Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Apr 20, 2014 12:23 am hey all I built 2 waterwalls, about 3m high by 1.2m wide, shown here: http://s30.postimg.org/szhtgzhe9/20140203_203512.jpg The wall is villa board, then strip tiled and sealed with a tile sealer. At the bottom I have a 100mm wide by 50mm deep channel (runs the full length of the water feature). At the top of the water feature, I ran a small 20mm pipe with 1mm holes drilled about 100mm apart. The pipe is piped outside where a pump will be hooked up which sits in a reservoir. I hooked up the hose to the pipe and turned it on at various pressures. What happens with this stack stone, the water hits the wall and bounces off then ends up about 200-300mm away from designed catch at the bottom. I tried to install a baffle at the top to divert water directly onto the tiles, but still as the water trickles down it ends up bouncing off the wall and by the time it hits the bottom, it is hitting the plaster about 200-300mm away from the channel. I really want the water to trickle down and adhere to the tile surface. I do not know how to do this. I see these waterwalls all the time and they manage to keep the water on the wall. Any ideas? Re: Stackstone water feature - water splash 2Apr 20, 2014 3:58 am Water molecules have a strong cohesive attraction to each other. The 1 mm holes 100 mm apart sound like bad news. You need to 'roll' rather than inject water out. Allow the water to gently fall from the top. Stone is hydrophilic. The wall needs a hydrophilic surface to attract water (surface adhesion) but the tile sealer may be hydrophobic. Water also flows slower across/down a hydrophilic surface. Think of how water forms beads on a waxed car because the water molecules have a greater cohesive attraction to each other than the lower adhesive attraction to the waxed surface. Now think of how water spreads out on a dirty unwaxed car because the adhesive forces are greater than the cohesive forces. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Stackstone water feature - water splash 3Apr 20, 2014 11:46 am Thank you for the response. I can install a baffle at the top to allow water to free fall as you mentioned without too much trouble. However this is not the issue. The issue is the water is not "sticking" to the wall as you mentioned below. Given the tiles are rippled, one high spot anywhere on the wall throws the water off the wall and onto the plaster below. It is evident when I run the water down that the tile sealer repells the water (this is what it is supposed to do). But these tiles are porous. If I did not seal them, then over time they would fall off the wall. Do you have any suggestions of how to make the water adhere to the wall? Re: Stackstone water feature - water splash 4Apr 20, 2014 1:36 pm I would have to see the surface profile and finish to comment further as to the exact cause of the problem. If the wall's profile is breaking the adhesion, then there isn't a lot you can do. Small surface ripples on the surface should have no detrimental flow effect but the underside outer edges should be slightly rounded for best results. Put a couple of drops of water on a horizontal surface and see how they react to judge the adhesive forces. Water flowing 'backwards' on the underside should arc towards the wall due to cohesion whenever gravity overcomes adhesion, even when the underside has negative slope. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Stackstone water feature - water splash 5Apr 22, 2014 1:05 pm Here are some shots of the tile profile: http://s22.postimg.org/7edj9fs8h/20140422_130105.jpg http://s22.postimg.org/xnyls8e5t/20140422_130112.jpg http://s22.postimg.org/t3h0r1ju9/20140422_130135.jpg The only solution I can come up with is to build a bigger catch down the bottom and just let the water trickle/free flow into the catch. Re: Stackstone water feature - water splash 6Apr 22, 2014 5:26 pm chrip Here are some shots of the tile profile: Not good. It needs replacing. Fitting a wider catch tray won't improve the visuals; you will still see it splashing and that ruins the intended water wall effect. The water needs to retain cohesion, the wall's profile isn't conducive to this purpose. Have you tried it with a very low flow? How hard is it to replace? 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Stackstone water feature - water splash 7Apr 22, 2014 6:25 pm I have a similar stacked stone water wall outside and have the same result. I have an overflow style lip like this http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/AQUAEDGE-Sta ... 1289695655, when the dam fills the water evenly rolls over the edge and I built my catchment to be approx. 30cm deep and it still sometimes jumps that. I would try reducing the water flow to a trickle as SaveH20 suggested. Re: Stackstone water feature - water splash 8Apr 23, 2014 1:11 pm SaveH20 - yes I've tried with a very low flow... problem is the flow increases because of gravity and the height of the wall. I don't really mind the splashing, what I do mind is all the water ending up all over the living room haha... 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