The Pond Digger Forums - pondless waterfall

Hello. I'm new to ponds, and love your website/advice. We had a pondless waterfall installed, finally starting to wrap up the project today. It's 10 feet long, three levels and a drop of maybe 8 feet.

A few questions I'd like your help with please.

Water flow drops by 50% over 8 hours. Installer says it's normal water evaporation, my wife says it's a leak...any opinions?

Second, installer left the round unit (top of waterfall) uncovered and used the plastic ledge...is it ok to cover over with flagstone/rocks? Water is currently running under the plastic ledge which doesn't seem effective. Any way to fix this? Can I safely use waterfall foam and a piece of nice flagstone to fix?

Third, plant advice? We're in minnesota so time is of the essence! Any ideas on what plans work? Can we plant them right in the plastic bin if I don't cover over?

Last - MN - how do I winterize the pond?

Sorry for all the rookie questions. Any advice is appreciated. Wish I was in California and get you folks to come over and fix it first hand!

Thanks,

Ian

Hey Ian,

Thanks for stopping by, checking in and participating.

50% water loss in 8 hours is not good! Either you have large waterfall drops and you are loosing lots of water in the form a splashing outside the stream liner which is in my opinion, a leak; the pondless basin pit at the bottom of the stream is too small for the feature or you have a punture in the liner somewhere! Sad

This will be your first step in the trouble shooting process to see if your bottom basin has a leak in it or not!

I suggest turn the waterfall OFF and fill the basin to the overflow point and leave it off for 36 hours checking the basin at 12 hour intervals. In a pondless basin covered with stone and gravel you should have little to NO water loss in 24 to 36 hours.

If you loose little to no water then your basin is golden! If the waterfall filter at the top is EMPTY after this step you MAY have a leak in the plumbing unless the contractor didn't use a check valve which is a necessity on a compact pondless waterfall! If the basin and the plumbing are golden, you can then turn your waterfalls back on and begin testing the stream!

That's it for the night on trouble shooting. Do that step and then give us an update for more.

You can definately remove the plastic stone at the top of the waterfall and replace it with a piece of flagstone or slate for a much SEXIER look! Simply use a can of do it yourself waterfall foam to seal under the flagstone and you will have the water flow nicely OVER THE WATERFALL instead of under!

Aquatic Plants! On disappearing pondless waterfalls we stick to shallow rooted aquatic plants that are easy to manage. Dwarf varieties such as cattails, micro sword, dwarf papyrus, golden buttons, tri-color celery, sagitarira and the like........

If you are stuck and need assistance I have a fantastic pond builder friend in Fairbault MN! I'm not sure how far that is from you but I know some folks from IOWA just contracted with him to build a pond!

He is reasonable and good, good peoples!

I will look forward to hearing an update from you.

Happy Pondering!

great advice - much appreciated. the contractor is playing cat and mouse now, so the games begin.

i've filled the basin and there is definitely a leak - basin is 50% empty in anywhere from 8-12 hours. After it's refilled, went to turn it on and nothing - electrical is good, looks like the pump is shot.

I'll keep you posted on progress. I may take you up on your offer to contact the person in Iowa, but it's a good 6+ hours drive from Lakeville, MN.

Thanks again for taking the time to provide your insight.

Cheers,

Ian