As always, PHCA’s Voice is full of the good news that makes Polish Hill so unique.

You can download the Spring 2008 Polish Hill Voice here.

Interested in expressing your own voice? We are accepting article submissions, story ideas and images on a continual basis. Please contact PHCA at phcapgh@gmail.com or call 412-681-1950. Like this following article, submitted by our wonderful neighbor, Pam Buchner —

Water Feature at 3040 Brereton Street
Pam Buchner

I was sitting in my backyard one day and thought to myself that a small water feature
would look great in the upper terrace of the yard. I don’t have much of a backyard, but
the way it was terraced lends itself very well to a small waterfall and pond. I searched
the internet for ideas and read as many books as I could get from the library. I learned all
that I could. After my initial investigation I decided what I wanted to do and followed the
process I listed below. It is conglomeration of various processes and things I learned as I
constructed the waterfall and pond.
1. Decide on the style of pond / waterfall you want.
2. Identify the area you will be using. Make sure that it is accessible for easy maintenance.
3. Decide on the size of the pond and how many waterfalls you want. I decided on
two small ponds and two small waterfalls.
4. Map out the area about 12 inches in circumference larger than the size of the
pond you want to end up with. The depth will depend on if you want to have live
fish or not. I decided not to have any fish.
5. Purchase a black pond/pool liner, tubing and pump from your local hardware
store. Home Depot and Lowe’s both have a variety of pond and waterfall accessories.
The size of the pump will depend on how much water you intend to move. I
decided on two pumps. (One small and one medium).
6. You will need some kind of stones to line the pond and for the waterfall. I gathered
as many larger stones as I could. I used approximately one hundred stones
of varying sizes.
7. Dig the hole to the depth you want and use sand as a base. Mine was twelve
inches deep. Taper the walls or the pond outward so that you can stagger the
stones you will place around the outer wall. You can use the dirt from the hole to
build up the sides of the pool and as fill between the stones you will use.
8. Measure the pool liner and cut to length. Line the pond so that it overlaps the
ground at least eight inches.
9. Start placing some of the small flat stones around the bottom of the pond. Start
building them up until they reach the top of the pond.
10. Start placing the larger flat stones around the edges of the pond until you get to
where you want to start the waterfall.
11. Start building up the larger stones for the waterfall. Position the pump somewhere
near where the waterfall will flow into the pond. Connect the plastic tubing
to the pump and place it behind the rocks as you are building them up. Place
a cap stone on top of the plastic tubing. Connect the cord to an external power
supply. Make sure that the power is off.
12. I used small gravel to line the bottom of the pond.
13. Fill the pond with water. Turn on the pump and adjust the water flow at the top
of the waterfall. This can be done by using a small plastic valve or pinching the
tubing.
14. I added some low voltage lighting so that it accented the waterfall in the evening.
It looks great. It is definitely something to think about.
15. To keep the pond clear I use Pool Shock. You can purchase it at Home Depot for
$2.00 per bag. Depending on the volume of water you have one bag lasts most of
the summer. I put a little in each a week. It keeps the water clear and kills any
insects.
It was a lot of work but it was all worth it. If anyone is interested in seeing it first hand or
would like more information, please stop over.