How to build a basic water feature

If you want to build a basic water feature, most basic water features although they look totally different are in fact based on a few simple facts. 

Sump and pump

This is the basis for a lot of water features and small fountains

Alternatively you can use a plastic water storage box (sort of thing you may have in your loft) This is fine if you have a simple water feature such as a rock, where the water is pumped  through the riser pipe and runs down your object. You can opt to use concrete but this may crack over time, needs a thick base and waterproofing. 

Which pump should you use?

The pump should be capable of pumping water higher that the highest point your feature has. So in our drawing above if the "Object" (5) was say 1m tall the pump required would need to be able to pump to at least 1.1 metres, however as this is  the maximum a pump can pump to (1.1m) it will probably only have  a low flow rate (it will not pump a lot of water at this height)

The best suggestion is to have the next size pump up, or better still the one after that as you can always turn a large pump down, but you can not turn a small pump up

If you decide to build a fountain / water feature, please observe the JW rule