Articles written by guest contributors

Look beyond the pond

With today's wide range of safe, compact, efficient water features, nearly everyone can have one.

By Dave Ouwinga, President EasyPro Pond Products

People want water features. Nearly every DIY show you watch includes some sort of relaxing water affect. However, the type of features has changed greatly from a few years ago when a pond was about the only choice you could offer homeowners.

Today's manufacturers offer a wide selection of not only ponds, but pondless waterfalls, bubbling boulders, wall block water features, trickling vases and other statuary features. The new range of options has opened up a whole new market beyond the traditional pond customer.

It's about time; it's about space...

Ponds have always required a couple things – space to build them and time to properly maintain them. The introduction of pondless water features along with the abundance of statuary options are both smaller in footprint and require less maintenance. This, along with a typically lower price tag, has been the driving force behind their popularity.

In the early years, it was often the contractor who brought up the option of a water feature (pond) to the client. In today's world, the clients are asking for water much more than ever before.

Water features are not limited to homeowners either, in earlier days when ponds were the main choice, many businesses opted to pass on having standing water due to liability issues. With pondless and statuary type features, any risk is minimal.

A pondless feature gives you the sights and sounds of a waterfall without the liability or maintenance of a pond. Statuary features can be installed on decks, in lobbies of businesses, at restaurants and so many other places. They are simple to install and to maintain, so callbacks are largely eliminated.

New found efficiencies

Manufacturers have focused on making water feature products more energy efficient as well. Waterfall pumps often operate around the clock or at least for a majority of the day. These costs can really add up when cheap, low efficiency motors are used.

In the early days of the industry there wasn’t enough volume to warrant producing pumps specifically for decorative water features. So, often sewage-type pumps were used. The result was high electric bills and unhappy clients.

For the most part, today's pumps are miles ahead in energy efficiency and reliability. Magnet driven (mag drive) pumps are a common favorite for smaller applications. They last much longer than traditional pumps because they have fewer moving parts subject to fail.

Lighting is another area that has undergone big changes over the last few years. LED lighting has become the staple for water features, and reduces the overall operating cost for owning one. Often a 3 watt LED can replace a 20 watt halogen lamp. In a larger feature with 10 to 12 lights this can make a big difference.

Going commercial

After a few soft years of commercial demand, the past year has shown a strong resurgence in the commercial water feature market. Large pond projects with crashing waterfalls to formal concrete features with jets of water spraying up are very popular.

Water has an instant draw to it. Many commercial clients recognize this and embrace it into their places of business. From a shopping mall wanting to draw attention to its entrance to office buildings where employees can relax at lunchtime, water is widely used at the commercial level.

Large scale commercial projects can be much more involved than what many contractors are used to. These projects are no place for rookie pond builders. It's critical to have an experienced supplier who can review project plans, help you avoid costly mistakes, and recommend the right products that will meet the desired results.

The water feature market is alive and well. Those with tunnel vision who haven’t gotten out of the routine of only building ponds should expand their horizons. Those who look for the latest trends and opportunities in this market have seen a lot of growth.

Manufacturers like EasyPro Pond Products count on feedback from our network of distributors and installers to help chart the course for what is to come. Building water features is rewarding. It's hard not to love coming to work every day when you love what you do!

Dave Ouwinga grew up working in his family's 96-pond fishery business. He spearheaded the company's expansion into manufacturing EasyPro Pond Products for the contractor. Today EasyPro serves over 33,000 customers throughout North America. Call (800) 448-3873 or visit EasyProPondProducts.com