Decorative Features 101 Chapter 4
Sizing Basins, Reservoirs and Pumps
Now that you know all the components and have a location picked for your decorative feature, you will need to know how to size the basin or reservoir to conveniently accommodate your feature without losing too much water to splash. There are two ways to deal with splash losses. First, you can choose a basin or reservoir that is generous enough to capture every far-flung drop, but this can be difficult with the taller vertical stones and vases, especially with a generous amount of water flowing.
Although exactly how much water will bounce off your item is a matter of speculation until you actually have it running, a vigorous flow of water can easily splash as far out as the piece is tall. If you have a 3 foot tall basalt column one foot in diameter, you may need a 3 foot splash zone. Unless the column is cut to flow water out over only one side, you might need 3’ all the way around the column, which would leave you with a 7-foot diameter splash zone. There are no 7-foot diameter basins, and folks put 3’ columns on 4’ basins all the time, so… how do they manage that? Well, this is where the second way to control splash becomes important. You always want to include an adjusting valve controlling the flow to each one of the decorative elements of your fountain – always. Now, a single valve controlling 3 vases just doesn’t cut it, so a valve for each of the pieces is absolutely necessary. With individual control valves, the flow can not only be adjusted to the size of the basin or reservoir, but also balanced between multiple elements simply and effectively.
Water Matrix Reservoir Sizing
What happens when the width of the basin just isn’t going to be sufficient for even the largest basin? That’s when Water Matrix reservoirs come in. It is fast, easy and relatively inexpensive to line as large a hole as you need with EPDM rubber and fill the void with strong, easily handled matrix blocks like the Eco-Blox pictured here. Originally designed to support the vehicular traffic of the parking lots they were installed under, Eco-Blox can support well over 7 tons of distributed weight – each! What’s more important is how much water can be securely stored in these reservoirs. Each Eco-Blox contains a space that is 94% available for water storage, 31.5 gallons worth, so a relatively small excavation can safely store tremendous quantities of water. With all that capacity, it’s no wonder that Decorative Water Features are often combined with Rainwater Harvesting equipment, creating storage tanks for rainwater, circulated and aerated by a decorative fountain set directly above it. Whether the system incorporates rainwater or not, the circulation is accomplished by one or, often, two pumps placed in a Pump Vault that houses and protects the pump(s) down in the reservoir. The best designed systems integrate double pumps with multiple valves feeding each decorative piece individually, each on its own easy-to-plumb weight distribution ring, maximizing adjustability and lowering operating costs. Water matrix reservoirs for Decorative Water Features are usually sized to capture splash and minimize evaporation, using that rule of thumb of a splash zone with the same radius as the height of the decorative piece. A group of six 2’ to 4’ high basalt columns would sit high, dry and pretty on an 8’x9’ reservoir, a 4x6 block layout, with no splash extending past the perimeter. At approximately the same cost as two 4’ basins but with vastly more storage capacity, 7xx gallons versus 1xx, and far greater versatility, these water matrix reservoirs are the obvious choice for larger Decorative Water Features, Rainwater Harvesting and commercial applications, not to mention Pond-free Waterfalls.
Pump Sizing for Decorative Water Features
The pump should be able to easily provide enough head pressure to get sufficient water to the taller features, and enough volume to handle multiple pieces if desired, with a little extra to be able to adjust the flow up or down with your ball valve or 3 way manifold. You’ll want to try to use 10’ or less of at least ¾” tubing to plumb your decorative pieces, because longer runs and smaller diameter tubing will rob flow through friction loss. With that in mind, as a general rule of thumb, you’ll need around 250 gallons per hour per foot of height per piece, so a 4’ tall basalt column plumbed with 7’ of ¾” tubing will require a 1000GPH pump. If you were to add two more stone pillars, a 3’ and a 2’ column, to create a grouping of three, you’d need another 750GPH + 500GPH, for a total of 2250GPH. Going to the Comprehensive Pump Chart to choose the appropriate Fountain Pump, Mag Drive or Tidal Wave2 model, you might choose the TW2400, housed in a PV1700 Pump Vault, plumbed to a Triton 3-Way Diverter, to pump exactly the right amount of water to all three columns each on its own Eco-Rise ring.
