalising the plans. Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

[Gazza]

The Y connection would allow you to install ball valves which could be used to direct the amount of water flow you need to each spot.

I'm not so sure about the pump under the waterfall idea - do you have plans for a skimmer?

Thanks for the reply. If my pond is not near trees would I have a need for a skimmer?

 

[combatwombat]

Sorry, I missed the measurements. I’d use a 1.5” pipe and a 2500-3000 GPH pump. Split the output. Send as much as you want to the waterfall and the rest to the bog.

You could use a much smaller pump, but if you want a nice flowing waterfall that’s 24” wide, you’re going to need a pump around that size.

 

[Gazza]

Many thanks for all your replies, I am feeling much more confident about the project. I will post a new thread as soon as I start the groundwork to keep an update. A great community here, many thanks again.

 

[JasonRobertson616]

Hi, Thanks for the reply. The 1 or 2 pumps is what I am not sure about. If I use the Y connection how much pressure will I loose at the waterfall head. How would I work out what size pump to purchase? The other thing is I cannot picture in my mind the bog plumbing and flow required, so again cannot decide whether 1 or 2 pumps. Ideally I would prefer a 1 pump solution.

I tend to use grey PVC conduit since waterfall pumps don't have a higher psi than grey can take cause it resists freezing better in winter plus you can get some really big sweeping 90° & 45° elbows for it that don't cause but 1/4-1/2 head of the white PVC versions - gentler the sweep increases flow ability since less loss to drag - just a suggestion if going with 1-1/2" & 2" like I usually do.

 

[JasonRobertson616]

I tend to use grey PVC conduit since waterfall pumps don't have a higher psi than grey can take cause it resists freezing better in winter plus you can get some really big sweeping 90° & 45° elbows for it that don't cause but 1/4-1/2 head of the white PVC versions - gentler the sweep increases flow ability since less loss to drag - just a suggestion if going with 1-1/2" & 2" like I usually do.

Also you can get some gentle sweeping Y's from pool supply sites online - look up y water manifolds - less loss.

 

[GBBUDD]

grey PVC

schedule 80 is the gray its stronger but makes little sense to just jump to it every pool in america is schedule 40