How to make spa to pool waterfall flow better

[ChadJ]

I have a raised spa with a waterfall down into the pool. The waterfall spillover is a 1" thick 12" x 24" travertine piece that extends maybe 3/4 of an inch out beyond the tile in front of the waterfall. However, unless I really have the pump up high or am diverting most of the return into the spa, the waterfall tends to flow down along the wall rather than cascading in front of the wall. This weekend I experimented with putting a small piece of thin, flat rubber under the bottom outside lip of the travertine, sticking out slightly. It actually worked really well and had the waterfall flowing down nice, even at slower pump speeds. You couldn't even see the piece I stuck under there since the waterfall flowed in front of it. However, the adhesive tape that came on it only held on for 20 minutes or so, which is pretty much what I expected. (Just an experiment.) But now that I know I can manipulate the edge to make the waterfall perform better and not run down the tile wall, I'm curious if there are any more permanent solutions or products on the market designed for this type of thing. My searches here and on google didn't turn up much. I could certainly get a more durable adhesive to make my plastic/rubber concept last longer, but before I do, I wanted to see if anyone has another approach to consider.

Thanks in advance.

-Chad

 

[atttech-2]

I saw 2 suggestions in the last day or two can't recall who to give credit but one is you can run a bead of silicone calk under the stone or a more permanent solution is use a diamond blade grinder to cut a slit under the lip of the stone 1/8 to 1/4 deep. It creates a drip edge to keep the water from wicking back on the wall

 

[SouthFL2016]

I have the same issue with my spa waterfall...am still trying to find a solution.

Question: Is the edge of your travertine spillover rounded-off or sharp?

My pool guy rounded the edge, which seems to encourage the water to hug the travertine and aim for the wall.

 

[ChadJ]

The silicone bead is an interesting idea. Trying to think how I could neatly apply it on there. Have a few ideas in mind. Thanks! my travertine is not intentionally rounded, but the tumbled nature of the stone doesn't make it vary sharp either. It's the typical edge of a travertine paver piece. I wonder how long the silicone will hold up vs a glued in piece of plastic or rubber. It will be a salt pool of that matters any.

 

[durango118]

Good topic. I'm dealing with this right now. My issue is that I had glass tile replaced with a bullnose tile and now the waterfall isn't so much a waterfall any longer. The water just hugs the lower wall and is making white hard water stains.

 

[Pool Clown]

The leading edge of the waterfall must have a straight or sharp edge to sheet or keep from hugging the wall. If you want a diffused or "rough" cascade, then you would make the leading edge rounded, and cut a groove on the underside to keep the water off the wall (as stated above).