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Artisan Water Group
Pond & Waterfall Construction in Lake in the Hills, IL
This is the part of our work that surprises people, and it is the reason we are called Artisan Water Group rather than Artisan Plumbing.
- 5.0★ · 11 Google reviews
- Licensed & insured
- Free written estimates
- Signature
Need this handled today? Call and a real person answers — nights, weekends and holidays included. You get the price before we start.
We design and build backyard ponds, streams and waterfalls — Aquascape-trained, and built by someone whose day job is water under pressure. That combination matters more than it sounds. A water feature is a closed hydraulic system with a pump, a head height, a filtration loop, a liner and a return. Most of what goes wrong with backyard ponds is not landscaping. It is plumbing.
Our published reviews are full of this work: a pond rebuilt with a three-step stream, a waterfall re-aimed to face the patio, a mucky pond brought back to clear water with the fish held safely in pond water during the cleanout. It is the part of the job we enjoy most, and it is the one thing on this page that no other plumber in Lake in the Hills offers.
What we build and fix
New construction, renovation of a feature you inherited, or the seasonal maintenance that keeps one healthy.
New ponds and koi ponds
Excavation, shelving for plants, liner and underlayment, skimmer and biological filtration, and a pump sized to the actual volume and head — not the number on the box.
Waterfalls and streams
The most satisfying work we do. Grade, boulder placement, and the sound. A waterfall aimed at the patio rather than away from it changes the whole yard.
Pondless water features
A waterfall and stream disappearing into a gravel reservoir — all the sound and movement, no open water. Popular with families with small children and with anyone who does not want fish.
Pond cleanouts
Full drain, fish held safely in their own pond water, rocks and gravel washed, debris and muck removed, filters serviced, and a beneficial bacteria treatment to restart the biology.
Leak diagnosis and liner repair
A pond losing water is a diagnostic problem — liner, stream edge, plumbing joint, or simple evaporation. We isolate the loss instead of guessing.
Pump, filter and lighting upgrades
Replacing an undersized or failing pump, adding proper biological filtration, or lighting a waterfall so the feature works after dark, which is when most people are home to enjoy it.
How a water feature project runs
Most builds happen in a single focused stretch. Cleanouts are usually a one-day job.
1. Walk the yard
Where you sit, where you walk, where the sound should land, and where water naturally wants to go. We also check grade, existing drainage, and where power can be brought in safely.
2. Design around sound and sight lines
A waterfall that faces away from the patio is a wasted waterfall. We orient the feature to the places you actually use, and step the stream so it makes the sound you want rather than a random one.
3. Excavate and set the structure
Excavation, plant shelves, underlayment and liner, then skimmer and biological falls set at correct elevations. Getting elevations right is what keeps a stream from leaking at the edges later.
4. Plumb it like a plumber
Pump sized to volume and head height, flexible pipe run without unnecessary elbows, valves where they will be needed for service, and everything accessible. This is where a plumbing background pays off — the mechanical side is done to trade standard.
5. Rock, plant and fill
Boulder and gravel placement so the feature reads as though water found it rather than as though someone stacked rocks around a hole. Then fill, dechlorinate, and start the biology.
6. Hand it over properly
We show you the skimmer basket, the pump, the valves, and what routine care looks like through the seasons. Then we are available for the spring cleanout and the fall shutdown.
Why a plumber builds a better pond
Walk any neighborhood with backyard ponds and you will find the same failures. Pumps that were sized by gallons per hour without ever accounting for head height, so the waterfall trickles. Stream edges built a half inch too low, so water escapes into the soil and the homeowner tops off with a hose every week, wondering where it goes. Plumbing buried under a boulder that now has to be moved to service a fitting. Skimmers set at the wrong elevation.
Every one of those is a plumbing mistake made by someone thinking about landscaping. Head height, flow rate, friction loss through pipe and fittings, valve placement, serviceability — that is the vocabulary of the trade, and it is exactly what a water feature is made of.
That is the whole idea behind Artisan Water Group. The rock work should look like nature did it. The mechanical system behind it should be built the way we would build the plumbing in your house.
The spring cleanout, and why it matters
Every established pond in this climate benefits from an annual cleanout, usually once water temperatures start climbing in spring. Leaves that sank in the fall break down over winter into a layer of muck that feeds algae and pulls oxygen out of the water.
The process is straightforward and worth doing properly. Drain the pond, holding the fish in a large container of their own pond water so the change is not a shock to them. Wash the rock and gravel, remove the accumulated muck, and clean out the skimmer and biological falls. Then refill, dechlorinate, and treat with beneficial bacteria to restart the biological filtration before the summer load arrives.
Done every spring, a pond stays clear with very little intervention through the season. Skipped for a couple of years, the muck layer becomes the dominant feature of the ecosystem, and clearing it becomes a much bigger job. Homeowners in Lake in the Hills, Algonquin and Crystal Lake book these from March onward, and the calendar fills quickly.
