Introduction
Thank you for purchasing your Atlantic Pond-free equipment. You have chosen the finest
products available for the creation of long-running, low maintenance water features.
Atlantic Pond–free features exchange the open water of the pond for a gravel-topped
excavation, maximizing visual impact while minimizing headaches and maintenance.
Typically, a pump placed in a protective vault inside a lined reservoir continuously
recirculates water over a stream or waterfall. A bed of gravel hides the basin, vault and
plumbing from view, leaving only the stream and waterfall visible.
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Eco-Blox Reservoirs
Upon start-up, the pump draws water from the reservoir to fill the streambed, from top to
bottom, until the water overflows back into the reservoir to complete the cycle. The amount
of water needed to complete this cycle is the ‘transitional’ water volume. If the reservoir is
too small, the stream too large or the streambed built improperly, too much water will be
withdrawn before the water can return to the reservoir. The water level above the pump will
drop and the pump will start to run dry, leading to overheating and damage. By calculat-
ing the transitional water volume, then designing the reservoir to hold at least three times as
much, the water level in the reservoir will never drop by more than one-third when the system
is started, keeping the pump safely submerged at all times. Assuming that it will take about
3” or 0.25 ft. of water to fill the stream and get the system recirculating, we can calculate the
transitional volume, minimum reservoir volume and Eco-Blox quantity by using the formulas
below:
A Note About Gravel-Filled Reservoirs
Because Eco-Blox are 96% void space, the reservoir can be dug to the size required for the
water volume needed. Backfilling with gravel fills 65% of the reservoir with stone, leaving only
35% available for water storage. A gravel-filled basin needs to be three times larger than an
Eco-Blox basin to hold the same volume of water. The Eco-Blox reservoir saves time, labor,
material and cleanup.
WATER DEPTH CONVERSIONS
1" deep = 0.08'
2" deep = 0.16'
3" deep = 0.25'
4" deep = 0.33'
5" deep = 0.42'
6" deep = 0.50'
Stream Depth(.25ft) x Avg. Length( ft) x Avg. Width( ft) = Transitional Volume
Transitional Volume x 3 = Minimum Reservoir Volume
Minimum Reservoir Volume ÷ 4.2 = Number of Eco-Blox to fill Reservoir
Transitional Volume x 9 = Minimum Reservoir Volume (when filled with gravel)
Transitional Volume x 3 = Minimum Reservoir Volume
(when filled with Eco-Blox)
