water feature emptying

Water feature emptying

water feature emptying in a few days?

Have you a water feature that runs out of water within a few days or even less? In this article I will look at possible causes and cures.

Below is a typical layout of a typical small water feature

A) Water jet

B) The statue / block etc

C) Ground level

D) Sump

E) Pump

F) Hose

The above example will work, never loose too much water (It will require occasional topping up due to evaporation) BUT the water is meant to flow (with hardly any water jet) gently down the sides / faces of the statue / block back into the sump, this is why the sump is just bigger than the "rock"

If you have a feature with a high jet as shown in our example above then it will cause the feature to empty within days or hours. (See the JW Rule)

Suppose your feature is designed so that a small flow is not suitable, what can you do? (As shown below)

A) Water jet

B) The statue / block etc

C) Paving slabs / paving blocks

D) Ground level / ground

E) Liner

F) Supports (Bricks)

G) Pump

H) Hose

As the drawing above shows first of all you need a bigger sump, this is for several reasons.

1) You can off set the pump from the feature so that you do not have to move the heavy feature to get to the pump for servicing.

2) So that the catchment area will catch all the water and return it to the sump.

If you do not have a large sump you can use a smaller sump and put a liner in the sump and have it cover the surrounding area, angled inward as shown in the above drawing, again to catch and return the water. You should not just lay a liner over the area and cut a hole above the sump as capillary action my draw the water back out, if you are going to use a liner it should be bigger than required and sit in the sump and surrounding area.

In this example paving slabs have been used to hide the sump (But you can use decorative gravel*) but they are on top of the liner, so again any water that hits these will be returned. Also as mentioned you can easily access the pump because it is mounted away from the main statue.

* If you opt for decorative gravel you will need to use a wire mesh with holes smaller than the gravel, it will also require supporting at regular intervals.

So far we have not mentioned the pump. All out door features should have a suitable pump. By suitable it should meet the following criteria.

1) Have a suitable head pressure / flow rate to pump water to the water outlet. (You can always turn a big pump down you can not turn a small pump up)

2) Adequate screening, it should be of the type that does not have a sponge, as with general dust and grit blowing around these will soon block / clog up

3) Not be an indoor feature pump for the above reasons.

Indoor feature pumps or small self contained feature pumps are cheap, they will work, but will not last the test of time, since that is not what they are designed for. Most indoor feature pumps have small suction cups as feet to hold them in position.

These small pumps are ideal for small wall features since they are usually mounted off the ground away from dust and debris

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What can you do if you change your water feature so that it has a bigger jet?

The easiest option is to install a liner in the sump and surrounding area, but the best option is to change the sump to a bigger one more suited for the job

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If you have either option and you think you are losing too much water, and you are sure it is not through evaporation you may have a puncture in your liner, in this case you will have to examine the surrounding area for a wet patch or remove the liner and hold it up to light and look for a small hole or tear, and repair it with a liner repair kit

This page is dedicated to Hilary Mandleberg