Hi,
I am sure you will get better answers but I will throw in my ideas. You should be able to get a Y adapter to split the water flow. For a small pond you may not find a pump with 2 discharges. The size of the pump will be determined by the size of the tubing, the size of the falls, and the flow you want. The wider the falls and the more flow you want the higher the gph you need, I would guess you will want 700-1200 gph. A filter is very helpful especially if you want to have fish. There are box filter that you can attach to the pump in the pond, or skimmers, or you can make your own. For the water discharge you can do it either way, if you run the tubing into a basin you can use that as part or all of your filter system, adding plants to the basin will increase the filtering ability. You may need a higher gph pump than I suggested but I would need a little more info. With 2 high power falls into the pond the water may be really churning and hard on fish if you plan on having them, and also any suspended particulate may not settle so do not over do it. Good luck

Thanks squirelette. I plan to have my two waterfalls on the smaller size, nothing crazy - just something to add to the eye appeal. Plus my overall area for the pond and waterfalls is not overly large. So waterfalls probably only a foot or two high at most, no high power gushing water or anything.

I was thinking if I had the basin for the waterfall, it was going to be more to help the water come out smoother for the waterfall and actually be covered up by rocks. But curious now with your comment about using it as filtering. Can you give me more details on that? Thanks.

Frank, from reading the problems encountered in previous posts the Y may not be the best way to go. It seems they are particularly fickle and difficult to coordinate. Could you have a single basin to feed both falls? Sandy

Hi Sandy, unfortunately I can not have the single basin for both falls. There is a large space between the two falls due to the layout of the main pond.

To follow up Sandy's point, would a dual discharge pump be a better idea? I found this one that has a 1900gph, but says when using both outlets the flow is cut in half. So guess that would mean have 950gph? Which actually falls into what people are saying I need for a pump. Am I correct in my thinking here?

http://www.pondbiz.com/home/pb1/page_1144_262/dual_discharge_pump.html

Frank, I just signed up, to respond to this thread, but have been reading here for years. If I understood you right, the pond will be 4 feet by 4.5 feet, by 18" deep, right? That's a bit under 200 gal. Also, I think the pump recommended above, for what you are building, is way too much. I have a double waterfall,(on a 7'long pond) and I used a T splitter, which I found in the sprinkler repair section at Lowe's, for 27 cents. It's black. It works fine. You can adjust the flow on both, or just 1 hose to get the flow you're looking for. I use c-clamps, or whatever I happen to have to crimp off the hose until I get it how I want.

I have a 325 gph pump, and my pond is larger than what you are doing, and my waterfalls are taller, and the water would shoot right off the rocks on the water falls if I didn't crimp it off. I know you're not building Niagara falls either. My waterfalls were made by me, no weirs on either of them. Yours sounds like a simple design too. The sound is also fine with the both of them running. You also have to remember that if the pump is too large, then the water will splash out of the pond wildly, and you'll end up just refilling it over, and over, and over....been there, done that.

You have a small design in the planning. I'd start with a 325 gph, and if you want more, just return it and get a bigger one. But my guess is, it's plenty for what you're doing.

Oh, and about the liner, and filter. I have a Beckett filter, from HD, about $30.00.(looks like a rectangular box-black) I supplement the filter media with a piece of pond underlayment though, which keeps the water crystal clear. I also add bacteria to my pond, which has no fish, but plants.

I built my waterfalls with the liner under them, and a surplus of about 12-14", all the way around, and made sure when I was constructing them, that no water leaked out of anywhere that I did not want it to. I specifically bought my rocks for the falls separately, and chose rocks that were cupped, or dished, or grooved, and them placed them carefully while constructing. Oh, and make sure you use rocks that have a sharp edge, or the water will not 'sheet off' the falls. Leave plenty of liner under the water falls, then after they have settled, place the extra liner between a rock, and the edge of the waterfall to hold it up, then cut it off, and then place more rocks on top to hide it. Hope that made sense.

Hi,
If you are making very small falls than you can go pretty low on gph. Say less than a foot wide with a very slow flow rate, I had a 700 gph with a 1 foot rise and a 6 foot run and it did not have enough pressure. I also have it running into a weir which reduces the flow. Getting a splitter with a flow adjust is a definite bonus.
As for the idea of using the basin for filtration it is the same idea as a box filter or anything else. The pump pushes the water through the gravel in the basin and the gravel catches any larger bits(mechanical filt.) and beneficial bacteria colonize the gravel and help filter out the nitrates etc.(biological filt.) add plants to the mix helps pull more nutrients out helping to reduce algae. Depending on the pump you get you may be able to add a sponge to the intake or even put it in a pot of gravel to keep the impeller from getting clogged. It is a very low tech approach but it works very well for me. I have about a 1500 gallon pond with a small box filter on the 700 gph fountain pump going to a spitter and a 2000 gph sump pump running a small preformed 3 step spillway planted with water mint and watercress. The sump pump sits in a pot of gravel to prefilter out the bigger bits that could clog the impeller. Hope this answers your questions

Wow, thanks for all this information!! Lynne, happy to be the reason for ya to join ;) Your pond seems just like mine, just a little bigger. You are right, my pond is pretty small in comparison to most people's ponds and the waterfalls are the same - just something to add some eye candy to my pond. This all makes much more sense now. So I think I am just going to stick with good ol trusty Lowe's and get one of their Tetra pumps (think it is like 350gph). Worse case if it isn't strong enough, I can easily take it back to them.

