Pondless waterfall vault

[muddywater]

What do you guys use for a vault for the bottom of the waterfall. I think my pond shop charged me $200 for this piece of plastic last time, and i was thinkg of just using a 5 gallon bucket and cuttting holes in it. What do yall use?

[tadpole]

Depends on exactly how you are constructing the reservoir. Are you using the old, out-dated method of progressively smaller rock sizes and gravel or are you using either the matrix blocks or heavy ABS grating?
In either case, I always use pump vaults. They are engineered precisely for this use. I certainly would NOT use a 5 gallon bucket. The plastic will degrade over time and the bucket will collapse. This sounds like something a DIY would try.
I don't see where the cost should be a factor as it is passed on to the customer. I will never sacrifice quality to cut costs. It does not truly give the customer the product that they are paying for and many times it will come back to bite you in the a**.

[muddywater]

The vaults are a $10 piece of plastic they charge $200 for. Client does not have a $5000 budget. Either i can do it for their budget or i dont get the job and she doesnt get a waterfall. Another ls member gave me a great lead on a pump catch basin for $25.
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[tadpole]

Originally Posted by muddywater

The vaults are a $10 piece of plastic they charge $200 for. Client does not have a $5000 budget. Either i can do it for their budget or i dont get the job and she doesnt get a waterfall. Another ls member gave me a great lead on a pump catch basin for $25.
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What is the water capacity (in gallons) of this $25.00 reservoir (sounds like a kiddie pool from Walmart. Is it constructed of material that will enable it to maintain any integrity over time?

Sometimes customers want things that they just cannot, in reality, afford. They should be diplomatically informed of this. Again, quality should NEVER be compromised in order to bring a project within budget. Any low grade installation is a no win for both the customer and the contractor.

[muddywater]

This waterfall is just a bubbler out of an urn. Water displacement is minimal. 6' of 1/2" piping from pump to top of urn.

Last time i used a vault, but felt like a doush bc i wasnt creative enough to build my own vault.
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[tadpole]

Big, big difference between the water req

[tadpole]

Ignore the immediately previous post. LS screwed up somehow. This is what I was trying to post-

Big, big difference in water volume requirements between a waterfall and a bubbler. You should not need a pump vault, but you will need a basin of sufficient size and sturdiness of construction to allow for ease of access to the pump and to support the weight of a 5' urn filled with water without settling, cracking or buckling. Many sizes and configurations are available from several manufacturers. I would recommend a 40" wide basin. A 300-500 gph mag drive should cover your needs in the pump category.

[LeeRobinson]

As a dog owner, I have water buckets that hold about 20 gallons I would guess. The dogs don't just drink out of them, but down here in MS weather they get in them...splash around...and get out. They have held up for YEARS. What are they...

Cow "molasses buckets." They are much heavier duty than a 5 gallon bucket. Forget the kiddie pool idea...way too thin and are not built to last. The cow molasses buckets are very tough, thicker than a kiddie pool or 5 gallon bucket, and take UV light pretty good too. They are "double rimmed" but I use a skill saw to cut off the top rim to lower the top edge...loosing a few gallons of capacity.

I have since switched to stainless for a more professional appearance, but I used the cow buckets for probably 8 years...and the only time I had to replace them was when I had a dog that liked to chew for a year.



You can get them for free if you find someone that has cows.

[tadpole]

Originally Posted by LeeRobinson

As a dog owner, I have water buckets that hold about 20 gallons I would guess. The dogs don't just drink out of them, but down here in MS weather they get in them...splash around...and get out. They have held up for YEARS. What are they...

Cow "molasses buckets." They are much heavier duty than a 5 gallon bucket. Forget the kiddie pool idea...way too thin and are not built to last. The cow molasses buckets are very tough, thicker than a kiddie pool or 5 gallon bucket, and take UV light pretty good too. They are "double rimmed" but I use a skill saw to cut off the top rim to lower the top edge...loosing a few gallons of capacity.

I have since switched to stainless for a more professional appearance, but I used the cow buckets for probably 8 years...and the only time I had to replace them was when I had a dog that liked to chew for a year.



You can get them for free if you find someone that has cows.

Wha? Huh? And you have constructed how many Water Features?

[1idejim]

Originally Posted by LeeRobinson

As a dog owner, I have water buckets that hold about 20 gallons I would guess. The dogs don't just drink out of them, but down here in MS weather they get in them...splash around...and get out. They have held up for YEARS. What are they...

Cow "molasses buckets." They are much heavier duty than a 5 gallon bucket. Forget the kiddie pool idea...way too thin and are not built to last. The cow molasses buckets are very tough, thicker than a kiddie pool or 5 gallon bucket, and take UV light pretty good too. They are "double rimmed" but I use a skill saw to cut off the top rim to lower the top edge...loosing a few gallons of capacity.

I have since switched to stainless for a more professional appearance, but I used the cow buckets for probably 8 years...and the only time I had to replace them was when I had a dog that liked to chew for a year.



You can get them for free if you find someone that has cows.

i have a bunch of them, those that aren't steel are tore to pieces. the steel ones however are bent and smashed.

use the proper equipment for the task at hand. remember the 7 P's

tadpole has way too much knowledge to pass on his suggestion, i myself would use concrete as the base