[Stonehenge]

*chuckle* That was pretty funny, reading that article a day after I posed the question. I'll have to see if I can get the company in that 'How-To' to register here.

[4seasons]

Someone said that it might be cheaper using culvert w/ a cap? It is but only by a few bucks. The next pondless that we build I'll probally buy a manufactured well. Saves time driving around to the different stores. Anybody using the honeycomb system to allow more water around the well. Saw it set up at GIE in the Aquascape booth.

[Keith N]

ADI makes a micro and mini kit priced below a grand. The last one we did we had to use thier full size kit. That meant digging a 4x6 by 6 feet deep basin. The new mini kits are usually 4x6 or 6x6 by 2 feet deep basin.

[ianc]

I purchased a 250 gallon pump chamber from the local Concrete Precast Company - the unit came with a plastic riser manifold cast into the concrete lid (below is the link - the unit I purchased was round not square as the link below depicts)

http://www.newmarketprecast.com/syph...chambers4.html

I sunk this totally into the ground - purchased one extra green lid - cut a large hole in one lid (the liner was squezzed between the lid and plastic riser) the water would travel over this lid into the tank - the second lid was placed loose ontop and had openings for water to pass under (as shown on pic)

-the pump is placed into the tank and accessed thru the loose lid
-all piping was placed ontop of the liner
- there was a irrigation box to hide the valves (flush mounted in the river bottom)
-drilled a drain hole for winterizing

the CRITICAL item #1 was to make sure the pump was sized right so that if it does not pump the tank dry before the waterfall water returns to replenish it.

determine the gallons per minute - an time how long before the water returns (for my application it was 4 minutes then the tank would be dry)
it takes a couple hours of running to see a consistant level, I purchased three of those Grunfos pumps (continious duty) at different GPM - they are great + cheap pumps

CRITICAL item #2 put in a fixed/floating flow valve and set it to the running level approx 1/3rd from the bottom of the tank

I have pics of the tank inside - if I can find them

~ian

[ianc]

here is a under - construction pic

[Pelican]

I agree with Digin, on using a T rather than a ball valve, however, there are many situations where T's will not work because they are going to take too much flow away from the pump and you will loose effect.

The solution would be to put a valve on your T'd line. The pump would be running at full flow, you'd only be restricting the amount of return. There would be no additional strain on the pump and you'd still be regulating pressure.

[ecoscapes]

I worked for a pond installer for a full season -- he would use schedule 40 PVC pipe in place of aquascapes pondless waterfall system -- it's real pricey -- with a little work we produced it for a 1/4 of the price. I think it was about $250 for the parts. Use a 12in pvc Tee and 3 lengths of 12in tube and 3 end caps Drill 1in holes all over the pipe to allow water in assemble the 3 lengths on tee the inline ones make the bottom and the perpendicular one makes the rise. The two inline ends should be capped and the top one should be removable to allow the pump to be removed, and should be short enough to be cover by a few inches of rocks. Also create a slot in the verticle tube to allo the cord and water line to exit! It will make you several hundred extra dollars!

[ianc]

pondless waterfall

[GLAN]

I've used sprinkler valve boxes for the bottom of the pondless....water certainly fills it and no rocks, gravel or anything gets in.

[BSD]

We use 12" culvert pipe. This was the first one I did it on, and the only pipe I had available at the time. You get over 4x the amount of water in the space versus using boulders. This pipe in particular was solid, so we drilled a bunch of 1" holes in it to allow more water infiltration.

[P-Train]

Restricting the flow on a pump with a ball valve will do no harm. Also, that way it can be adjusted at any time if need be.

Instead of buying a kit from Aquascapes or whoever you can do this:

1)Dig your hole, install underlayment and liner.

2)Buy 12” drain boxes, stacked two or three high as the housing for the pump.

3)Set the drain boxes in the bottom of the hole, level, with the pump inside. Be sure to install a union to get the pump out if need be. The top drain box can have a solid cover of course.

4)Drill a hole in the side of the box for the flex hose with a hole drill. This will attach to the pump on one end and be the waterfall hose on the other end and be hidden with rock.

5) Surround the boxes with rock, which is basically filling in the hole and stop at the flush mark of the top box. Here you can choose to place a single thin stone to cover the top box or a combo of that and smaller river rock to blend in with the rest of the water feature.

[fitzg2md]

Ok, this is sad...but of all aspects of landscaping, knowledge of pumps is my forte! haha. I have used these for nearly 20 years in dealing with aquariums. basically the same brands apply to both worlds. Little Giant etc. And here is my opinion:

Restricting the flow of a pump will NOT hurt the pump at all given it is done correctly. What is important is that the pump is sized to approx. the right application. If you need a flow of 500 gallons/hour then dont use a 2000 gallon an hour pump and "ball valve" it down. This goes beyond simply restricting the normal flow, and will indeed lead to premature failure. However, using a pump rated at 800 g/h and tunning it down to 500 is not even remotely harmful. The ratio of rated capactiy to real output is the important number. I have been using the same little giant pump restricted to 70% its rated output for nearly 15 years straight 24 hours a day, 7 days a week....in saltwater to boot!

Now this is only true with magnetic drive pumps. most anything you come across in the pond world is just that. External pumps will be more efficient with power, as well as have a longer life if installed correctly (out of the way, open to the air on all sides, not in the direct sun..etc.) Both internal and external pumps are cooled by the water flowing through them. Internals more so than externals for obvious reasons.

Also, the most important thing you can do to keep the pump running for a long life is maintence when NOT running. When removing durring the winter, dont let the pump dry out. Keep it submerged (or in the case of an external, its guts wet) and use a good seal additive. Letting the seals dry out will kill a pump faster than any amount of restriction.

Most probably know all this, but I just thought I'd add what I got! -Mike