Does a Pondless Waterfall Need a Filter?

As creators of the Original pondless waterfall, and the inventors of the Ultimate pondless waterfall kit, we often get asked the question "Does a pondless waterfall need a filter?".  The short answer to that simple question is YES!, but the follow-up question should be "Why?"  

When you look around online you will find that virtually every single brand of rock and gravel reservoir type pondless waterfall kit - with the exception of Ultimate pondless waterfall kits - exclude a water filter ...... again the follow up question should be "why?".

The first step in answering the question of "Does a pondless waterfall need a filter?", you need to ask the follow-up question first.  "Why does a pondless waterfall need a filter - there are no fish?".  To answer that question, we have even more questions:  "Does the wind blow?", "Does it rain?", "Is there dust in the air?", "Is there pollen in the air?", "Do birds like to bathe in water?", "Are there weed seeds, tree seeds, or any other type of wind-blown debris anywhere in your neighborhood?".  I can go on and on with question like that.

As you know from Our History, and my Pondless Waterfall Design Ideas blog that I built the Original pondless waterfall our of an Aquascape bog filter and an Aquascape biofalls filter near the turn of the last century.  I shared what I built repurposing their filtration equipment, and the photograph I took with the Founder of Aquascape.  Aquascape then used my photo of my Original pondless waterfall in both their product catalog and magazine to announce the brand new pondless waterfall concept.  Go back and find an old Aquascape magazine or catalog from the early 2000's and you will see for yourself.

I built the Original pondless waterfall that started the entire industry.  My Original pondless waterfall became known the world over, and Aquascape sold an amazing amount of pondless waterfall kits based on what products of theirs that I repurposed.  Aquascape's success at selling pondless waterfall kits spawned countless copycatters within the industry.  Everyone from Easy Pro to Savio and everyone in between made their own versions of the pondless waterfall kit that I put together using 'off-the-shelf' products from Aquascape.

Here is the thing:  Everybody loved the Original pondless waterfall that I created, everyone loved the look, the concept, and the entire pondless waterfall idea in general - but no body asked me how I had to maintain the pondless waterfall!  Everybody loved what I built, but nobody asked me how I had to maintain it!!  

Back then, pond kits were all the rage.  My company was one of Aquascape's largest customers in the late 90' and into the early 2000's.  We built hundreds of ponds throughout the Seattle area.  Every pond we built had a pond skimmer for removing leaves and other debris that the wind would blow into the pond.  Every pond also featured a waterfall filter for filtering dissolved organics.  

Pond owners would empty their pond skimmer as needed to keep leaves and other debris from rotting and decaying in the pond that would eventually become a food source for algae growth.  They would clean the pond's waterfall filter "once per year" to remove everything that the filter trapped all year long.  It was very basic maintenance, but at least is was SOME kind of maintenance.

Routine pond maintenance is important for the health and appearance of the pond.  A pond that is filled with algae is an eyesore. As it turned out, an algae covered pondless waterfall is also an eyesore.  

Since the Original pondless waterfall was the first of its kind, I used it as a test water feature.  I built the Original pondless waterfall, and the brand new pondless waterfall concept - but I hadn't figured out how to maintain it yet before I forwarded my photo to Aquascape.  Being my 'pet-project', I was the one who took on the maintenance chores so I could learn from it.

What I found out was interesting.  Just like ponds, pondless waterfalls are a magnate for wind-blown debris. Properly built ponds always have a pond skimmer for removing wind-blown debris from the water.  The rock and gravel reservoir basin of the Original pondless waterfall acted like a pond skimmer.  Leaves and debris that the wind blew into the waterfalls ended up trapped in the rock and gravel.  The rock and gravel acted as a pre-filter - like a pond skimmer to a pond.

The problem I experienced was in cleaning the rock and gravel.  The truth about algae is that it grows when it has a food source.  So it is important to remove as much debris from a pond and a pondless waterfall in the fight against algae.  More algae food sources, more algae.  Less algae food sources, less algae.  Pretty simply concept to understand.  But how can I remove the leaves and debris that get trapped in the pondless waterfall rock and gravel reservoir?

I tried turning the pump off and letting the rock and gravel dry - then I took a gas-powered leave blower to it.  The blower only blew the debris off the surface of the rock and gravel reservoir.  Then I tried using a shop-vac. I used a skinny attachment and the vacuum hose so that I wouldn't suck up the rocks.  Again, I could only vacuum the surface of the rock and gravel reservoir basin.

The only way I could remove debris from down inside the rock and gravel was to remove individual rocks and hand pick the debris from between the rocks.  As you can imagine, I hated hand picking debris from the rock and gravel reservoir basin!  My back and knees didn't appreciate me hand picking the debris as the only way to do it was on my hands and knees.

At the top of the waterfall, I had installed an Aquascape mini biofall filter.  While the filter was better than no filter at all, I found that the only way to clean an Aquascape biofall filter is by hand!  I don't know if you've ever tried to clean a water filter that has trapped debris for any period of time, it is a difficult, heavy, and smelly mess!  

I started noticing more and more algae growth on the pondless waterfall.  Algae started growing on the waterfall rocks, and all over the rock and gravel reservoir basin.  I simply could not remove all the debris that blew into the Original pondless waterfall.  Decaying debris trapped down inside the rock and gravel reservoir is a food source for algae.

