Pondless Water Feature Maintenance and Care
There is no such thing as a ‘no maintenance’ water feature, but a pondless water feature is about as low maintenance as you can get. Here are a few tips to make it even easier.
WHILE BUILDING YOUR PONDLESS WATER FEATURE:
A few suggestions to take into account during construction of a pondless water feature would be:
- Use
a pump vault for easy access to remove and service your water pump.
- The rigid plastic structure keeps large debris from getting to and damaging the pump.
- Rinse
the stone and gravel before putting it into your water feature.
- Less mud and sand inside the feature will keep your pump running freely much longer and result in having clear water much sooner.
- Run
the hose, from the pump to the waterfall, inside the liner.
- This will lessen the chance for water loss due to leaks or a broken hose.
- Installing an ionizer, in-line with your pump hose or check valve assembly, will mineralize the water to keep your pondless feature clean and clear with minimal oversight.
SUMMER MAINTENANCE:
Where ever there is water, sunlight, and nutrients - algae will grow. Keep the rocks in your water feature free of green string algae with applications of any of these various water additives:
- OxyWash by Pond Basics is a powerful powder formula that brings safe, oxygen-based cleaning to
rocks, waterfalls, statues, plant pots and other water/pond feature surfaces.
- Simply turn off the pump, sprinkle the powder over the desired areas to be cleaned, wait and then rinse. Some gentle scrubbing will loosen tenacious string algae.
- Microbial Algae Clean is a liquid treatment that will oxidize algae cells suspended in the water. Simply add one teaspoon for each 50 gallons or 0.25 cup for each 600 gallons twice a week for the first two weeks, then add once a week to maintain control of green water algae. Solution will treat algae throughout the water column.
- Muck Eraser Pellets is a sludge removing blend of 100% natural ingredients. It contains beneficial bacteria that helps reduce sludge and muck. Over time, leaf debris gets caught between the rocks and clogs up the system. Muck pellets slowly dissolve between the rocks eating away at the buildup.
- Installing an Automatic Dosing System makes adding water treatments to your ponds, fountains, and other water features easy. These dosing systems are fully programmable and have different types of water treatments available.
LIGHT DUTY MAINTENANCE:
Throughout Spring and Fall your pondless feature will demand the most attention. Here are some maintenance tips to help make your water feature most enjoyable during those warmer months.
- Use a shop-vac or a leaf blower to remove leaves and sticks from around and in your feature. The fewer that are left to decompose, the less muck there will be to clog up the system or feed the string algae.
- Consider installing pond netting over the feature to keep excess leaves and debris out of your water feature.
- It may be
beneficial to disconnect and remove the pump for winter.
- Be sure to keep it in a bucket of distilled water somewhere it cannot freeze. This will prevent hard mineral build up and dry rotting inside the pump.
- It is especially important to disconnect the pump if it is installed with a check valve assembly. This one-way flow valve will hold water inside the hose which can freeze and crack if it is not drained before winter.
- Sometimes in the Spring, you will find that gravel has fallen into the pump vault. Before you re-install your pump protect it by removing any gravel and making sure the bottom of the vault is free of debris.
- Muck and mud can settle in the pump vault throughout winter. If it is making the water cloudy, a simple water change may be in order.
Pondless water features are very popular due to the low maintenance needed. If you need any supplies or advice, Hoffman’s Water X Scapes is always hear to lend a helping hand. Don’t forget – we have pond and water feature services available here too.
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