What is a Pondless Waterfall?

The concept of a pondless waterfall

A pondless waterfall is a water feature that is built as a waterfall without a pond at the bottom. It was developed to take advantage the features and benefits of a waterfall but without the problems of a pond. In a pondless waterfall, the water flows out of the top of the waterfall and falls down into a receiving area of rock or gravel and then is then pumped back up to the top of the pondless waterfall. A pondless waterfall is also known as a pond free waterfall, or a disappearing waterfall, or a vanishing waterfall (although a vanishing waterfall incorporates a number of other important features and benefits beyond a pondless waterfall).

The child safety advantage of a pondless waterfall

One of the advantages of a pondless waterfall is that it is safer for children because it doesn't have a pond at the bottom and thereby reduces the risk of drowning. Although, it doesn't have a pond at the bottom, a pondless waterfall still does have water flowing that could still pose a hazard for small children. The rocks could be slippery, or the stream attached to the pondless waterfall could have pools of water along its path, which might pose a drowning hazard to small children. But otherwise, a pondless waterfall that is built to the appropriate scale of its environment is a great addition to the landscape.

Less maintenance with a pondless waterfall

Another advantage of a pondless waterfall is that it requires less maintenance than a pond. If designed and built properly, a pondless waterfall can be turned off when no one is there to appreciate it. Then the pondless waterfall becomes a dry creek bed where algae won't grow. The pump should last longer since it doesn't need to run constantly to keep the water circulating as it would in a regular pond. All this makes the pondless waterfall an attractive alternative to a regular pond when maintenance is an issue.

Save energy with a pondless waterfall

Since a pondless waterfall, if designed properly, is not running all the time; it will save you energy. This can be a significant cost for any water feature especially if it is a large water feature. You should consider the electrical cost of operating a water feature before you install it. Just look on your electrical bill to find out the cost of a kilowatt-hour, then get the wattage of the pump and multiply it by the hours in a month, then divide by a thousand and multiply by the rate. Then you will get the monthly cost of the water feature running continuously for a month. Now decide how much it will be worth it to you to have it only run when you want it to, instead of continuously. A word of caution, if your reservoir is not big enough, or it clogs up, you will not be able to turn off your pondless waterfall off without recharging it with water every time! If this is important to you (it should be), carefully read below about reservoir options.

The gravel pit as a reservoir for a pondless waterfall

This is the crudest and least expensive (over the short term) method of building a reservoir for a pondless waterfall. It is built by digging a big hole, lining it with a rubber liner, and then filling it with rocks and gravel. The problem with this is that the rocks and gravel take up a lot of the reservoir capacity, and then it will probably clog up and fail over time. This means you have to dig out all of the rock and gravel, wash them out, and then put them back into the liner basin. Then you start your pondless waterfall up again and wait until the next time it clogs up.

The plastic cube method for a pondless waterfall reservoir

With this method you purchase plastic cubes that you assemble out of plastic panels to form underground water storage in the rock pit. The problem with this method is that the cubes get clogged up with rocks and debris and you can't even clean them out. This is the worst option. It is a nearly unsolvable problem that will develop over time. Your pondless waterfall reservoir could also end up springing a leak if one of these panels breaks and punctures the liner. So leave the milk cartons in the dairy section of your supermarket and move onto the next method of water storage.

The tank method of water storage for a pondless waterfall

It is interesting that one Internet seller of pondless waterfall kits has made the full migration through all of these methods and has finally ended up here after rigorously promoting all of the previous methods as the best. Unfortunately, most of the other pondless waterfall kit sellers are still stuck on method number one or method number two.

A tank is the best method for storing water for a pondless waterfall because it provides 100% water storage and a much more puncture resistant container than a rubber liner. With proper filtration, it also won't clog up and fail like the other methods. But, not all storage tanks are the same. Some don't have ribs to hold them in the ground so they may pop out if the ground if it gets soggy and the tank is nearly empty. Many of them don't have built in ports to run piping through the tank wall. If you choose this method - and it is the best method - do some research and find the product and the manufacturer that has been around the longest and has the most experience with using tanks with water features.

A pond at the bottom of a pondless waterfall?

This turns a pondless waterfall into a vanishing waterfall. The idea here is that rarely does a waterfall empty into a gravel pit in nature. A vanishing waterfall lets you have a shallow pool at the bottom of your waterfall that vanishes into the reservoir when the pump is turned off just as the waterfall gets turned off. This is accomplished with a fixed skimmer in the water feature that is attached to a pipe and then run to the pump chamber.

A stream with a pondless waterfall?

A stream leading down to, and after, your pondless waterfall may help it blend into your landscape. If you take care to camouflage the inlet and the outlet of your pondless waterfall it will look much more natural then a pondless waterfall that starts and stops abruptly.

Location of a pondless waterfall

You should locate your pondless waterfall in a place that will complement the landscape but also can be appreciated properly. You may consider whether you want to view your pondless waterfall from inside your house or if you want to have the pondless waterfall next to your back patio or outdoor living space. A pondless waterfall can also be a focal point in an entryway.

Style of a pondless waterfall

A pondless waterfall could have a natural look, or it could be part of a sign, it could be part of a building, it could be part of a play area. The trick is to make the pondless waterfall fit into its environment. If it's supposed to be natural then use natural materials that blend into the surrounding landscape. A pondless waterfall is a wonderful concept that can be designed and built to provide years of enjoyment if done with care and consideration. Do your research and think it through before you purchase a waterfall kit or hire a contractor.

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