My Original pondless waterfall started an industry craze for the positive - that is the good news.  The bad news is that nobody talks about how to clean a pondless waterfall.  Since I was so tired of banging my head against the wall trying to maintain the Original pondless waterfall by hand, I decided there had to be a better way.

So I invented the HydroSieve™ pre-filter that is super easy to clean.  It is a dual-use product, the HydroSeive™ is a pondless waterfall pre-filter and a koi pond bottom drain pre-filter.  The HydroSeive™ replaces the rock and gravel as the pre-filter in typical pondless waterfalls. The HydroSieve™ replaces hand picking debris from rock and gravel reservoir basins.

The HydroSieve™ works in conjunction with a HydroChamber™ which is another one of my inventions.  The HydroChamber™ replaces the slotted pump vault, underlayment, liner, matrix blocks, and tons of rock and gravel in the Original pondless waterfall.

Since typical bio fall type waterfall filters are a giant pain in the butt to clean, I invented and patented the easy to clean, backwashable Hydro Vortex™ waterfall filter.  The Hydro FilterSilk™ media inside Hydro Vortex™ waterfall filters acts as surface area for beneficial bacteria growth when installed on ponds with fish.  The Hydro FilterSilk™ media in pondless waterfall applications micro-filters dissolved organics from the water, and polishes the water.  

Rebuilding the Original pondless waterfall with what later became known as the 'Ultimate pondless waterfall system' made keeping the pondless waterfall clean and pristine super simple.  

Maintenance of the Original pondless waterfall went from hand picking debris from the rock and gravel to simply hosing out the stainless steel filter basket from the HydroSieve™ pre-filter.  Cleaning the biofall filter went from completely dismantling the filter to clean it by hand, to turning two valves and letting the pump backwash the filter for me.  Without a food source, algae didn't grow on everything so the waterfalls remained much more beautiful.

The answer to the question of "Does a pondless waterfall need a filter?" is YES!!  An easy to clean pre-filter for routine removal of wind-blown leaves and debris.  An easy to clean backwashable waterfall filter for the routine removal of dissolved organics.  Without a pre-filter, or a waterfall filter - algae feeding debris remains within the pondless waterfall.

Common rock and gravel reservoir type pondless waterfall kits do not have a pre-filter, or a water filter.  A waterfall spillway is just that - a spillway.  A waterfall spillway is not a water filter of any kind.  The truth is that all rock and gravel pondless waterfall kits utilize the rock and gravel as the pre-filter, and the waterfall spillway does nothing to remove dissolved organics from the water.

Debris stuck in the pondless waterfall rock and gravel reservoir basin feeds algae.  Dissolved organics in the water feeds algae.  Period.  End of Story.  

I did a Google search on "How to Clean a Pondless Waterfall" and this is what Google says:

• Drain the reservoir.  
• Manually remove debris.
• Pressure wash the rocks and reservoir.
• Rinse the reservoir thoroughly.
• Clean out the vault.

OK, well and good advice, but how do you do those things?  How often should you clean your pondless waterfall?  How do you 'Drain the reservoir?'  They don't tell you that you will need to remove your pump and attach rinse pipe to your pump before your can drain the reservoir.  Do you have any extra pipe lying around that you can use?  If not, you will have to purchase additional pipe to drain your reservoir - oh, and don't forget the fittings to attach the pipe to your pump.

How do you 'Manually remove debris?"  By hand is the only answer to that question.

For the next step, you must either own or rent a pressure washer.  What happens to all the gunk, algae, and other decaying debris that you pressure wash off the rocks and reservoir?  Make sure to have enough plastic to cover your patio furniture as pressure washing algae covered rocks makes a huge mess!  (I speak from experience.)

How do you 'Rinse the reservoir thoroughly?'.  How much water does that take?  How long will it take for you to rinse the reservoir thoroughly?  The reservoir is rinsed when the water your pump is pumping out of the reservoir runs clear.  Where do you pump all the dirty water to?

How do you 'Clean out the vault?'.  By hand.

There is no waterfall filter to clean is rock and gravel type pondless waterfall kits. 

Google's AI found this information over a large number of websites.  Those websites and Google don't provide you with the best answers for "How to clean a pondless waterfall?".

Here is how to clean an Ultimate pondless waterfall kit.

1. Turn the pump off
2. Open the drain valve of the Hydro Vortex™ waterfall filter
3. Using your ordinary garden hose, start hosing down your waterfall and stream - wash all debris and dirty water down the stream an into the HydroSieve pre-filter.
4. 
   Lift out the stainless steel filter basket from the HydroSieve pre-filter, empty it and hose it out. 
5. Return the stainless steel filter basket to the HydroSieve
6. If you have the HydroFlush™ backwash system option, turn the HydroFlush™ valve to backwash and turn on your pump.
7. 
   If you opted for 'manual backwash' simply use your garden hose to rinse water down through the Hydro Vortex™ filter.  NO disassembly required!
8. When the water running out of the Hydro Vortex™ filter's drain runs clear, close the valve and return the HydroFlush™ valve to the Filter position.
9. YOU ARE DONE!!!

Routine maintenance of your Ultimate pondless waterfall will keep it free of debris and organics.  Routine maintenance is so quick and easy, you can do it in just a few minutes, and without paying for extra pipe or renting a pressure washer.

An easy to clean pondless waterfall is a joy to own.  If it not easy to clean it will become a maintenance nightmare in time.  That is why Ultimate pondless waterfall kits include both an easy to clean pre-filter, and a backwashable waterfall filter - to make owning and maintaining your pondless waterfall a joy!