It actually masks noise
The only feature loud enough to cover a busy road or a neighbor’s music.
Sheer Descents
A wide, unbroken sheet of water pouring off a raised wall: the loudest, most present feature we build, and the one you hear from inside the house.
What It Is
What is a sheer descent?
A sheer descent pours a wide, unbroken sheet of water off a raised wall into the pool. The lip is a precision-molded channel built into the wall face, and what comes out is a clear curtain that arcs away from the wall before it lands. It is the loudest and most physically present of the water features: you see it from the house, you hear it across the yard, and children swim through it.
A sheer descent needs a raised structure to fall from: a bond beam, a retaining wall, a raised spa, or a purpose-built water wall. That requirement is the real decision. If your design already includes a raised element, adding the feature is comparatively inexpensive. If it doesn't, you're buying the wall as much as the feature. Both are structural decisions made at design time.
36" Sheer Descent
Two 24" Sheer Descents 
Two 12" Sheer Descents
Your options.
Width
From eight inches up to eight feet. The single biggest lever. A short lip is an accent; a six-foot sheet is an architectural wall of water. Two or three narrow ones spaced apart read differently from one wide one.
Effect style
Sheet, curtain, arc, or rain. A sheet gives the glass-like unbroken plane. Rain projects the water down at 45 degrees for a softer, tropical fall and sound.
Flow
Adjustable across a wide range. The same unit runs anywhere from a nearly silent glassy film to a rushing waterfall. You are not locked into one sound.
Lip color
Matched to the wall finish, or contrasting. The lip is visible when the feature is off. Matching it to the tile or stone makes it disappear.
Wall shape
Straight, or cut to a radius. Curved walls need a lip shaped convex or concave to the curve, specified at order rather than adapted on site.
Why sheer descents.
One unit, many moods
Dial it from a silent glassy film to a full waterfall.
Presence from indoors
A wide sheet is visible and audible from inside the house.
Kids swim through it
A curtain of water is a destination, not a backdrop.
It disappears when off
The lip is the only hardware, matched to the wall finish.
Inexpensive to add to a raised wall
If the design already has a raised element, the feature is the small part.
FAQs
The six questions we hear most about sheer descents.
How wide should a sheer descent be?
It depends on the wall. Widths run from a few inches up to about eight feet, and several narrow units spaced apart is a common alternative to one wide one.
Are sheer descents loud?
They can be, and that's often the point. Flow is adjustable across a wide range, so the same unit can run as a nearly silent film or a genuine waterfall depending on the day.
Do I need a raised wall for a sheer descent?
Yes. Mostly. The feature pours from a raised structure: a bond beam, retaining wall, raised spa, or water wall. If your design doesn't already include one, the wall is the larger part of the cost. There are arcing type sheers that can be installed in the beam of the pool.
Will it affect water temperature or chemistry?
Running one increases evaporation, pulls some heat off the surface, and the aeration nudges chemistry. The answer is a controller: run it when you're outside rather than continuously.
Why do some sheer descents pour unevenly?
The lip has to be dead level. An eighth of an inch out and the sheet pours heavier on one side and breaks up, and it can't be corrected without opening the wall. Ask how the lip is set and checked for level.
How far can the water fall and stay a clean sheet?
A sheet falling a short way stays clean; falling too far, it breaks into droplets before it lands. Wall height and lip width get chosen together.
Other Water Features
Compare all five
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