Archive for the 'Water Garden Features' category

Solar Pond Pump: Eco-friendly Alternative

Apr 01 2010 Published by under Water Garden Features

Solar Pond Pump

Solar Pond Pump

Benefits of a solar pond pump:

  • doesn’t rely on electricity
  • keeps your pond water fresh
  • keeps fresh oxygen in the water
  • powers your pond filter

Difference between solar and traditional pond pump

The traditional pond pump works off the electrical system that you build into your pond. But with a solar pond pump you don’t need electricity for your pumping power. You simply let the sun do all the work.

solar pond pump

Solar panel for pond pump

Who can use a solar pond pump?

This type of pump makes perfect sense if you live in a sunny climate like Florida, Arizona, or the south of France for that matter. But even if you live in places that have four distinct seasons, choosing an eco-friendly solar pump makes sense. It saves money on electricity and promotes an environmentally friendly pond. After all, you primarily enjoy your pond during the summer months when the sun is shining. From an aesthetic point of view, the solar pond pump is small and  unobtrusive in the landscape (see photo at left).

Solar pond pump considerations

Even if you choose to go solar, you still to decide what sort of filter to go along with it. The filter works to clean the water that the pump circulates. The way it works is this: the pump sucks in the water, the filter then treats and cleans the water and then the water gets circulated back into the pond.

Choose your pond filter

You will need to make the choice among the four types of filters. They each have their upside (and downside).

  1. Mechanical filters remove the larger debris such as leaves and  uneaten fish food from the water before it can sink to the bottom of your pond.
  2. Chemical filters use different types of chemicals that you add to the water.
  3. Biological filters use plant materials to remove dangerous bacteria.
  4. UV filters use different types of reactions to remove smaller pollutants, such as noxious chemicals and dangerous bacteria, from the water.

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Building Water Features: Expanding Foams and Fillers

Dec 12 2009 Published by under Install and Maintain, Water Garden Features

Great Stuff (tm) polyurethane foam

Great Stuff (tm) polyurethane foam

Expanding foams and fillers are extremely popular in the construction of DIY  waterfalls, and you can rest assured that they are incredibly handy in some cases. When building outdoor water features, it’s important to understand the difference between latex and polyurethane foam.

Differences Between Latex and Polyurethane Foam Sealant

There are two key differences between latex foam and polyurethane foam sealant:

  1. Latex foams are typically “open cell” and, as a result, can take on water. In fact, the same properties that allow you to wash latex foam off your hands with water also mean that the cured foam can absorb water. This can cause wood rot or deterioration in areas where wet latex foam is next to wood, such as a window frame. In contrast, polyurethane foam is a closed-cell foam. It forms a water-resistant outer skin when cured.
  2. Latex foam does not expand. Polyurethane foam expands to thoroughly fill all voids and cavities making it an ideal air sealant.

Polyurethane foam can be shaped and molded to help direct water flow over and around rocks in a waterfall, rather than under and in between.  It can even be used to set and secure the cap stones in a retaining wall. Once cured they are water resistant and rot-proof, they provide some heat insulation.

Health Precautions

The EPA warns that spray foams pose a health hazard if not used with proper health protection (respirators and gloves) and work site ventilation. Spray polyurethane foams contain diisocyanates, which are potent lung and skin sensitizers (or allergens) and irritants.

How to use spray foams

Piston-type cans are available which enable the can to be used at any angle to reach difficult areas. It’s quite handy having a can which shoots out foam when you press the nozzle, but you need to remember that even once the foam is in place it will continue expanding. This often ends up with the foam becoming visible, but of course you can disguise it by throwing some fine gravel onto it before it sets.

Foam is of course ideal for using under a fall, particularly if you need something in place quickly. Using foam will also prevent water from being able to run underneath the stone. If you do use foams and fillers, make absolutely certain that your stones are in the correct place, bearing in mind that excess foam will make an unsightly mess on your rocks.

You should also make sure that you choose black foam, not white or yellow.  The black color allows it to blend among rocks and shadows and can fill, seal and adhere to other pieces without looking unnatural. Remember, if you use the common yellowish foam and it begins showing through between the rocks, your water feature is certainly not going to look as attractive as to what you had hoped for.

There are many different brands on the market to choose from. A good polyurethane foam is GREAT STUFF™ Pond & Stone Waterfall Foam Filler.  Whatever product you choose, be sure that it is fish safe and recognized by the International Professional Pond Contractors Association.

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Building Water Features: Avoid Concrete

Dec 10 2009 Published by under Install and Maintain, Water Garden Features

Natural waterfall (photo: flickr-corrieb)

Natural waterfall (photo: flickr-corrieb)

You might think that concrete and mortar would be logical materials for building water features. After all, concrete is solid and waterproof, so it should hold water, right? Actually, I’m not very keen on using concrete when it comes to building a water feature.

My main objection to concrete water features is that they never really resemble what you would find in nature. Even if you build a stone wall that is mortared together with cement, and then have water running over it, it still doesn’t look natural.

Concrete is difficult to hide behind stone, and it concrete expands and contracts quite a bit, particularly in areas where the temperature fluctuates a lot. For this reason alone I find concrete to be unreliable.

If your aim is to create something which looks natural, then you should essentially try to use mostly natural stone materials. Not only will it look great, it is relatively easy to build your own waterfall using natural stone.

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