Our water features do not need very much maintenance at all, but a little bit will help keep your water feature looking and functioning its best every year.

Spring Startup. Before turning the water feature on, its best to follow this guide to reduce any costly repairs caused by a lack of maintenance.

Filtration. If your water feature included filtration, you need to clean the filter pads/screen regularly. The time between maintenance cycles depends on the surrounding landscape.

Water Clarity. Over time, your water may turn green. This is known as "Green Water" and is caused by large algae spore bloom. These spores are usually very small and are very hard to filter out without using some sort of micron filtration. The best way is to use a little bit of bleach in the water to prevent Green Water. If you like the more natural look, you can buy real pond plants. These will help absorb the nutrients needed by the algae and will give you a very beautiful natural looking feature. UV Clarifiers eliminate green water. They allow the algae to clump together and either fall to the bottom or get filtered out by the mechanical filtration

Leaves and Debris. At anytime when you see leaves, sticks or any other debris floating on the surface or settling at the bottom, you should remove this debris before it starts decomposing. Decomposition of this debris can cause algae growth and/or create "muck" at the bottom of the reservoir and could cloud the water with a "brown" tint.

Pump. Always make sure the intake and the output of the pump are free of any obstructions. If the intake or output side of the pump should get clogged, the pump could suffer costly damage. Its not recommended to use any sort of small particle filtration at or around the intake of the pump as it can clog up prematurely and cause damage to the pump. This is VERY important for external pumps as the pump uses the water flowing through the pump housing to help keep the motor cool.
The Impeller of the pump can become caked with "junk" over time. So disconnecting the pump once a year and using a hose with a sprayer to spray the impeller of the pump will help keep the pump operating at its max efficiency.

Pump Cavitation. Cavitation can cause a tremendous amount of damage to the impeller of the pump. Cavitation is caused be a reduced intake flow from either a partially open valve or semi clogged intake strainer. During cavitation, the pressure of the water at the eye of the impeller is reduced so far beyond atmospheric pressure (14.7psi) that the water actually degasses, releasing dissolved gases such as oxygen, Co2, nitrogen, etc. When these gases are released, they create a lot of micro bubbles which will eventually burst into twoor more different bubbles which allow very small jets of water to be created at such a velocity to where the water its self will erode the metal or plastic impeller inside the pump housing. The impeller will look like its been used to push pea gravel around. Not a very good thing. This is something that will happen over time and not over night, so partially closing the a intake valve will not hurt the pump right a way. If you do hear cavitation, usually sounds like a lots of little bubbles being thrown around or maybe a tinging noise, than add a valve to the discharge side of the pump and close it slightly until the pump quiets down. This reduces the suction in the pump and will eliminate any cavitation.

Pump Priming. Some pumps may require priming before you can turn them on after the winter season or if you had to drain your water feature for any reason. This mostly points towards external pumps as internal pumps are self priming. To prime an external pump, close the intake and output valve and disconnect the output union fitting and pour water into the pump till full. Reconnect the union fitting, turn the pump on, then open the output valve and then open the intake valve. Some internal pumps for some reason will loose their prime. Usually this will happen if the output side of the plumbing has a "high point" where air can collect without being discharged. While the rest of of the plumbing may have water after this high point, sometimes, enough air will be trapped to fill the entire output pipe from the pumps intake up to that high point and not allow water to reach the pumps impeller. Its a weird scenario but it has happened. Usually disconnecting a fitting to allow the air to escape or installing a small ball valve at that point for this purpose can help as well.

Cleaning the Water Feature. When you want to clean the water feature, do not use a stiff bristled brush or aggressive scrubbing pad. This can remove specific sealer and/or coloring used. Soft scrubbies or sponges work great. Acrylic Aquarium scrubbing wands work good as well. You can use a light bleach and water mix to spray on the water feature to help kill and loosen anything.

Plumbing. Once every couple years, its recommended to take a large pipe cleaner to the inside of the plumbing to keep the walls clean and free of build up. The more build up of "gunk" on the piping walls or fittings, the more pressure the pump will have to work against decreasing the overall volume of flow produced by the pump.

Winter Preparation. Before the cold weather comes, you should always drain your water feature and remove the pump. Some run the water features right through winter with no problems. This is however, not recommended.

Union Fittings and Rubber Couplings. Union fittings are a threaded disconnect fitting used to disconnect sections of pipe or to remove the pump. Make sure the threads of the union fittings are free of any debris, the o-ring/gasket is not dry, cracked or overly flattened, and that the matting surfaces are free of cracks, debris and pits. Sometimes rubber couplings are used to connect the pump to the plumbing. If so, make sure the rubber coupling is not cracking or over bloating. Make sure the hose clamps are in good condition