To keep the water in your pool flowing, moving and clear, add a water fountain or waterfall to the middle of the pool. A fountain will circulate the water through the pool keeping bugs, such as mosquitoes, from settling in the stagnant water and laying eggs. The sound of a running fountain or waterfall, the babble of the water dripping into the pool, is relaxing and congers up images of peaceful brooks or vacations at the beach.
Using rocks for the base of the fountain can add a natural appeal to the pool that fake plastic rock structures cannot. Not only does natural rock last longer, but it also helps keep the water warm. The rocks are heated by the sun and that heat radiates through the rocks warming the water. These simple benefits of using real rock to create your fountain or waterfall in the middle of your pool are added to the benefit of saving money. Natural rocks, that you choose yourself, can be found along the beach, river or brook, and dug from fields or purchased at lawn care retailers for much less than a plastic fake rock system.
Materials:
- Thin, flat rocks
- Drill press
- 1/2-inch diamond-tip bit
- Cement
- Trowel
- Pool water pump
- 6-foot hose, 1/2-inch thick
Instructions:
- Drill a 1/2-inch-diameter hole in the center of thin, flat rocks, using a 1/2-inch diamond bit and a drill press. Use as many rocks to make the fountain as high as you want it. It is not necessary for the fountain to breach the surface of the water to aerate the water. Keep the rocks wet while drilling with a diamond tip bit to prevent burning out the drill and bit from friction.
- Drill a 1/2-inch-diameter hole in the side of the rock used for the bottom of the fountain until the hole reaches the center hole. This hole will house the fountain hose.
- Stack the rocks, with the holes lined up and the side hole cut rock on the bottom, placing a thin layer of cement between the rocks, using a trowel. Allow the cement to set for two days.
- Install a pool water pump on the outside of the pool. Set the pump in a discreet place, if the pool is in-ground. Do not plug the pump in to the power supply.
- Attach the end of a 6-foot-long hose, 1/2-inch-diameter, to the outtake on the pool pump.
- Run the hose to the hole in the side of the bottom rock and up the holes to the top. Push the hose until it is flush with the top hole.
- Set the rock fountain in the pool.
- Plug the pool water pump into the electric outlet.
Tips for the Best Installation
Use a stand made of cement to hold the rock fountain high enough to breach the water surface.
Be creative with the design of your natural rock fountain.
Use rocks that sit well with each other and build a large block of rocks that will become a birdbath as well as a fountain.
A. L. Fetherlin - Author of "Brynn, the Exorcist" and former day care teacher who uses her home as an experiment in woodworking and building projects.
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