The Basics and Types of Water Features Filtration

Much like a large-scale aquarium, right off the bat a pond should be started the correct way using plenty of plants (including floaters and oxygenators), some fish or even tadpoles to make a balance with the plant life, and most importantly the use of proper filtration.

Designing your water feature is only limited by the imagination. To get you familiar, here are some of the most common types:

Formal Pond	Informal Pond	Pondless Waterfall

Every water feature has a water flow made up of an intake and an outlet, like that of a complete circuit that is flowing through itself. In most conventional circumstances, a skimmer box is at one end of the pond and a waterfall at the other end, which is more elevated than the skimmer. These two units are connected with a length of flexible PVC pipe concealed in the ground around the water feature.

Instead of allowing the water to just flow back into the pond at the other end of the hose, take advantage of the opportunity and create a fountain or waterfall effect. Your pond does not necessarily need to have just one or the other; you can have a fountain (or fountains) installed at a later date or even have your water feature designed with two or more waterfalls. (Note: unusually-shaped ponds may require more than one skimmer even for a single waterfall.) The “rapids” created by the fountain or waterfall are beneficial, and are actually necessary for keeping the water aerated.

AIL technicians can always retrofit a different or additional component to an established water feature.