Available in one hour, half-day, and full-day formats. For booking information contact: Davespeaks@aol.com

This talk covers the three essential aspects of designing and building water features.

1. •Containing the Water: Discussion of the primary ways to contain water, including concrete, plastic basins, and liners along, with installation hints and guidelines.
   

2. •Moving the Water: This section discusses pumps and the seemingly infinite details that go with them. Learn about how to gauge the size of pump to purchase, the merits of high efficiency pumps, how to protect the pump, expected pump lifespan, and much more.
   

3. •Filtering the Water: There are a lot of ways to keep your water clear and free from algae and strong odors. Natural filtration, bogs, swimming pool filters, biological filtration, pond chemistry, fish and plants are all discussed in this section.
   

Time is always allowed for a question and answer period, and hand-outs tailored to each presentation make it easy to take notes and retain the information for future reference. Depending on the location of the talk, there may be equipment from various manufacturers available for viewing, along with resources for obtaining the materials discussed.

For groups who are already familiar with the basics, I can include discussions of more advanced techniques.  Available topics range from principles of design to detailed technical specifications for construction, for example:

1. •The natural introduction of water to a site
   

2. •The proper way to arrange stones
   

3. •Working with elevations
   

4. •Building pond bottoms to match the sides
   

5. •Transitions at the water edge
   

6. •Sounds of various types of water falls
   

7. •Safety for kids, pets, and fish
   

8. •Methods of utilizing roof water
   

9. •Avoiding chemicals that cause algae
   

An ideal breakout session for Home & garden shows, Backyard railroad clubs, Manufacturers of related products (Pool and Spa Industry), Garden clubs, Botanic gardens, Landscaping companies, Landscape architects, Architects, and Garden centers.