Now that you know all the components and have a location picked for your decorative feature, you will need to know how to size the basin or reservoir to conveniently accommodate your feature without losing too much water to splash. There are two ways to deal with splash losses. First, you can choose a basin or reservoir that is generous enough to capture every far-flung drop, but this can be difficult with the taller vertical stones and vases, especially with a generous amount of water flowing.
Although exactly how much water will bounce off your item is a matter of speculation until you actually have it running, a vigorous flow of water can easily splash as far out as the piece is tall. If you have a 3 foot tall basalt column one foot in diameter, you may need a 3 foot splash zone. Unless the column is cut to flow water out over only one side, you might need 3’ all the way around the column, which would leave you with a 7-foot diameter splash zone. There are no 7-foot diameter basins, and folks put 3’ columns on 4’ basins all the time, so… how do they manage that? Well, this is where the second way to control splash becomes important. You always want to include an adjusting valve controlling the flow to each one of the decorative elements of your fountain – always. Now, a single valve controlling 3 vases just doesn’t cut it, so a valve for each of the pieces is absolutely necessary. With individual control valves, the flow can not only be adjusted to the size of the basin or reservoir, but also balanced between multiple elements simply and effectively.
Water Matrix Reservoir Sizing
What happens when the width of the basin just isn’t going to be sufficient for even the largest basin? That’s when Water Matrix reservoirs come in. It is fast, easy and relatively inexpensive to line as large a hole as you need with EPDM rubber and fill the void with strong, easily handled matrix blocks like the Eco-Blox pictured here. Originally designed to support the vehicular traffic of the parking lots they were installed under, Eco-Blox can support well over 7 tons of distributed weight – each! What’s more important is how much water can be securely stored in these reservoirs. Each Eco-Blox contains a space that is 94% available for water storage, 31.5 gallons worth, so a relatively small excavation can safely store tremendous quantities of water. With all that capacity, it’s no wonder that Decorative Water Features are often combined with Rainwater Harvesting equipment, creating storage tanks for rainwater, circulated and aerated by a decorative fountain set directly above it. Whether the system incorporates rainwater or not, the circulation is accomplished by one or, often, two pumps placed in a Pump Vault that houses and protects the pump(s) down in the reservoir. The best designed systems integrate double pumps with multiple valves feeding each decorative piece individually, each on its own easy-to-plumb weight distribution ring, maximizing adjustability and lowering operating costs. Water matrix reservoirs for Decorative Water Features are usually sized to capture splash and minimize evaporation, using that rule of thumb of a splash zone with the same radius as the height of the decorative piece. A group of six 2’ to 4’ high basalt columns would sit high, dry and pretty on an 8’x9’ reservoir, a 4x6 block layout, with no splash extending past the perimeter. At approximately the same cost as two 4’ basins but with vastly more storage capacity, 7xx gallons versus 1xx, and far greater versatility, these water matrix reservoirs are the obvious choice for larger Decorative Water Features, Rainwater Harvesting and commercial applications, not to mention Pond-free Waterfalls.
Pump Sizing for Decorative Water Features
The pump should be able to easily provide enough head pressure to get sufficient water to the taller features, and enough volume to handle multiple pieces if desired, with a little extra to be able to adjust the flow up or down with your ball valve or 3 way manifold. You’ll want to try to use 10’ or less of at least ¾” tubing to plumb your decorative pieces, because longer runs and smaller diameter tubing will rob flow through friction loss. With that in mind, as a general rule of thumb, you’ll need around 250 gallons per hour per foot of height per piece, so a 4’ tall basalt column plumbed with 7’ of ¾” tubing will require a 1000GPH pump. If you were to add two more stone pillars, a 3’ and a 2’ column, to create a grouping of three, you’d need another 750GPH + 500GPH, for a total of 2250GPH. Going to the Comprehensive Pump Chart to choose the appropriate Fountain Pump, Mag Drive or Tidal Wave2 model, you might choose the TW2400, housed in a PV1700 Pump Vault, plumbed to a Triton 3-Way Diverter, to pump exactly the right amount of water to all three columns each on its own Eco-Rise ring.
