Over the last few years, the Birkhaven water feature has had failures of both the pump and the motor caused by initial mounting on a wood frame (rotting over time in a wet environment) and electrical surges (most likely from higher electrical needs when starting). These were corrected with replacement of the pump and motor and by replacement of the wood frame with a concrete mount and the addition of a motor starter. Thankfully, these issues are not recurring; however the water feature is experiencing some new, and potentially, expensive issues.

The Birkhaven water feature was purposely turned off at the end of June due to excessively high water usage and we needed to investigate why the water usage was so high. In addition, the utility workers, when laying fiber optic cable, cut the main water line that feeds the irrigation and feature. That has been repaired. 

One of the issues is that no engineering documentation (drawings, control logic, etc.) could be found so reverse engineering practices had to be implemented. We had the bottom pond area cleared of reeds that we thought were causing some of the issues by hanging up the high level float and causing the water inlet valve to remain open. We also had additional stone put around the lower edges of the pond to stop water leakage. Unfortunately, none of these repairs worked to keep water inside the pond and minimize the water loss. 

During inspection by one of our contractors, the high level float was found unattached to the water inlet valve and the low level float (used for pump/motor protection) was found damaged and unconnected. The Facilities Committee reviewed the proposal to fix the float system but was not satisfied that the proposal presented would ultimately fix the issues. 

Two weeks ago, we engaged a pond company to visit the water feature and try to determine what is causing the leakage issues. They were able to locate the water inlet valve (under water and mud in the basin) and found that the connection to the high level float was corroded off so that is why it was causing the high water usage. In addition, several liner tears were found in the upper basin that will need fixing. Water was added to the lower basin and we are monitoring for leakage. If that loses water volume, then there are likely liner tears in the lower basin. The contractor is still looking into this and will hopefully offer a number of repair proposals to us.

We are interested in determining repairs so that the Birkhaven water feature can be put back in service. Without a total analysis, we are subject to additional failures and potentially wasted efforts and money.

The Facilities Committee requests your understanding and patience.  Please address any comments or concerns directly to the Committee Chair, Eric Northeim, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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