| What a hoot! I'm learning a lot and fast about the | | | | basin at its base. With a liner pond, they teach |
| nature of on-line forums. | | | | that after placing the pump in the bottom, you |
| I can only speak of my experience with forums | | | | then fill it up with loose gravel. I'm thinking that |
| related to the water garden or water feature | | | | would create three problems: |
| industry. I have decided to join a waterfall and | | | | If you have to service or clean the garbage off |
| pond related forum and start sharing my | | | | the intake of the sump pump, you would first |
| somewhat biased views and experience with pond | | | | need to pull out all the stinky, slimy, poopy-laden |
| liners. | | | | rock. |
| As of late, I have discovered that sharing my bias | | | | The basin would not hold much water if the rock |
| towards pond liners with a forum full of pond liner | | | | takes up most of the space. When you turn on |
| installers is something like trying to pass out Bibles | | | | the waterfall, most of the water is sucked from |
| at a porn convention! | | | | the catch basin before the water can cascade |
| Some startling statistics that could explain why: | | | | back to the basin. |
| 1. More than 37% of all waterfalls have serious | | | | There would be no room to install an auto-fill |
| structural damage within 3 years of it being built. | | | | system, which means you would need to fill the |
| 2. 57% of homeowners say they're rather | | | | basin area often with a garden hose to prevent |
| unsatisfied with the way their waterfall came out | | | | the pump from running dry. |
| - after the project was completed. | | | | So I decided to be a nice guy and post my article, |
| 3. Nearly 1 in 3 waterfalls and ponds are leaking | | | | Pondless Waterfalls: Concrete vs. Liners, on the |
| water within 9 months of completion. | | | | forum. This was a really bad idea - much like |
| 4. 27% of all outdoor waterfalls and ponds have | | | | trying to untangle a nest full of rattle snakes. |
| pumps that are either too strong or too weak - | | | | Before I could post answers to several questions |
| causing unnecessary expenditures down the road. | | | | that were posed by a sincerely curious forum |
| 5. 63% of 'do It yourselfers' said they wish they | | | | member, I was locked out of the website. By |
| had the proper information from the 'get go' or | | | | guess who? The administrator of the site, who |
| they wished they would have hired someone! | | | | was also the owner of the site, the webmaster, |
| These statistics are from the pond liner industry | | | | and the very guy who made the original inquiry |
| itself (Bob Wilder, 48-Hour Waterfall). I can | | | | about pondless waterfall construction! |
| confirm and attest to these figures myself. I have | | | | According to him, several forum members |
| built over 1,900 concrete and rebar waterfalls and | | | | complained to him that I was a spammer trying |
| ponds over the past 26 years. I have ripped out | | | | to sell my waterfall system. What? I don't sell |
| and replaced dozens of defective liner ponds and | | | | concrete and rebar. Nor do I sell high-efficiency |
| replaced them with concrete ones with lifetime | | | | centrifugal pumps, or Thoroseal, or galvanized |
| warranties. | | | | grating to place over the basins, or anti-vortex |
| Pond liner guys will not attach more than a | | | | drains, or rock! So what did he mean by saying I |
| one-year warranty. | | | | was trying to sell my system? |
| They make no guarantee against rats, mice, | | | | Well I soon figured it out, and it turns out that |
| ground squirrels, gophers, tree roots and sharp | | | | they probably meant I was trying to malign their |
| objects. They know the truth, they just don't | | | | system, not sell mine. I did a little research, and |
| share it. | | | | guess what? Mr. Administrator and Mr. Domain |
| Some guy on the forum was questioning the | | | | Owner was also a pond liner installer. End of |
| need to fill up the catch basin of a pondless | | | | mystery! |
| waterfall with loose rock and gravel, thus covering | | | | Read my article Pondless Waterfall: Concrete vs. |
| up the sump pump. I thought this was a good | | | | Liner and you will get, as Paul Harvey says, "the |
| question, because I wondered the same thing | | | | rest of the story." |
| myself. | | | | Happy koi, peace and joy. |
| Water from a pondless waterfall is captured in a | | | | |