“Building (water features) with natural stone can be unpredictable,” says MacGillivray. “A builder can spend all day arranging the natural boulders and then have the consumer come home to say they would like to see them arranged differently.”
“It’s too much like artwork, very unpredictable, and the labour costs can get out of control rather quickly.”
When installing component systems, a crew of four workers can arrange everything in roughly half a day to a full day.
“Of course, a big cave/grotto job, with misters and a waterslide, can take closer to three weeks to complete,” says MacGillivray. “These elements, however, create fun and excitement—especially for children. Kids really love the intrigue of caves and grottos.”
For extremely small backyards and patios, there are vertical water features that take up minimal space and can even work without being installed next to a pool or pond.
“Some vertical walls stand approximately 2.1 m (7 ft) tall and not only act as a visual barrier, but also as a solid wall sound barrier,” says Hegedus.
These standalone water features are available with an arc of water or with water cascading down a rock wall to provide an instantaneous visual and noise barrier in any backyard living space.
Landscaping help
A property that is well-landscaped with plants, especially one with substantial mass, such as trees and shrubs, helps block out unwanted sights, while also absorbing some sound. Plants are not sufficient in solving the problem on their own; however, they do absorb enough sound to merit their use as complementary pieces in any noise-barrier project.
The plants can be grown in front or back of a water feature. Evergreen shrubs and trees are best as they will aid in landscape noise reduction year-round. Evergreens and hedges that help absorb sound, as well as larger water features that mask noise are also excellent visual barriers in the backyard.
“I almost always install planters on the water features,” says Hegedus. “The plants and landscaping around the feature also help to block out the neighbours in a really beautiful manner.”
Lenz also recommends using outdoor lighting to highlight the landscaping, as it draws the eyes to the trees when lit, and away from the neighbour’s house which one is trying to hide.
“We often add a pergola near the water feature to accentuate and support evergreen plantings like jasmine vines,” says Lenz.
Planting areas can be planned into or on the backside of the water feature. This is true even of slides. Incorporating natural elements such as potted plants or pockets of greenery into the mix helps to soften the edges and provide more of an oasis effect. Lenz says the technique of planning landscaping into water feature designs has been important to the success of his projects.
With almost 50 years of designing and auditing public recreation water facilities, I recall encountering several instances where sprays and fountains were overly noisy such that the sounds
of splashing water promoted the natural instinct to urinate……………….not a desired result in some situations for sure.
J.D. Paton
CEO, Aquatic Consultants Incorporated