WATER FEATURE - this is the industry-wide and generally accepted term describing any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element whose primary focus is water. There are literally dozens of styles, types and sizes of water features from small to large, simple or complex, formal and naturalistic, man-made or natural.

The following is a list of some of the more commonly referred to water features along with their industry-approved official descriptions and definitions:

• Natural Water Feature - any water feature that would exist without the direct assistance or influence of humans or any human activity or man-made materials.

• Man-Made Water Feature - any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element that has been designed and installed specifically by human means and whose primary focus is water.

• Naturalistic Water Feature - any man-made interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element that has been designed and installed specifically containing characteristics and elements making it appear to be naturally occurring and whose primary focus is water.

• Disappearing Water Feature - any man-made interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element that originates from and terminates into a hidden underground reservoir or vault and whose primary focus is water.

• Live Water Feature - any water feature possessing the elements for or designed and installed with the intent or capability of supporting and/or attracting any individual species or variety of biological life forms.

• Sterile Water Feature - any water feature that is void of or incapable of supporting or sustaining biological life with the exception of human recreational or hygienic immersion, such as swimming pools and spas.

• Water Garden - any man-made water feature, (generally less than 20 inches in depth), whose primary purpose is to house, display and/or propagate a particular species or variety of species of aquatic plants. Though these features can be any size or depth, they are typically small and relatively shallow. This is based on the fact that most aquatic plants are depth-sensitive and readily thrive in a specific depth or a particular range of water depth. The particular species inhabiting each water garden will ultimately determine the actual surface area and/or depth required in that particular feature.

• Stagnant Bog Garden - any planting area continuously containing a sufficient amount of non-flowing water that categorically falls into an area between dry land and open water, basically being classified as a contained mudhole where a diverse selection and exotic variety of plants can be displayed, housed and/or propagated. A Stagnant Bog Garden can be either a self-contained structure or located in conjunction with and/or around any existing type of water feature. Stagnant bogs can offer a natural filtration alternative as water is filtered through any plant root systems present in the bog, thereby removing unwanted nutrients from the water. Because there is no flow of water through a stagnant bog garden, the filtration process is limited because the water must simply seep slowly through the bog area.

• Flowing Bog Garden - any planting area continuously containing a sufficient amount of flowing water that categorically falls into an area between dry land and open water, basically being classified as a contained mudhole where a diverse selection and exotic variety of plants can be displayed, housed and/or propagated. A Flowing Bog Garden can be either a self-contained structure or located in conjunction with and/or around any existing type of water feature. Flowing bogs can offer a natural filtration alternative as water is filtered through any plant root systems present in the bog, thereby removing unwanted nutrients from the water. Because there is a sufficient flow of water moving through this type of bog, they are noted as being extremely efficient and beneficial as a viable filtration source for optimal water quality.

• Rain Garden/Rain Water Harvesting/Bio-Retention System - any man-made landscape or architectural water feature whose primary purpose is the collection and storage of rainwater or groundwater runoff. These systems are used primarily for erosion control or for later use as an irrigation source or other possible supply needs.

• Aquatic Container Garden - any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural water feature or self contained aquatic ecosystem with somewhat portable capabilities, displayed within the confines of any structure, such as pots, pails, bowls or tubs of various sizes, and usually displayed in such places as on a porch, a deck or a patio and may contain fish and/or plants. These aquatic container gardens may have either a flowing or non-flowing supply of water.

• Natural Pool - any body of water smaller than a pond, (generally less than 18 inches in depth), typically found intermittently arranged within the confines of a watercourse, such as a brook, a creek or a stream. These small pockets of water generally display a significant reduction in water movement than their host element.

• Reflection Pool - any man-made interior or exterior, landscape or architectural bodies of water with either a non-existent or a relatively unnoticeable current of flowing water, whose primary purpose is to reflect the immediate surrounding architectural or landscape elements in its mirror-like surface.

• Formal Pool - any man-made interior or exterior, landscape or architectural bodies of water consisting of extremely clean crisp lines or geometric shapes defining the pool's perimeter. These pools are generally constructed with a wide variety of man-made materials, from cut or polished stone, to fiberglass or stainless steel, in an attempt to continue the appearance of neat, clean, smooth symmetrical edges and shapes.

