Most of the barrel liners are only 30 gallons or so, much too small for what
you want to do. I think I'd look for a stock tank, maybe 100 gals. or so for
the water resevoir. I saw something like this on HGTV a few weeks ago: they
had the falls, then a small pool of water, which looked like it went under
the sidewalk . . . it was very nice. 100 gallons would allow enough water
for your dogs to have a fresh supply at all times, without you having to
refill the "bowl" too often G.

3-4' tall is pretty tall: get a start on the "hill" by digging the hole your
resevoir will be going into. Pack it down pretty tight. If you're not going
to be grinding the rocks into position or walking on them, you should be
able to get away with the thinner liner. Make sure that it's long enough to
overlap well into the resevoir, so there's no back flow/leakage. You will
probably need to secure the rocks to the liner with something called Great
Stuff, which is expandable foam insulation that you can find at Home Depot,
Lowes, etc. It will also help to direct the water OVER the stones instead of
under them, which is pretty much what water wants to do (path of least
resistence). Make sure you wear gloves! The stuff is nearly impossible to
get off your skin or clothes. When it dries, anything that is exposed can be
painted. Or take small pebbles and push them into the foam while its still
wet. If you're using a long, flat rock for the water to splash over, make
SURE that it's level "left to right" and tips just slightly forward. That
will make sure that the water falls evenly over the side and sheers over the
edge.

Within reason, the larger the tubing, the higher your water flow. In order
to get the head pressure you'll need, I think a pump of about 600 gph would
be OK, with tubing of about 1" in diameter.

Make sure your liner is wide enough to contain water from any splash, or
you'll be refilling it more often than you really want to. You may also wish
to pile your stones where you want them, and run the garden hose over the
rocks, simulating where the water line will be, to see how the water flows
and make any adjustments to the water pattern before you foam the rocks in
place. It's not that you can't move them later, it's just messy. Adjust the
flow: maybe you would prefer a trickle over a gush . . . then buy your pump
accordingly.

Most important: make sure you have a GFCI electrical outlet available for
the pump. You may also wish to consider a 12 volt light to wash over your
waterfall and add a little "mood" to the corner. Because it will be in the
shade, I'd use Hostas and Impatiens and other shade-loving plants around it.

This will *probably* take more than a weekend, but have fun! Ask more
questions as you get them.

Lee



"Jane Cooper" wrote in message
om...
In the absence of rec.waterfalls I thought you guys might be able
to help me and my apologies for not wanting a pond ..... well that's
not entirely true, I would like a pond but there are a number of
obstacles in the way to getting one:

The number 1 obstacle is my hubby who will not let me have one. He
thinks I'm the dumbest wife, wanting even just a waterfall beneath a
black walnut tree with another tree close by (our only available
site).... maybe I am dumb, but he's agreed to the waterfall so long as
I do the clean up. I have suggested a net under both trees in order to
get approval for the pond, but apparently I was pushing it However
even with a net, the number 2 obstacles are two large, water-loving
dogs who would simply use it as a large drinking bowl and for paddling
in (putting them - or the husband - up for adoption is not a viable
alternative).

So ...... I have a small corner of the yard where the earth is built
up and I'd like to have a waterfall that is about 3-4 ft high. The
water will flow down for approximately 8 feet and disappear under a
bridge that will be covering a 'holding tank' (I'm not sure what else
to call it, but it's in place of a pond). The intent is then to have a
dry river bed of rocks to imitate a stream coming out from the other
side of the bridge. This will go along with the theme we have running
in the yard - a sort of japanesey feel to it. My husband had a notion
that he liked bamboo and bought one plant. Two years on, we now have
it everywhere .... tall, short, thick, thin, rare, common, running,
clumping, yellow, black, striped - and all expensive and labor
intensive to put in. But I digress .........

My first question is about the holding tank - does anyone have an idea
(assuming my conveyance of the overall picture is sufficient) how big
this tub should be? I was thinking of sinking a tub liner for a half
barrel that you can buy at Home Depot (no idea how many gallons they
hold), but will this be big enough? Alternatively, I realize I could
just dig a hole and put pond liner in, but again ... how big a hole
should I dig?

Second question: is 20 mil pvc liner okay, or should I go for the epdm
liner to line the water fall?

Third question: I've been looking at pumps and have figured that I
don't need anything too powerful, however I'm not quite clear on the
pipe - should it be 1/2", 3/4", more? Or is this governed by the pump?

Thanks for any suggestions - valuable or otherwise - that you may
have.
Jane

p.s. Work starts tomorrow morning after my husband has slept late, had
two coffees, breakfast and messed about on his computer for several
hours ....... oh, and after we have visited the place where we're
going to buy rocks - evidently my penchant for wild colors is not to
be trusted when choosing rocks.