You Can’t Win Them All

Look closely at this picture and you will see what’s wrong with the world today from my view. You won’t catch me talking politics on Facebook but I will talk ponds. Hah! I was in Orlando at the same time the “Orlando Eye” opened to the public last week. The Eye is one of the largest Ferris wheels in the world. At its base is a large decorative waterfeature that Aquascape was part of the bidding process on through a local Certified Aquascape Contractor.

Our design was our typ…ical ecosystem approach we always follow whether we are specifying residential or commercial work. We keep the design process simple and work with Mother Nature treating the water biologically. The winning design used traditional construction methods, filters and pumps designed for pools and concrete versus liner construction. And the results were exactly what we’ve see in the vast majority of the commercial designs out there.

We found multiple low edges along the stream. 1000’s of gallons of chemically treated water is overflowing the streams bank everyday while needing a continuously running fill line to keep it running. 99 out of 100 people in the general populace never will notice the design or engineering flaws that a professional will. Our simplistic approach which minimizes the over complicated engineering and treats water biologically versus chemically is still vastly the exception to the rule on commercial construction. And here’s the kicker; our approach is more often cheaper with less corresponding upkeep than traditional methods.

Aquascape is fighting a battle against many years of tradition. Our show Pond Stars on National Geographic Wild helped showcase alternative methods we and our Certified Aquascape Contractor network are already seeing the positive results from. Aquascape Pond Squad is continuing to beat the drum to change perceptions. Whether it’s rainwater harvesting for sustainability, creating natural wetlands to filter water, or utilizing plants and animals to educate the public on the importance of ecosystems, Aquascape has great stories to share. We may have lost the battle with the Orlando Eye to spread those messages but we will win the war if we can get enough people to embrace working with Mother Nature and not against her. Something tells me consumer awareness is on our side.