Now with the hoses going to the waterfalls. First question, what kind of tubing does everyone recommend, some sort of flex pvc that you can get at Lowe's for example? I guess size is dictated by the pump correct?

So I am thinking, I can run a line from the pump and put in a pvc Y connecter to split the lines. Also, any reason I couldn't put in an pvc in-line valve in the hose before the Y connector, allowing me to adjust the flow of water coming through the main hose? This would alleviate any issue that the waterflow coming out of the waterfall isn't what I am looking for.

Sorry, one more question. For the box filters I see in the stores, these just get connected to the pump and sit next to it in the bottom of my pond? Is there something I should be looking for in matching up a filter and pump? I guess I will throw in some pebbles into the little basin I make for each waterfall just to help filter debris there as well - anything else I should add in there?

By the way, you guys all rock on here!! Thanks!!

Hi Frank,
The filter I have is the kind that the pump goes inside it. It comes with the filter media and some plastic things for the bacteria to live in. Just set the pump inside the filter box, place the plastic things on top, put in the media, and close the lid. Drop slowly into the pond. As I said earlier though, I cut a piece of pond underlayment to fit, and sandwiched it between the 2 filter pads it comes with. To me, the holes were just too big to filter out really fine silt.

The pump will dictate the size of the hose. The hose on mine is 5/8'. It's black, and in the pond sections at the hardware stores. Comes in 20' sections. about $9.00. The link at the bottom is the Beckett page, and the filter I have is the 2nd one on the list, which comes with the 325 pump. I think I remember seeing the whole thing for about $119.00(HD). Lowe's has the same thing, under a different name though. Just make sure to match up the size of hoses while you're there, because the pump hose fittings are all different. I had the smaller pump/kit until I expanded my pond, and changed out the pump for the 325 gph. You could put a valve in, but I don't know if you will find that easily. But that would be great if you did. I had a hard time finding anything in 5/8' in black, but if yours will be hidden, it doesn't matter if it's black or not. My T is a 1/2', connected under water, with the 5/8' hose, very very tight, with a black cable tie. If you use a cable tie, make sure it's really tight, or water will leak out, and you will lose flow. You can use a metal hose clamp, but eventually they rust.

I'm actually taking out one of the waterfalls this weekend, because I want to put in a bog shelf across one end of the pond. My pond is only about 3' wide, so I need to make the most of it. I consider my pond more of a water garden/water feature, so I have the water flow really scaled back, because it does splash out, and it's next to a cracked tiled patio, which has grout.(water splashes out-grout gets green) It's as big as it's ever going to get though, because it's wedged in a corner, in the ground, inside a 40X18' screened enclosure.

Believe me, you will change/expand this no matter what, several times down the road, if you're able, because once you have a pond, you'll want it bigger. ;-0)

Here is a link that might be useful: Pond filter

Frank - I have ball valves just before 3 different wyes located in my system. I have found them to be the only way to balance water flow between the pipes coming from the wyes. I have a bigger system and more flow, but perhaps the principal is the same.

Mgeca, you make me think whether I would want to put a ball valve before the Y connector or if I should put a Y right at the end of each waterfall (hidden by rocks) to control each waterfall individually. Hmm???

My experience is that without a ball valve prior to the wye I got uneven flow in the pipes below the wye. Adjusting the ball valve evened the flow. Of course that was my particular system with different lengths of pipe out of the wye, heavy flow. Can't say if it is necessary for you, food for thought. You could indeed install a ball valve or gate valve for control at the falls. Might be other ways to accomplish. Remember that every fitting will create more head and less water.

I have a small pond, 4 X 6 X 2 feet deep. Single waterfall, with top about 18 inches above the water surface. Using a simple magnetic drive, guessing about 400 gph, with a fitting screwed onto the discharge size. This is the type of pump that comes with a 'black box filter' BTW. Piece of thick 5/8" black garden hose attached to the pump discharge fitting, snaked up to the back of the waterfall by going under rocks. Hose discharges under a flat rock on top of the waterfall and water then spills over several flat rocks on the way down. Gives adequate sound and visual interest. As far as I know you don't want too much water surface disturbance if you're growing water lillies. As the filter plugs up the waterfall volume goes down but I can live with that. Total cost about two bucks for the fitting..hose I've had for about ten years so I consider that free..john

Well everyone, wanted to stop back in and thank everyone for all of their help and suggestions. After much work, dealing with various issues (waterfall leaks) and learning as I go, my new pond is up and running. After some trial and error, I ended up with a 700gph pump to handle the correct flow for the 2 waterfalls. I was having alot of trouble with various leaks from the waterfalls resulting in waterloss (even with liner being placed under the rocks and back into the pond). So a couple weeks and a few bottles of waterfall foam later (finally got the hang of that foam and didn't end up wasting half the bottle), I am happy to say the pond is not losing any more water with the waterfalls, except a little from some minor splashing. However while I was having issues with the waterfalls leaking, I decided to put in a 2nd pump (325gph) that can be run whenever I turn the waterfalls off, as I don't need the waterfalls running in the middle of the winter and want the ability to turn off without affecting the pond.

I have some small little goldfish in the pond and 2 plants (although not a fan of the plants in the corners by the waterfalls) in it now. Now need to figure out what plants I need/want in there to help with the pond and get some larger fish.

Anyhow, thank you all for your help.