fixing water fall - filling pockets and patchwork

[socalsk8r]

Below is a picture of my waterfall and where I've drawing blue lines are where the waterfall has little 'lakes' which you can see in the 2nd picture.





One can imagine a multitude of reasons for not liking those little 'lakes' at each shelf height, so my goal is to fill them in.
Simultaneously there are some areas which are crumbling a bit and you can see that on the bottom of the 2nd picture.

I'm thinking I just get some good size rocks, mix it with mortar and fill up the pockets, then add some mortar to stop the crumbling areas from getting worse. Maybe apply some sealer when I'm done.

My question to the forum is whether there's any good links to techniques for patching up these water features. any tips, etc? Should I just leave it be?

If I had a bunch more $ I'd just rebuild it, but I'm trying to get another 5+ years out of it and improve the functionality by filling in the mosquito breeders.

thanks
Anthony

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I have a similar setup with my waterfall but I never get algae. I actually contemplated filling in my pools too but I like the sounds they make...

Are you running your waterfall a few times per day to make sure the water in the pools gets exchanged with fresh chlorinated water? I run my waterfall 3 times per day, 15 mins in the morning, 30 mins at high sun and 15 mins at night. This ensures that the water sitting in the pools states properly chlorinated.

How is your pool water overall? I see you've been here since '15 so I'm guessing you know the drill....test results, test results, test result!! And a notarized letter that you swear you're following TFP guidelines....

 

[socalsk8r]

Quick response.
So I have owned the pool for 4 years now, and when I bought it there was a crack along the base so I just never used it.

I'm having the pool re-plastered now, and they repaired the crack along the base. So theoretically I have never used it although running it daily would solve the problem.

You may ask, why not have the pool contractor touch it up. Well he wasn't too interested in repair of this nature and I can't blame him.

The only reason I get algae is when it rains, which is rare in SoCal so I agree your method would be fine. I just thought it might be easier all around if I fill up the little ponds and be done with it.

And, overall my pool water has been fine and I have learned a tremendous amount all thanks to this site. Without you guys I'd be using pucks.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

So a little more detail about me and my waterfall...

As you can tell from my profile, I live in a desert so rain is more of a welcome friend than a nuisance. During the winter months, it's downright beautiful here and we do get some rain. Since no swims in the winter here (water is too cold) and because I'm cheap and don't like to pay for electricity, I "winterize" my waterfall. That is to say, I shut the pump at the breaker, drain both sides of the pump wet end, and I suction out the waterfall pools and the discharge pipe so that there is no water on the return side. I loosely cap the discharge pipe and let everything go dry for the winter. I also keep my small wet/dry shopvac handy so that, when it does rain, I just go outside afterwards and suction out the waterfall pools. The work is worth the effort because it means the waterfall doesn't have to run from Nov to March and, since it's attached to a 3HP WhisperFlo pump, that saves me some money on electricity. And, since the lines are mostly free of water, I don't really worry about freeze damage.

During the operational season of the pool, the waterfall is run daily as per the previous schedule to keep it all clean and clear. Doing all of that, I have never had algae problem.

 

[socalsk8r]

You may have just convinced me to leave it be, thanks for the input.


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