Waterfall cesspool

[Luric]

We have a raised wall waterfall attached to our pool which dumps water about 3-4 ft into the pool. It uses the same filtration but has its own pump. For various reasons we almost never use it, so of course it becomes a virtual cesspool of algae, debris, dead mice & mosquitos. Even if we don't turn it on, once it rains again (like it will tonight), it all overflows into the pool. It's about 4 ft deep, so it never evaporates entirely. What do other people do? Does it need to be so deep? Can we extend a pipe for the water flow and fill most of the space with rocks? Should I be running it daily, and if so for how long (which would get pricey)? At this point I just want to cement the whole thing over and call it a day.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I have a waterfall with 4 small pools in that each hold a couple of gallons of water each. The PB built it with a ridiculously overpowered 3HP Pentair WhisperFlow pump so it is very expensive to run. Here's what I do -

First, it runs three times per day for 30mins each time. This ensures the water exchange is always fresh.

Second, during the winter months, I "winterize" the waterfall by shutting down the pump and draining the line that feeds it as well as the pump. This ensures that when the freeze protect circuit engages, the pump doesn't run all night.

I thought about trying to modify it by filling in the pools with concrete but that would simply ruin the look of it. It's extra maintenance for sure and I would design a different waterfall in a heartbeat, but it is what it is. You have to run waterfalls or else you get the problems that you have.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Owning a good shopvac (wet/dry) is essential for waterfall maintenance.

 

[stebs]

Could you put the waterfall pump on a timer and run it for say 5 minutes twice a day?