How To Keep A Pondless Water Feature From Freezing
This Is How We Advise Our Clients To Keep Their Water Features Safe During Maryland Winters
How to keep a pondless water feature from freezing depends on if it’s a fountain or waterfall. Unplug your fountain and watch for ice dams.
Find the full story below-
Will Winter Break Our Water Feature?!
“What do you mean by break it?” asks Christina.
Matt crosses his arms. “I mean we need to look up how to keep a pondless water feature from freezing. I’m sure it’ll destroy it if we aren’t careful.”
Christina makes a face. “Are you sure? I feel like our pond contractor would have said something while going over the backyard stream designs, especially since we’re new pond owners.” Matt sighs. “Yeah, but I’m still uncomfortable about it. We just invested a lot of money into it and it looks so nice…”
Christina rubs his back. “Look, why don’t we do some digging on Google and see what we can find? I’m sure we can find out how to protect our water feature!”
Matt nods as Christina brings out her phone to start looking.
Here’s what the couple discovers:
How To Keep A Pondless Water Feature From Freezing
You can keep your pondless water feature from freezing in Maryland pretty easily. Most of the time, you don’t! It doesn’t get cold enough to freeze anything, even in the pipes. Fountains only really need it in extreme cold.
How To Keep Your Pondless Waterfall From Freezing
In Maryland, the climate doesn’t usually get cold enough for long enough to cause any issues. The only time you need to worry is if ice dams start forming. If ice damming is a worry, all you need to do is unplug and disconnect the pump from the plumbing.
Ice may form over the waterfall/stream, but water will still be running underneath the ice. At this point, the ice actually acts as an insulator from the cold. The water will keep running underneath.
Ice dams happen when debris or rocks begin building up ice that dams the waterway. Eventually, this forces water out of the sides of the stream. This will run the pump dry and cause damage. You can pour warm water over ice dams to melt them.
If you unplug the pump, make sure to drain the tube and store the pump in water. This way it doesn’t dry out and crack.
Keeping Your Fountain From Freezing
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“So we’re pretty much fine then,” says Christina. Matt nods. “Seems like it, and we can always winterize them anyway. I wonder what else we can find on this blog.”