Water features and hard water
Our 26 to 28 grain water shows up in ponds too, though it behaves differently than it does inside a house.
Topping off with hard tap water concentrates minerals as water evaporates through summer, which nudges pH and hardness upward over the season and can leave a white line on rocks at the waterline. In a planted pond with good biology, this is generally manageable. In a koi pond, it is worth monitoring, because koi are sensitive to swings.
The practical answers are simple: top off with smaller amounts more often rather than large refills, always dechlorinate municipal water before it goes in, and keep the biological filtration healthy so the system buffers itself. If a feature needs an automatic fill valve, we plumb it correctly with a backflow preventer, because a pond auto-fill teed carelessly into household supply is a cross-connection — and that is a plumbing problem, not a landscaping one.
What water feature pricing depends on
Ponds range more than any other job we quote, because a three-foot bubbling boulder and a twenty-foot stream with a koi pond are not the same project.
- Size and depth
- Surface area and depth drive excavation, liner size, and the pump you need. Koi ponds need more depth than ornamental ponds, which changes everything downstream.
- Waterfall height and stream length
- Head height determines pump size and running cost. A longer stream means more liner, more boulder, and more grading work.
- Rock and boulder selection
- Stone is a major line item. Larger feature boulders may need equipment to place, and delivery access to the backyard matters more than people expect.
- Filtration and equipment
- Skimmer, biological falls, UV clarifier, auto-fill, and lighting. Each is optional, and each changes how much maintenance the feature needs from you.
- Site access
- A yard a machine can reach is far cheaper to build in than one where every yard of soil and every boulder moves by wheelbarrow through a gate.
- New build or renovation
- Reworking an existing pond — re-aiming a waterfall, adding a stream, replacing a liner — is often far less expensive than starting over, and frequently produces a better result than the original.
Design consultations are free. We would rather talk you into the feature you will actually use than the biggest one your yard could hold.
Pond & Waterfall Construction FAQs
Do you build ponds as well as do plumbing?
Yes — it is where the company name comes from. We are Aquascape-trained and build ponds, streams, waterfalls and pondless features, and we bring a licensed plumber's approach to the pump, plumbing and filtration side that most water feature installers do not have.
How much maintenance does a backyard pond need?
Less than people expect if it is built correctly. Empty the skimmer basket weekly in season, keep an eye on the water level, and have an annual spring cleanout. A properly sized biological filter does most of the work for you.
What is a pondless waterfall?
A waterfall and stream that disappear into a hidden gravel reservoir instead of an open pond. You get the sound and movement of running water with no standing water, no fish to care for, and less maintenance — a popular choice for families with young children.
Can you fix or renovate a pond someone else built?
Regularly, and it is some of our favorite work. Re-aiming a waterfall toward the patio, adding a stream, correcting a stream edge that leaks, replacing an undersized pump, or repairing a liner. A renovation often produces a better feature than the original build at a fraction of a new-build cost.
When is the best time to build a water feature?
Anytime the ground is workable — roughly April through October in McHenry County. Spring is busiest because it is also cleanout season, so if you want a build finished before summer, plan the conversation for late winter.
Often needed together
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Worth reading first
More on this from our blog
Hard Water6 min readDoes Lake in the Hills Have Hard Water? What Homeowners Need to Know
Short answer: yes, and it is not close. At 26 to 28 grains per gallon, our water is roughly six times harder than the national average. Here is what that actually does to your house.
Basement & Sump6 min readWhy Heavy Rain Floods Basements in Lake in the Hills (and How Sump Pumps Save You)
It is not bad luck and it is not one unusually big storm. Basement flooding here follows a predictable annual pattern, which means it can be planned for.
Pond & Waterfall Construction
Ready to get your pond & waterfall construction handled?
Call and talk to the person who will do the work. Free written estimates on non-emergency pond & waterfall construction, and a price before we start on anything urgent.
- 5.0 from 11 Google reviews
- Licensed & insured
- 24/7 emergency service
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Tell us what is going on and we will get back to you with a straight answer. No obligation, no pressure.
5.0 from 11 Google reviewsLicensed & insuredFree written estimates
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Please call (207) 419-2600 instead — a real person answers, nights and weekends included, and we can usually sort it faster on the phone anyway.
Why homeowners choose us for this
We are a licensed, insured, owner-operated shop based on Pine Street in Lake in the Hills. That means the person quoting the job is the person doing it, and nobody here is measured on how much they sold you.
Every recommendation starts with the water. At 26–28 grains per gallon, our supply is roughly six times harder than the national average, and it is the single biggest factor in how long anything in your plumbing lasts. Fixing the symptom without addressing that is how you end up calling someone again in two years.
And when a permit is required — water heaters, sewer work, gas piping — we pull it and show the fee on its own line. Ask every plumber you talk to for the same. Read more in our guide to plumbing permits in McHenry County.