Rather than water with the distinct shallow “V” or “W” shapes of traditional flood floors, cascading floors start at a fill line on one end of the floor and slowly move toward the drain line at the other end. No matter how much water you use, there’s still even coverage across the floor.

Unfiltered water never enters the supply line. There’s no need for the drain line to require any valving as it’s always open. And since water begins to return almost immediately to the tank system, smaller tanks can be used.

But the largest difference is that cascading floors can run constantly, consistently flowing water onto the floor.