• Pond/Fish Pond - any body of water, larger than a pool and smaller than a lake, (typically less than 1,000,000 gallons in size and ranging between 18 and 48 inches in depth), whose primary focus are the fish that inhabit the pond. A pond can also contain aquatic plants but usually does so as a naturalistic landscape element, water quality measure and/or to soften the pond's hardscape of rocks, boulders or other edging and construction materials.

• Wildlife/Habitat Pond - any pond whose primary design and focus is to attract and support biological life and provide necessary and basic habitat elements for the species that visit or inhabit the pond.

• Koi Pond - any pond, (generally ranging between 48 inches to 120 inches in total overall depth), whose primary focus is the housing, display and/or propagation of domestic and/or imported koi. Typically these features employ complex and sometimes elaborate filtration systems designed to deliver ultimate water quality for optimum koi health. It is imperative that koi ponds have a sufficient depth, as these large fish require being able to not only swim horizontally but vertically as well.

• Swimming Pond - any pond whose primary focus has been somewhat split between use as a fish pond and human immersion whereby the water feature owner and/or visitors can actually swim with the pond's inhabitants. Swimming ponds must allow for easy and safe entry and exit points for the human visitors as well as the need to carefully address water quality issues for human health concerns during immersion. It must be noted here that swimming pond design and installation involves extremely detailed ordinances, laws, regulations and building codes for any structure used in conjunction with human occupancy.

WATERCOURSE - any one of five fundamental interior or exterior manmade conveyances used to contain flows of horizontally moving water with less than a 30-degree angle of descent, as described below:

• Man-Made Brook - any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element comprised of a man-made horizontal flow of water with less than a 30-degree angle of descent, having less than 1,000 gallons per hour in flow rates and typically having naturalistic appearances or characteristics.

• Man-Made Creek - any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element comprised of a man-made horizontal flow of water with less than a 30-degree angle of descent; having between 1,000 and 10,000 gallons per hour in flow rates and typically having naturalistic appearances or characteristics.

• Man-Made Stream - any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element comprised of a man-made horizontal flow of water with less than a 30-degree angle of descent; having between 10,000 and 100,000 gallons per hour in flow rates and typically having naturalistic appearances or characteristics.

• Man-Made River - any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element comprised of a man-made horizontal flow of water with less than a 30-degree angle of descent, having more than 100,000 gallons per hour in flow rates and typically having naturalistic appearances or characteristics.

• Runnel or Rill - any interior or exterior, landscape or architectural element comprised of a man-made horizontal flow of water with less than a 30-degree angle of descent and having formal to semi-formal characteristics. Some runnels are narrow geometric watercourses moving around the perimeter of or dissecting formal patios, decks and outdoor living spaces. Runnels are basically any formal-appearing watercourse not possessing naturalistic elements or characteristics.

• Dry Creek Bed - though not actually a water feature, and they normally or typically do not contain water unless overflow or rain conditions exist, we have included dry creek beds here as having an excellent application when used in conjunction with other water features. A dry creek bed is just as the name suggests: It is a relatively small, meandering gravel bed with no flowing water, and used primarily to allow for drainage or the removal of excessive or unwanted rainwater or groundwater runoff from pre-existing water features or other sources.

• FOUNTAIN - any man-made water feature -- either sterile or live -- whose primary focus is water movement from spraying, shooting, flowing, dripping or bubbling from its re-circulated source.

• Weeping Wall - used as an alternative to the substantial flows found in a multitude of waterfall styles and designs. Weeping walls are generally rock walls of various styles, shapes, sizes or configurations that release hundreds or even thousands of tiny drips and drops of water in a weeping effect across the surface of the rock wall. These can be great ecosystems for mosses and ferns and even insect and amphibian life, either as a stand-alone feature or used in conjunction with other water elements.

• Water Wall - any solid wall of stone, metal, glass or other material that has been designed with the intent of having a flow of water evenly distributed over the entire width of the wall as the water flows or trickles down the surface of the wall.

