1) Not very loud, but depends on how high, and how much water is flowing. Nice to have VS pump or bypass so you can slow it down if needed.
2) It doesnt have to be on all the time.
3) If you dont like the sound then why have one.

Our sheer descent is the highlight of the pool when we have guests over. All the kids love to jump in over it, or put their feet on it. The love it and we love it.

That being said, while designing our pool, we had no idea, that it would only have enough flow when our dual speed pump was run at full speed (and full speed costs about 4x the price of running the pump at low speed). In addition (although I am no expert here, this is what I have read, and generally observed), it accelerates evaporation (cools the pool), and raises the PH faster. These aren't bad things, but reasons we don't run ours except when we specifically want to. That being said, I take care of my pool (not a pool service), and I watch my electric bills like a hawk (I have lots of nice graphs that can tell me how much electricity I am using over time, etc), so I am a little more particular in this regard, then others might be. Running a pool isn't free, and the pleasure of the sheer decent running all the time (or if I had some stone grotto/waterfall, I would probably want it running all the time, regardless of cost) may out weigh the other factors.

Thanks! We aren't getting it for the sound but for the look. We will have a large bond beam and thought it would be a nice decorative touch. We hope to be able to turn it off now simply for the cooling the pool news.

We love the looks of our but actually prefer it to be quite when we are just enjoying the backyard so we leave them off most of the time. We ran a separate pump to them so we can turn off and on as wanted.

Wow, I don't have any pictures of them on except these really old ones before the landscaping even cam in well.

We have 4 water features including a sheer descent and they are very loud. We only run ours when we have special occasions and when the grand kids come over as they love to play with them. I can regulate and turn each one on or off with jandy never lube valve. Hope this helps

We have 4 deck jets and 2 bubblers on our shelf. I rarely use our deck jets - in fact - really only to show them off when we have new guests over. LOL. Otherwise they are off. Too loud and they cool our water. The little kids (5 and under enjoy them for a short time and then they're over them, too.)

The bubblers I enjoy and use frequently.

Thank you!