Backyard waterfalls come in special, user-friendly kits that cost about the same amount to purchase and install as a hot tub. These kits are designed to be as easy to use as possible for the handy homeowner. However, homeowners who don't wish to assemble the waterfalls themselves will often hire contractors or landscaping teams to handle the job.

A waterfall needs rocks, of course; and for convenience, many people choose artificial rocks over real boulders. Artificial rocks are virtually indistinguishable from real rocks and are much easier to haul and arrange than the real thing. Artificial rocks are the only illusion of backyard waterfalls. The water is real, as is the landscaping surrounding them. Even their cleaning system is organic, utilizing a filtration system containing friendly, contaminant-eating bacteria instead of environmentally harmful chemicals.

How Backyard Waterfalls Work

Backyard waterfalls are often coupled with a pond for a beautifully varied and multidimensional scheme in which the waterfall is the focal point. However, they can also exist without one, as a pondless waterfall and stream that can run as much as six feet in length. Naturally, the first design is more involved than the second, which was created for homeowners who, for safety or cost reasons, don't wish to have a pond on their property.

Waterfalls in themselves consist of a synthetic-and-stone lined basin filled with water, a pump that circulates the water from the basin to the top of the waterfall via a Centipede module, and the bacteria-filled filter which receives the basin water via a PVC pipe. This filter-- camouflaged by rocks, plants or flowers--is located at the very top of the waterfall structure, from which it releases the freshly cleaned water as the actual waterfall.