Waterfall and stuff

Last few days we were blessed with some sunshine. Last monday I started with making a waterfall and a little river.
The plan is to pump water up from a little pond to a small canal with a watermill (yet to be build...). The water than falls down and goes under the bridge back to the pond.

I used a mix of Portland cement, sand and some sort of sealing powder (poudre d'étanchéité) to make the mix waterproof (see picture below). It's mostly build on a concrete base that was all ready in place (top) and on a base of bricks and tiles (down level). I also placed little stones / rocks in the riverbed.



After I finished the waterfall and river I covered the whole with plastic after spraying some water over it. This prevents the mixture to dry to fast and get brittle.

Today I unpacked the plastic and this is how it looks at the moment. The blue arrows show how the water will flow (I tested it with water from a wateringcan )

Starting at the top level. The water is pumped up with a hose from the pond.


Waterfall and under the bridge.


Arround the corner:


Back in the pond;


I started to install the pump but all of the sudden the sunny day was over so the rest of the project is prosponed to a dryer moment...


Paul

This something I would really like to do myself one day and I admire those who have built water courses into their railway scenery.

Well done Paul, I think you'll be very pleased once you have some moving water on your railway.

My pond and watermill have given great pleasure. My biggest problem is setting the sluice gate so that the water wheel turns at a realistic speed!

Wow! That's looking good Brain! Beautifull watermill! Does the wheel spins to fast than, when the sluices are not right?

I was thinking to connetc a little electromotor on the wheel. Not to let it spin, but just the opposite, so it will work as some sort of dynamo. That way the motor powers a light (LED) or something when the wheel turns.

Thirsday I placed the pump in the pond on a dry moment. That evening my son and I did a test and it all worked well, fortunatly. It was to dark to take pictures so besides the ones from the pump the following pictures are made yesterday afternoon after work.

First; the pump and how it's installed:








Water is running!



If you look at the picture above you see a twig sticking out of the wall. This was the first leak actually... It sticks in almost 1,5 inch in the hole!! I think that it's some sort of tunnel ants digged while the concrete was still wet last week!!! Ants were walking in and out of it...
I fixed it today with some Milliput and a few small rocks. It did not leak very much, but I was afraid if I did not fix it the water will eventually make it bigger or wash away the ground at the other side of the tunnel.






And finaly the 'motionpicture'






Paul

I'm surprised you (or your son) didn't stick your finger in the hole to plug it.

KleineDicke wrote:

I'm surprised you (or your son) didn't stick your finger in the hole to plug it.

No, that only works with a dike...



For those wondering what this is about: click here.

Nice looking water feature Paul. Once it 'greens up' a bit it will look even better.

Great work Paul, your scheme really blends into the landscape, unlike my ready to run POLA watermill. There was a motor in my watermill when I bought it secondhand from German Ebay, but I took it out and let gravity and water do the rest.

Now you've got me thinking...... "could I use it to charge a battery in daytime to run the lights at night"?

What would I need to do?

Cheers

I was trying to remember where I had seen a watercourse similar to that - and here it is:

http://riksrailway.blogspot.com/2006/04/how-did-i-create-stream.html

Quote :

Now you've got me thinking...... "could I use it to charge a battery in daytime to run the lights at night"?

What would I need to do?

Actually... I would like to know that also...

I assume the electro motor will produce as 'dynamo' enough power to light one or two LED's during the time it's turning. I don't know if it can generate enough power to charge a battery, but than again I'm not much of an electrician myself...
Also, the small water pump I use only may run for about 20 minutes (according to the instructions, I actually don't know why?)
I guess 20 minutes is to short to power up the battery.

It would be great though...

Quote :

I was trying to remember where I had seen a watercourse similar to that - and here it is:

http://riksrailway.blogspot.com/2006/04/how-did-i-create-stream.html

Mmmm.... using liner / foil was a good idea... Had to think of that before I started...
Well, I just wait and see if indeed the concrete is gonna crack or cease to be waterproof...
Time will tell. Until now; so far so good...

Very nice water fall