We Are Great American
Who We Are
Great American is America's design-driven manufacturer of water features and outdoor living products that simply work. Family owned, American made, and still built by hand. We have been bringing serenity to pools since the 1990s, and after decades of evolution we have become the name builders and distributors trust.
Where We Started
Our experience began in the 1990s. The years since have brought quite the evolution. A name change, a sale, openings, closings, trial, error, and a steady stream of innovations have made us what we are today.
We started as Great American in 2003, a family owned and operated company led by Ben Dixon and two partners. When a major manufacturer left Florida, it left a void in both service and product. Ben's vision was to build a brand of waterfall and aqua products for the pool industry to fill that void. Great American brought more experience and quality know-how than anyone else in the water feature market. And just like that, the phones started to ring. With the help of our reps and a focus on customer service, the orders started coming in.
Built by Hand, Engineered to Last
The original 2003 waterfall was assembled using a building-block system, many pieces glued by hand into a finished unit. That approach was built for efficiency, letting us ship most standard products the same day or the next.
From there came the innovations that moved the company forward. Our unique baffling "T" design delivered consistent water flow from a single inlet fitting on most units up to eight lineal feet. Interlocking inlet fittings created a stronger bond to the body of each unit. The industry took notice, and those ideas propelled us ahead.
Tested by the Hardest Years
We doubled our team between 2003 and 2008, and some of those people are still with us today. When the market crashed in 2008, the pool industry fell hard. We made layoffs and did some serious reassessing. We went back to basics, making each waterfall from sheets of ABS plastic, cutting and assembling bodies and nozzles the old way, by hand.
Manufacturers, distributors, and builders worked together to bring the industry back. After many sleepless nights and stressful days, we survived. So did our dedicated distributors and builders. Those years are well behind us now, and they are a big part of why we build the way we do.
Where We Are Today
With those rough years behind us, we have added pool industry innovators like Chris Walton, known across the business as Zero Edge Guy and one of the most knowledgeable people in the field. Lee Russell, our COO, brings more than 30 years of building luxury pools and water features on the Gulf Coast, a third-generation builder who knows our partners' work because he has done it himself. And Ben's son, Aaron Dixon, now leads the way, carrying the family business into its next chapter.
Today Great American has employees across multiple locations and expanded manufacturing. We continue to deliver some of the most reliable, cost-effective waterfall products in the industry, and we are innovating exotic edges and textures for pools with our Zero Edge and Turf Edge lines. Our fail rates are the lowest in the industry, and that is no accident. We still manufacture the right way, by hand, just as we did when Ben Dixon and his partners got us going all those years ago.
What It Means for You
When you build with Great American, you are working with a company that has been through the highs and the lows of this industry and is still standing alongside the partners who stood with us. That history shows up in every unit we ship: consistent flow, dependable construction, and the lowest fail rates in the business. When you choose us, you choose certainty.
Built to be trusted.