Waterfalls oxygenate ponds
waterfall, pond, stream, water, pump, flow, appearance, metre, fibreglass, rock, feature, lip, litres, pleasing, character.
Summary:
Waterfalls... some are noisy rather than soothing, splashy rather than comforting. It also helps and creates a far more pleasing appearance to install a waterfall that has "steps" in it.
This creates a more natural appearance and seems to slow the water down.
It also allows you to build character into the flow using pebbles as obstructions for example.
It is also often difficult to prevent leaks (and find them later).
So unless you are a real DIY enthusiast with some extra skill go and buy a preformed natural looking rock waterfall made from fiberglass.
Knowing the height of the waterfall inlet above the water level in the pond is important in order to be able to specify the correct pump.
A waterfall with a wide lip will need more water than one with a narrow lip to create a good effect.
In my experience the fibreglass rocklike waterfalls are perfect for most garden ponds and are well designed to handle the appropriate water flow for the size of the waterfall itself.
Some companies produce modular streams that when connected together provide very long streams which can add another dimension to a garden water feature.
Please note and believe me when I say very few garden ponds benefit from a waterfall as high as 1 metre and in my opinion this is probably too high unless a cascade effect rather than a fall effect is required.
As an alternative to a true waterfall consider a stream flowing into the pond and which falls from a height of say 10 or 15 cm.