Eric's Ponds 2000 - The beginning

The Beginning - August 2000

On my way to work and back every day, I pass by this waterwheel that stands on the banks of the Tennessee River.

I've always loved driving by and seeing it turn, so eventually I decided that I would have to try to build one. But mine would be much smaller than this one.

August 2-3, 2000

So in August I decided to give it a try. I went and got about $60 worth of treated lumber and started to work. I used 1/2" and 3/4" treated plywood. The wheel is 4ft. in diameter

My dad gave me a 3/4" steel shaft and a couple of bearings. The biggest challenge in building this wheel was mounting the shaft at dead center so the wheel would be balanced.

To my amazement the wheel actually worked! So now what?

I need a place to put it, and that leads to the idea of building a watergarden.

I had no idea what I was about to get into.

It was difficult at first to choose a location in the yard to start digging.

I decided that this hill would be the best because I could pump the water to the top of the hill and a small portion of the water could be diverted to turn the wheel.

This photo was taken on July 19, 2000. About two weeks before digging began.

		Just a few days after building the wheel, I started digging. I had absolutely no thought or knowledge of filtration or basically anything else related to keeping a pond. But there was no stopping me now!
August 19, 2000	August 24, 2000

I installed the liner and started adding water. It held approximately 1000 gallons and reached a maximum depth of 2 feet, 8 inches.

Notice the 4x4 posts in the picture to the left. They will be used to mount the waterwheel in place just above the surface of the water.

August 25, 2000

August 29, 2000

September 5, 2000

In September, digging began on the much smaller top pond.

Not really understanding how to go about building a stream, I used some cheap 4mil plastic to build a temporary stream from the top pond to the bottom pond

September 19, 2000

Original 120 gallon top pond

I wanted to face the waterfall so that we could see it from the deck and the driveway. This gave me the idea of putting a cave beside the waterfall for the water to exit into the stream.

October 3, 2000

All the rocks used for the ponds where found and picked up less than a mile from our home.

October 3, 2000

I wanted to build an arched bridge to go across the stream. It is 2ft. wide and 6ft. long. I wanted to make it long enough so that I could use it for whatever I would eventually decide to replace the temporary stream with.

October 3, 2000

By October, it appeared that my pond project was near complete.

WRONG!

Over the course of another year, every rock and object in this picture would be removed and redone

December 22, 2000

Winter set in and I used this time to try and learn about pondkeeping.

I quickly learned that I had done just about everything wrong!

The year 2001 would be a new beginning.

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