Was your water feature damaged this winter?
Well with what looks like the worst of the cold grim winter weather behind us, and the fresh spring weather sweeping in now might be a good time to do a spot of water feature “spring cleaning”.
The harsh winter weather may have paid a toll this year on your water features. While you were in doors sat by a toasty fire all winter, your water features were outdoors in the cold wintery snow. A properly designed and built water feature will suffer no weather issues so as it is maintained properly beforehand. However if you are an owner of water fountain of any sort, and your water feature was left all winter uncovered by a winter protector then you may notice some minor cracks in the actual feature. This could have happened for a variety of reasons with the main one being a water feature which was not been correctly covered causing the water inside to expand which has caused the water feature to crack.
If you are wondering what to do with the water in the feature before winter, the best option is to completely drain it. Once it is fully drained then use a suitable water feature protection cover to cover as much of the surface as possible, preventing any cracks.
If you are unfortunate and do stumble on a few hairline cracks in your water feature, they may well be fixable with a few easy steps and a little patience. The use of a sealant called epoxy may be able to repair any small hairline cracks.
If your water feature has picked up a few leaks over the winter season, there is no need to worry. Simply get your hands on some sort of spray seal. What this does is simply heals over where there is a leak. The spray seals are perfect for fixing any sort of minor leaks from any gaskets or pipes from the horrendous winter month’s wear and tear. Good thing is, is that they will repair cracks or leaks in just about anything. Essentially you are doing the job of an experienced repair man. Usually there are two types available, one being black and the other being clear. Generally the black spray is used for interior leaks and the clear spray is for exterior leaks. This is simply due to the visibility of the sprays.
Algae are another water feature damaging element that you need to avoid. This is the time of year where algae will start to grow. With the temperatures increasing this provides a perfect breeding environment for this bacterium.
What is algae you ask? Well, Algae are a large and diverse group of eukaryotic (complex-celled) photosynthetic organisms. The green algae are primitive members of kingdom Plantae, though other types of algae are outside the kingdom entirely. Land plants evolved from green algae about 500 million years ago. The algae are a paraphyletic group, meaning they did not descend from a common ancestor. Algal groups have independently evolved several times in life on Earth, representing a beneficial strategy adopted by parallel evolutionary paths. (Just a little science and history for you).
A simple way to prevent this nasty bacteria forming is the use of an algae stopper. Simply spraying your water feature with this repellent will aid in preventing algae from growing. A few key things to consider when using an algae stopper are that they are not suitable for fish or other marine life; they are not harmful to birds or any other animals and will also prevent a slime build up inside your water feature.
So remember not to worry if you do notice a small crack in your water feature. Take the appropriate action and don’t forget to cover it next year when the temperatures drop again, but let’s not think about the cold weather summer is next!
