Water Feature Anyone Can Do

Water features like the one you are about to read are much too simple to not  even try.  Whether it is as elaborately regal as the one in front of the Bellagio in Las Vegas or one using a Home Depot bucket, or one in between, such as the one here, all operate with one simple principle.  A submersible pump at the bottom circulates the water up and down - coming up as either a fountain, or a water spout or a gently bubbling rivulet on the surface of  stones or slate.  At the bottom of this musing is one not-so-crazy idea worth looking into.

Anywhere from a ten-watt water pump (online choices at economy prices) to a few hundred horsepower pumps in giant fountains, will provide that hard-to-ignore but pleasing sound of water in motion.

What surprises the most is that it does not need a large volume of water in a reservoir to make this feature work.  Even a Home Depot bucket needs only 2-3 quarts of water, enough to submerge the pump, for it to work. For most home applications the ideal container could be a half wine barrel (or a whole one, if preferred) that can be purchased from most home centers. Wine barrels provide that vintage, unique look and affordability.  

The photo below is a commercial one.  A Home Depot bucket will look like that. Further below shows why this water feature is also called a "disappearing fountain".  This can definitely be a mini project, limited only by one's imagination.

 The water that seems to disappear below the stones actually re-circulates back up to the bowl through a PVC stand pipe and a small pump below.

I've discussed this feature in our home before in a prior blog but  it has to be revisited because one day it just stopped working. It was seventeen years ago when I did the project.  It means, alas, that I was then 17 years more limber than today.

After removing all the surface stones and the support grate and screen, the bottom with the rubber liner is revealed. Obviously, a bucket or other containers will not need a liner.  A wine barrel surely will.  Rubber liners can be purchased online as well.  The woodworking part is actually beneath and behind the liner, which served as the framework and support for the rubber to remain in place.  The grate is hard plastic that is also available at either home centers or water garden stores.  The grate will support a person's weight.

Below is the old pump that stopped working.

The new replacement pump (all black, left of photo) is next to the old one. 

But lo and behold when I tested the old pump in the kitchen sink, it still worked!  What happened, perhaps, was that there was just not enough water depth, which means not enough pressure "head", to prime the pump. Water depth is invisible from the top when covered with surface stones.

I had a decision to make.  Should I keep the old one?  I did. It was made in USA vs. the foreign made one (guess where?), so I stuck with the old one.

I put the grate back and started to replace the stones.

The screen provides a flat barrier to hold tiny pebbles from falling through the grate.

Well, it was all worth the back breaking effort.

There is something soothing and calming about water bubbling up over the surface stones, specially during those quiet moments.  Note: it is best that the reservoir should have water only barely above the pump.  That allows for water coming back down more space to travel for that classic water drop that reverberates in a hollow chamber.

For a sample of how the water feature looks and sounds, click the link below:   There are many others on YouTube.  

 https://nelsonwatergardens.com/disappearing-fountains/

 

Now, here is a not-so-crazy idea. Order a grate, shown below, a rubber liner and a 30-50 watt pump.  Dig a hole in your backyard to the approximate dimension  of the grate (actually, make the area slightly smaller).  Put the rubber liner, covering the bottom and sidewalls of the hole.  Install the pump, with a PVC stand pipe just barely over the grate.  Put stones on top.

YOU NOW HAVE A DISAPPEARING FOUNTAIN!!

Background story:

{I told this story before.  When we purchased the house in 2005, there was a hole in one corner of the living room. Apparently, the previous owner had the great idea of a little water feature that involved water to flow out of the top of the big stones into a tiny pond.  The idea was great except that the porous rock would get soaked that ended up wetting the floor as well.  So the previous owner decided to put dirt over the hole for plants to grow.  Without the necessary grow lights that idea too did not work.}

That was the reason why I did the water feature project.  Plus the fact that the home insurance company was adamant that the hole needed to be covered. That's the reason too that the grate must be able to support a person's weight.