Extreme Pond Build Complete
World’s Most Extreme Pond Build took place at Aquascape Inc. in St. Charles, Ill., July 12-16.
Posted: Friday, October 3, 2008, 2:00 p.m., EDT
World’s Most Extreme Pond Build took place at Aquascape Inc. in St. Charles, Ill., July 12-16. Construction on the 250-foot-by-90-foot water feature began in May, and the waterfall was activated at 1:30 p.m. on July 16.
The event offered hands-on training, educational seminars, networking opportunities, pond tours and Pond Olympics for more than 600 participants. It replaced the company’s annual Pondemonium event, which will return for its 10th anniversary July 16-19, 2009.
Ed Beaulieu, project manager and designer of the World’s Most Extreme Pond, and all the contractors, retailers and distributors who helped create the water feature exceeded his expectations, said Greg Wittstock, Aquascape founder and CEO. “I’m proud to have all of them on the Aquascape team.”
The invitation-only build included certified Aquascape contractors, water garden excellence members and authorized AquascapePRO distributors. “We enabled many of these guys to do things they never would be able to do on their own,” said Beaulieu, Aqua-scape’s chief sustainability officer. “We shared our successes and how not to do things. We had some problems out there with a couple of pumps that we had to figure out and some issues with electric. That’s what makes it exciting and worthwhile; showing people how we overcome problems is a great experience.”
Construction features include several waterfalls up to 10 feet in height, a grotto for behind-the-scenes viewing of the falls, rainwater storage areas, a cypress swamp designed to represent southern Illinois, walking paths and a patio created with permeable pavers to capture stormwater runoff. “It was definitely the biggest build that the industry has ever seen,” Wittstock said.
The event also acted as a soft-launch for the company’s rainwater harvest system. This initiative will continue into 2009.
In other Aquascape news, the company’s distributor network grew from 31 distribution companies with 71 locations across the country in 2006, to 78 companies with 437 locations across the country.
*All photos courtesy of Aquascape Inc.
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