WaterShapes

The web site for all professionals and consumers who've made or want to make water a part of their lives

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Photo courtesy Selective Designs, Atlanta, Ga.
Photo courtesy Crystal Fountains, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Photo courtesy Laughing Waters, Palos Heights, Ill.
Photo courtesy Aquatic Consultants, Miami, Fla.
Photo courtesy Colorado Hardscapes, Denver, Colo.
Photo courtesy New Leaf Landscape, Agoura Hills, Calif.
Photo courtesy Drakeley Pool Co., Bethlehem, Conn.
Photo courtesy Mystic Water Gardens, Encino, Calif.

Aquamatic Most Durable Covers 728 x 90 2015

Welcoming Waters

For years, watergarden specialist Bob Dews has built his reputation by designing and installing streams, cascades and ponds of remarkable beauty and extraordinary realism. Lately, as he explains here, he’s embraced a new trend by executing projects in the front yards of clients who want a bit of tranquility to ease and invigorate their daily comings and goings and greet visitors with the sort of experience previously only found behind these homes.

Concrete's Nature

Words matter, says Paolo Benedetti, so he asks everyone to stop referring to 'waterproof concrete.' Yes, you can coat it or add things to the mix to make it impermeable, but no, without help, not even the best-formulated, densest batch will be able to ke

Foreign Correspondence

Working in remote locations is not uncommon, but as Ed Beaulieu relates here, moving a whole crew of U.S. pond-installation experts to a South American city to build three huge watershapes was a test of everything he knows about people, logistics and proj

A Simple Marvel

The pool and its spa may have simple shapes, says Jimmy Reed, but when they're finished as boldly as these are with glass and stone tile and custom-cut granite edging, you learn fast that basic contours pose unique challenges when it comes to producing vi

Lake Effects

The position and basic shape of the pool may have been predetermined, writes Scott Cummings, but the visual drama he added with his finish selections and a perimeter-overflow/vanishing-edge design made all the difference in optimizing the site's cool wate

Defining Delicate Tasks

After sizing up the situation with the Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle, William Rowley took the next step and developed an engineering plan to aid in restoring the plumbing system, structure and overall functionality of one of the world's most recognized an

#30: Tiled Finger Ledge

Who says a pool's safety features have to be visually intrusive? As Mike Farley discusses in introducing his brief video on an often-dull detail, even a finger ledge can, with the right client, the right pool and a bit of imagination, contribute signific

Borrowed Views

Borrowing colors and textures from a distant view. Material World rotates among columnists who share their insights into organizing plants and various materials of construction into compelling explorations of style, texture and color.

Playful Pursuits

Landscape designer and watershaper Colleen Holmes specializes in highly creative, richly detailed residential projects that embrace her clients’ personalities, are based on solid engineering and construction practices and reflect her own distinctly lyrical sensibilities. The project featured in these pages captures all those qualities and more in a fascinating tapestry of plants, hardscape and water that was a full six years in the making.

Communicate and Coordinate

Brian Van Bower often wrote in WaterShapes about topics near and dear to his heart -- one of which was the subject of his June 2003 column. To see what got him going (then and probably now), click here.

Gateway Grandeur

The Gateway Arch is an amazing feature of the St. Louis skyline, but Jim McCloskey has always felt a greater affinity for the Gateway Geyser that matches it's height and splendor.

Small Wonders

Help in working with truly tiny spaces. Book Notes includes reviews of a wide variety of publications hand-selected by a professional watershaper/landscape designer who sees their relevance in his life and work.

CRYSTAL FOUNTAINS VIDEO SHOWCASE

Click 'play' to watch the current showcase video

New Products at Watershapes.com

Fountain People Introduces WaterGush System

Fountain Systems & Equipment
Product information from Fountain People on WaterGush, a modular, all-in-one, easy-to-install deck jet system.

Fountain Systems & Equipment
Product information from Hayward Pool Products on its ColorLogic Laminars, deck jets for poolside applications.

Unblockable Drain from A&A Manufacturing

Construction Systems & Materials
Product information from A&A Manufacturing on AVSC, a linear, unblockable drain for pool, spa and waterfeature applications.

Pool/Spa Systems & Equipment
Product information from AquaStar on its angle-adjustable LED pool lights.

Pentair Commercial Updates AK100 Controller

Pool/Spa Systems & Equipment
Product information from Pentair Commercial Aquations on Title 22-ready upgrades for the Acu-Trol AK110 water chemistry controller.

Outdoor Living Systems & Accessories
Product information from Spark Modern Fires on its line of Fire Windows for indoor, outdoor and indoor/outdoor applications.

Modern Times

WaterShapes World (blog)
Two recent news items caught Jim McCloskey's eye -- one a comical story about a Dutch artist's inspired response to a perceived civic insult, the other a developing tragedy about San Francisco's apparent willingness to erase a splendid part of its rich cu