Pond-Free 102 Chapter 3
Keeping Reservoir Size as Small as Possible
Obviously, the less water needed to get the system running, the less time, effort and materials you’ll need building the reservoir. The idea is to build the falls and stream to require as little water as possible to get the feature to cycle, and every little bit counts. It would take a hole twice as large (24 vs. 12 cubic feet) to supply 6” of water rather than the 3” in our example to get the stream cycling. You save a lot of work, time and materials by either making the stream and falls very shallow, or by designing the pools to retain water when the system is turned off so little water is needed to get things going.
Obviously, the less water needed to get the system running, the less time, effort and materials you’ll need building the reservoir. The idea is to build the falls and stream to require as little water as possible to get the feature to cycle, and every little bit counts. It would take a hole twice as large (24 vs. 12 cubic feet) to supply 6” of water rather than the 3” in our example to get the stream cycling. You save a lot of work, time and materials by either making the stream and falls very shallow, or by designing the pools to retain water when the system is turned off so little water is needed to get things going.
