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Fountain Construction guide (domestic) Fountain construction is similar to water feature construction You are going to construct a fountain, you dig a hole throw in a sump put a pump in the sump and and a nozzle to the pump right? Well, no, please read on. The pump The pump needs to be capable of operating the chosen nozzle, but most fountain pumps come with a variety of nozzles, but you want a bigger nozzle than the one supplied, you go and buy one it does not fit, your pump has a 1/2 inch outlet your nozzle has a 1 inch inlet, you buy an adaptor to make it fit, you turn it on and the water just dribbles out of the nozzle why? (You may like to read this) All nozzles require a specific amount of water to actually work, this is called the water demand (for more information, please click here) most pumps will have a guide on the box as to how high they can pump and how much water at a specific height. It is always better to get a bigger pump than you need because you can always turn a big pump down, you can not turn a small pump up. All pumps are NOT the same, please read our page here The sump So how big should the sump be? First of all it must be deeper than the pump, (yes people do get a sump that is too shallow) It should also be big enough to catch water splash. (see the JW rule) Now you know why some fountains you see are almost empty, or why you see water marks / damp patches surrounding it. So what can you use for a sump? The most common sump for the DIY person is a 25 gallon water storage tank, due to the depth you may wish to cut it down in size. (but they are wide.) You can also have a sump purpose built from concrete, brick or other material
Most fountains do not have a grille, but if you have small children we suggest that you do fit a grille or cover. Lights Lights can be used to bring your fountain to life when its dark. The colour of the light can vary the look of your fountain some fountains also have several lights of varying colours which are automatically changed. Lights can be found on our components site Cost The cost depends on how high you want the jet and which jet you want, the bigger the jet the more powerful the pump will have to be. As mentioned some fountains have different coloured lights which change automatically, this does look very good but can add a lot to the cost Other things to consider Say you opt for two or more outlets in your fountain, each at a different height, you just supply each from the same pump? in theory yes, but in practice if you do, most or all of the water will come from the lowest outlet, since water will always take the easiest route (the lower outlet) the way round it is to "balance" the flow click me Another thing to be considered is the height of the jet in relation to the pool dimensions, see the JW rule click me Some times the best fountains really are the simplest.
Above is a simple fountain as described above, although you could say its a pump with a nozzle and some lights the correct nozzle and pump configuration had to be thought out. Please note: We specialise in large fountains, not ponds.
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