Make your own cascade

Ever planned to buy a ready waterfall/cascade, but offered models were too expensive or did not fit your plan?
Build your own! There is not much you need and savings can be significant, not to say you can make a waterfall
perfectly fit to the space you are arranging.

What is needed?

  • a single block of styrofoam, size used in presented arragement was 120x100x80cm
  • styrofoam knife, but you do not need to buy a special tool, make it using a decent (rather big)
    soldering iron, just replace a tip with a longer copper rod flattened to around 3mm thickness
  • transformer soldering iron with a wire bent to a cutting shape for flat surfaces
  • two-component epoxy resin colored according to your wish
  • a pump (preferably regulated) and hose for connection of a pump with water outlet
  • a big plastic bucket or a barrel of at least 30cm depth

Planning and making

Try to plan an external shape of a block and also internal shape of the water flow.
Takie into consideration, that in narrow stream water will move faster, wide streams will have
slower water movement. Try to make steps, which will block some water in small basins just before
each cascade - that will avoid overfilling of a bottom tank with water, when pump will be turned off.

Shape planning

Waterflow shape trimming

Trimming continues, outer shape started

Digging deeper...

Shape finished

Cover with expoxy resin three times to seal and set up

Add plants, connect pump...

Final arrangement