Water feature

Hi

I'm building a custom outdoor water feature which will consist of a D shaped area of about 1.5x.5m and 0.5m deep. A spout in a wall will pour out over a stack of stones. There will be no livestock in it.

My query is, will this water need constantly changing/cleaning/using chemicals etc to keep it from becoming a thick algae trough, or will the fact that the water is continuously flowing prevent this?

All I want is for the water to look as normal/clean as it can, but it will be in dirct sunlight so I guess I'm asking the impossible??

Also, is there a solution I can brush onto the inside of the bricks and mortar to make it watertight or am I best getting a liner?

Thx

 

So it's D shape, and made from bricks and will have an outlet, letting water onto stones?

1)
How are you going to hide the fixed outlet feed pipe? If you make it D shape you could build a small wall at the back and put the pipe up behind bringing it back in for the outlet.

2)
To avoid over splash the outlet should be no higher than half of the diameter of the pool. so if the pool is 1.5m wide, the highest you should have the outlet is 75 cm.
However if the water is to fall onto stones these will only serve to increase the over splash.
Over splash may be small but in time it will empty the pool and the pump will burn out.

3)
Water will turn green when exposed to sunlight, a river or stream doesn't do it because the water you are looking at is not the same water that you saw 10 seconds ago, where as in a water feature it will be the same water going round and round so it has time to turn green.
An example is the orb shape goldfish bowl most had when small, after a few days the water goes green.
For a water feature the easiest thing to do is to empty all the water and refill as and when required.
Yes you can get a "chemical" that prevents this from happening but it works out expensive for a small water feature

4)
There are various sealants available to seal brickwork to become a waterfeature, but these can workout expensive* as you have to render the wall and add additives too, so I would opt for a small pond liner



* Just checked 5kg of clear pond sealer £20.

3 x 3 m liner 35 yr gtee £11.

 

You could try this stuff to keep your water clean,
http://www.naturalcollection.com/products/aqua-hydrotech/water-feature-clear---250ml/

 

I use these in my small wildlife pond with a small fountain and my water is quite clear

http://www.gardencentre.co.uk/product.asp?id=22872&sr=gbase&ad=22872