Few things change the feel of a backyard like moving water. The sound of a sheer descent, the glow of a bubbler on a tanning ledge at dusk, a spillover from a raised spa: these are the details people remember. They can also turn into expensive line items that get used twice a summer and then cost you money for the next fifteen years.

So are pool water features worth it? Some are, and some aren’t. After building pools across Utah County, Salt Lake and the Wasatch Back, here’s our honest take on which features earn their keep, which ones mostly add cost, and how to plan them so they don’t turn into a maintenance headache.

What “Adding Value” Really Means

Before we rank anything, it helps to define value. A water feature can pay off in three ways:

• Daily enjoyment: do you see it, hear it or use it most days the pool is open?
• Resale appeal: does it make the backyard look finished and high-end to a buyer, or does it look dated and fussy?
• Function: does it do a job, like circulating water, masking road noise or giving kids a place to play?

A feature that hits two of these three is usually a good investment. One that hits none of them is decoration you’ll pay to run.

Water Features That Usually Earn Their Keep

1. Sheer Descents and Spillways

A sheer descent is a thin, smooth sheet of water falling from a raised wall into the pool. It’s clean and modern, and it pairs naturally with the rectangular, architectural pools most Utah homeowners are asking for right now. It also does real work: the sound covers neighborhood and traffic noise, and the falling water adds a little circulation and aeration.

Cost is moderate. You need a raised wall, the descent unit and plumbing, and usually its own pump or a valve on a variable-speed pump. Because it sits on a wall instead of in the open, it doesn’t take up swimming space.

2. Spa Spillover

If you’re already adding a spa, a spillover edge where the spa’s water flows into the pool is close to a no-brainer. It ties the two bodies of water together visually, gives you a waterfall effect without a separate feature, and keeps the spa and pool water shared and balanced. For more on that decision, see our guide to adding a spa to your pool build.

3. Tanning Ledge Bubblers

Bubblers are small vertical jets set into a shallow sun shelf. They cost little, kids love them, and they look great lit up at night. Since they sit in water only a few inches deep, they’re easy to reach for cleaning and rarely cause trouble.

4. Deck Jets (Laminars, Used With Restraint)

Deck jets that arc water into the pool are a crowd favorite for families. Two or four along one side is plenty. Basic deck jets are inexpensive. Laminar jets, which shoot a glassy, rod-like stream and are often LED-lit, cost more but give you that resort look at night.

Water Features That Often Cost More Than They Return

Large Rock Waterfalls and Grottos

Big boulder waterfalls were the signature of the 2000s backyard. Today they tend to look dated next to modern Utah architecture, they need a lot of structural support, and they’re hard to keep clean. Leaves, algae and hard-water scale collect in every crevice. Some buyers like them. Plenty of buyers see them as a project they’ll eventually have to pay to remove.

Fire-and-Water Bowls Everywhere

One or two fire-and-water bowls flanking a sheer descent can look stunning. Six of them along a wall means six gas lines, six igniters and six bowls to scale and clean. Use them as an accent, not a theme.

Features That Fight the Climate

Utah’s freeze-thaw cycle is hard on anything that holds water above grade. Exposed plumbing, shallow lines in raised features and pieces that can’t drain fully are the first things to crack in a January cold snap. If a feature can’t be fully winterized, think hard before adding it.

The Real Cost: Operating, Not Just Installing

Most homeowners budget for installation and forget about running costs. Every feature that moves water pulls on a pump, and every one that sprays or falls through the air speeds up two things:

• Evaporation: Utah’s dry air already pulls water out of pools fast. Falling and spraying water makes it worse, which means more top-offs and more chemicals.
• Heat loss: Moving water sheds heat quickly, especially on cool spring and fall evenings. Leave a waterfall running for an hour and you can undo a lot of what your heater just did.

This is where the pool shell matters more than people expect. A pool built with an Advantage Structural Foam (EPS) system is insulated through its walls and floor, so it holds heat much better than a bare concrete or gunite shell sitting in cold ground. That doesn’t make evaporation go away, but it means running your features costs less heat, and the water warms back up faster when you shut them off. Put features on a timer or a phone app so they run when you’re out there, not all day.

Building Features Into the Structure the Right Way

The best water features are planned with the pool, not added later. Raised walls for sheer descents and spa spillovers need solid footings, waterproofing and plumbing routed before the deck goes in. Adding them afterward usually means cutting decking and patching plumbing.

Structural foam construction makes this easier. The system forms clean, square walls and raised elements in the same assembly as the pool itself, so a raised spa or a feature wall becomes part of the structure instead of a separate block bolted on. The marble-clad interior finish carries up into those features, which gives you that seamless, built-in look. And because the waterproofing system is rated for 40+ years, the places where water flows over edges, which are the most common leak points on a traditional pool, are covered by the same membrane as the rest of the shell. The pool itself carries a 2-year warranty.

Structural foam also helps on Utah’s sloped lots. If your backyard drops off, a raised wall on the downhill side can do double duty as a retaining element and a spillway, turning a grading problem into a design feature.

Smart Planning Tips

• Pick one focal feature. One great sheer descent or spa spillover beats four competing features.
• Plan the view from inside. Put features where you’ll see and hear them from the kitchen, patio or primary bedroom, not on the far wall nobody looks at.
• Use a variable-speed pump. It can run features at low speed for a quiet trickle or high speed for a show, and it uses far less power than a single-speed pump.
• Light it. LED lighting on a descent or laminar jets roughly doubles the value of a feature, because you’ll enjoy it at night too.
• Design for winterizing. Every line should drain. Ask your builder how each feature gets blown out in the fall.
• Think about hard water. Utah water is hard. Smooth surfaces like sheer descents scale less visibly and clean more easily than rough rock.

Quick Verdict

Usually worth it: sheer descents, spa spillovers, tanning ledge bubblers, a few deck or laminar jets.

Proceed with caution: large rock waterfalls, grottos, lots of fire bowls, and anything that can’t be fully drained for winter.

The most valuable water features are simple, built into the structure from day one, and something you’ll actually turn on. Get those right and your backyard will feel like a retreat for years without a big bill to keep it running.

Plan Your Pool and Features Together

Curious how a sheer descent or raised spa affects your budget? Start with our pool cost calculator to get a ballpark, then reach out to Advantage Custom Pools. We’re based in Lehi and build structural foam pools, retaining walls and outdoor living spaces across Utah. We’ll help you choose the features that fit how you’ll actually use your backyard.