• Formal Fountain - any sterile or live man-made landscape or architectural water feature application utilizing a single or series of precisely calibrated nozzles or ring(s) of nozzles that display various types and styles of ornate sprays of water into a formal pool or natural pond. Sometimes this category will consist of “any” fountain that is set in the confines of a “formal pool,” thereby classifying it as a formal fountain.

• Disappearing Fountain - any sterile or live man-made landscape or architectural water feature application utilizing any variety of available fountain effects that originate from and terminate into a hidden underground reservoir or vault and whose primary focus is water movement.

• Tabletop Fountain - any self-contained, man-made water feature found in a variety of smaller sizes and contained within various receptacles, rendering it somewhat portable and typically found indoors and displayed on a tabletop. These diverse water features are limited only by the materials used and the imagination of the designer. Tabletop fountains may or may not contain live fish, plants or other aquatic life.

• Wall Fountain - any fountain consisting of a sculpture or structure mounted directly on a wall that is designed to dispense either single or multiple outlets of drips, sprays or columns of water into a reservoir, shell, large bowl, basin or pool located or mounted directly below the sculpture. This type of fountain with Old World origins can be found in most any social environment around the world but is typically found in large numbers throughout Europe. Designs range from relatively simple applications to very artistically designed, complex and ornate structures.

• Spitter Fountain - any man-made fountain distribution device, either carved, constructed or manufactured typically made from stone, metal or plastic (but can be made from most any other material) and designed to shoot a single stream or multiple streams of water back into the spitter’s host reservoir or pond. Generally, these fountains are statues of animals or birds, that “spit” a stream of water from their mouths back into the host feature.

• Bubbler Fountain - any natural rock or boulder, carved stone sphere or other geometric shape, sculpture, basalt column or other natural or manufactured product, consisting of a single or series of centrally located holes bored through the structure, which allows large volumes of water to bubble up through the hole or holes and run down over the object's surface and return back to the bubbler's host reservoir or pond.

• Floating Fountain - any self-contained fountain unit, generally having a pump and a filter, either with or without lights, typically found in a larger ornamental ponds, retention ponds or lakes and spraying or shooting water in a single spray or a series of columns or sprays in an ornate display back into the host element.

WATERFALL - any of a variety of styles, types and forms of vertically flowing water with more than a 30-degree angle of descent, as described below:

• Sheerdrop-Fall - any vertical flow of water with a 90-degree angle of descent, designed to leave its host surface and free-fall through the air any length or width and typically land in a pool of water. The diameter and depth of the pool at the base of any sheerdrop fall will greatly affect the tone and pitch emitted by the falling water.

• Curtain-Fall - any vertical flow of water with a 90-degree angle of descent, designed to leave its host surface and free-fall through the air any length or width. Unlike the previous sheer-drop fall, these curtain-falls originate from an extremely straight, flat, smooth and level surface, resulting in a continuous “curtain” of water across the entire front-edge of the waterfall's weir.

• Fan-Fall - any vertical flow of water with a 90-degree angle of descent, designed to leave its host surface and free-fall through the air any length or width. It is virtually identical to the curtain-fall in that it also originates from an extremely flat, smooth and level surface. The difference is that a fan-fall is not straight but rather has a noticeable convex arc from left to right, resembling that of a fan blade or an oriental fan.

• Funnel-Fall - any vertical flow of water with more than a 30-degree angle of descent, designed to deliver a significant amount of water through a relatively narrow funnel, shoot, gap or concave arc, resulting in phenomenal water hydraulics.

• Cascade - any vertical flow of water with more than a 30-degree angle of descent, providing a more complex movement of water. These are consisting literally from a few to as many as dozens of multi-sized waterfalls of any length or width, all combined into one unit as the water is allowed to tumble from one elevational level to another. These waterfalls are typically known for their gossamer-veil effects.

• Disappearing Waterfall - any vertical flow of water with more than a 30-degree angle of descent that originates from and terminates into a hidden underground reservoir or vault and whose primary focus is the waterfall.