WATER FEATURE

In designing this, I found that there were a lot of variables that needed to be addressed. Not only is the visual part important, but the splash sound must be considered. I found that the distance that the water falls is a factor. Also the depth of water in the tray or trough affects the sound. If the water flows too fast, it will muffle the sound.

I made this water feature with recycled cedar fence slats. The top half of the feature is a rain curtain. I drilled a row of small holes in some PVC, one inch apart. There are 61 holes drilled with a 7/64" bit.

In the wood trough, supporting the PVC, I drilled the holes 1/2" diameter.

In the middle trough, I had to have the holes small enough so that water would puddle in the trough in order to get the splash sound, from the rain curtain. If the puddle is too deep, you don't get enough of a splash sound. So I tried to size the two drain holes so that the puddle would stay at about 1/2 deep. This ended up being 1/2 drain holes.

I made a well, for the water pump to set in. The water pump that I chose, is rated at 3200 liters per hour. It just barely pumps enough water up to fill the top trough, for the rain curtain. I should have gone with the next bigger size pump.

The hose traveled up the left side to fill the top water trough.

I installed a float valve to keep the bottom trough filled with water. This needs a constant water supply due to the water soaking into the wood, and from the water evaporating, and from overspray, especially if it is windy out.

I installed a switch to make it easy to turn the pump on and off. I even went as far as using nylon 6-32 screws for the switch plate. This was to make it electrically insulated, to prevent a shock, just in case the GFI receptacle that feeds the extension cord, wasn't working properly.

The screen is necessary to keep leaves etc. from plugging up the water pump.

The individual trays have drain holes drilled at the base. This is for balancing the water flow, so that just the right amount of water remains in the tray, in order to have a little water in it for the splash sound, yet not too much water that it overflows the tray.

On the right side of the middle trough, I drilled an overflow hole that will divert the water to the bottom trough. This is in case a hole, leading to the trays, gets plugged up by a leaf etc.

The hose and electrical cords are routed through holes above the water line.

After everything is assembled, I power washed the water feature. The cedar fence panels were from an old fence that was being replaced, after a wind storm blew down the fence. So the panels had lots of weathering on them. These pictures are actually of a different water feature that I made.