I. Introduction

    Designing a successful fountain is easy for two reasons. First, fountain companies have already designed all the components of fountains, so all you have to do is buy the parts and put them together. Second, people love moving water, so anything you come up with will be appreciated and enjoyed by others. 

    These two truths should put anyone at ease that has doubts about whether they can build a fountain. The answer is, you can. What I want to do here is to help you design a simple fountain. Let's take it one step at a time.

II. Basic Elements of a Fountain

A. The Bowl

    Every fountain starts with a bowl or reservoir to hold the water. It must be big enough to contain all the water the fountain needs to operate, plus extra for evaporation and splash out. Some reservoirs are hidden so that the water cannot be seen, but most are visible. 

    When the fountain is off, all the water sits in the bowl. When the pump is turned on, water is drawn out of the bowl and sent to another (usually higher) location. Gravity makes the water flow downward back into the bowl, where the cycle begins anew.

    You can have more than one bowl, transferring the water from one to the other. An example would be a waterfall that has an upper bowl and a lower bowl. Another example of multiple bowls is a standing concrete or metal fountain the has three bowls. The water is sent to the smaller topmost bowl, it overflows into the next larger middle bowl, finally ending up where it began in the largest bottom bowl.

B. The Pump

    The pump drives the whole operation. It can be a submersible pump that sits in the lowest bowl, or in more advanced designs the pump can be located outside the fountain altogether. Pumps are rated by how much water they pump. Smaller pumps are rated at gallons per hour (gph) while larger pumps are rated at gallons per minute (gpm).

    Some fountain designs call for one kind of pump over the other. For example, a small birdbath design would require a small submersible pump, because anything larger would be impractical. A pump like this might put out 3 to 5 gallons per minute (gpm).

    Large fountains need a lot of water movement and the cost of a submersible pump that can move 100 gallons per minute (gpm) would be prohibitively high. Thus a better choice would be a non-submersible pump. On the other hand, some large fountain displays have no place to locate a non-submersible pump so you have to fall back on the submersible design model.

    Many fountains can go either way, so cost and convenience are the deciding factors of which type of pump to use. As you can see, sizing of the pump is very important and we'll discuss that more later. For now, let's go into more detail about the differences between submersible and non-submersible pumps.

1) Submersible Pumps

    Submersible pumps are preferred in most small fountains because they are simple to use and require minimal plumbing. You simply place the pump underwater, plug it in to an electrical (GFCI) outlet and it goes. 

    By attaching a plastic tube to the outlet of the pump, you can send the water anywhere you want it to go. You can also buy a fountain nozzle kit that attaches directly to the pump to make interesting fountain spray designs.

    Submersible pumps come in different shapes and sizes. Usually the bigger they are, the more water they pump and the more they cost. 

    The tiniest ones cost around $20 and pump a fraction of a gallon of water every minute. These pumps are used for table top displays. Larger submersible pumps may cost $50 and move 2 to 5 gallons per minute. These types of pumps are very small and are used for bird bath type fountains and small water displays.

    For about $75 you can buy a Little Giant Water Wizard (tm) which pumps 1250 gallons per hour (gph) or 20 gallons per minute (gpm). You may notice that for $25 more you can get up to 10 times the flow rate of a smaller pump. The price of a pump does not necessarily correspond to its flow rate.

    Another popular Little Giant pump is the 6-CIM (tm). It costs about $150 and pumps about 3200 gallons per hour (gph) or 50 gallons per minute (gpm). That is probably the most pump you will need for most home fountain displays. 

    As you go up in size, the cost of submersible pumps rises fairly quickly. The larger professional submersible pumps move about 110 gallons per minute (gpm) and cost $1500. The biggest ones pump 200 gpm and cost over $3000.

2) Non-submersible Pumps

    Swimming pools and hot tubs have non-submersible pumps and they can be adapted to fountain applications. Usually they have the advantage of pumping more water (90 gpm) for less money. And since they are not underwater they are easier to install, service and maintain. 

    So why doesn't every fountain have a non-submersible pump? Two reasons. Size and cost. These pumps are big and they have to be put somewhere. Not every fountain design can accommodate an area adjacent to the fountain for locating an electric pump. As for cost, these pumps start at $200, and small fountains don't need that much pump. 

    Essentially the pump you choose for your fountain must fit the situation. Small fountains need submersible pumps while the larger fountains can use either kind of pump, depending on space and budget.

C. Water Features

    The third basic element of a fountain design, after the bowl and the pump, is the water feature. The water feature can be almost anything. The simplest water feature is a pipe coming out of the pump shooting water straight up into the air, then splashing back down into the water. It may not sound like much, but hey, it works.

    You can add to that a spray nozzle to take that simple idea and jazz it up. Spray nozzles inject air, spread the water out, twirl it around, make it pulsate, in short direct the water to form a design. Spray nozzles allow the fountain designer to give coherence and structure to an otherwise unruly situation. This is what we mean by "Taming Wild Water".

    Another common water feature is a waterfall. Waterfalls can cascade over an object or make a shear descent to the bowl below. In fact there is a line of prefabricated waterfalls called Shear Descent (tm) which come in different widths, from 1 foot to 4 feet wide. They are designed to make a uniform sheet of water that you can see through.

    Another common type of waterfall is achieved by stacking rocks in such a way that the water cascades down them to make a natural display. A third type of waterfall incorporates a concrete or metal statuary bathed in water. For more on waterfalls click here.

D. Statuary and Sculpture

    That brings us to another basic fountain design element - Statuary and Sculpture. Statues can be made from many different materials, but the common ones are cement, marble, granite, calcite and metal (copper, aluminum, brass, bronze, iron and stainless steel).

    The variety of designs is too wide to enumerate. If you can think of a shape, it has probably been made. Statuary and sculptures add focus to a fountain design. They give a fountain its theme and character. Fountains without statuary can certainly be beautiful. But fountains that are plain or uninspiring can often be enhanced greatly by the addition of a statue or sculpture.

    When statuary is included, the choice of fountain nozzles and waterfalls must compliment and not overwhelm the statuary. Statuary can be the center piece, or it can be peripheral to the overall fountain design. For more on statuary click here.

E. Lighting

    To light or not to light, that is the issue. If cost is not a problem, I'd say add lights every time. But sometimes cost is a concern and lights can always be added at a later time. There is no doubt that lights give a fountain a magical quality at night. In fact I think that most fountains look better at night than during the day if lighted properly.

    Lighting can be underwater, outside the fountain, or both. There are advantages and drawbacks to both types. Underwater lights are expensive, starting at $100 apiece and going up to $500 for professional models. External lights are nice, certainly less costly, but they don't make the water sparkle the same way underwater lights do. Where possible, I like to use both types in combination. For more on lighting click here.  

F. Additional Design Elements

We've covered most of the basic elements that go into a fountain design. Now let's talk about additional items that need to be considered when formulating your design. Specifically we will discuss filters, skimmers, drains, plants and fish. While these items are optional, they greatly impact the look of the fountain as well as how the fountain will be maintained. For more on maintenance click here.

    1) Filters come in several designs and are essential to keeping the water sparkling clear. They are the same kinds of filters used in swimming pool and hot tub applications so I refer you to Pool Lesson 6 for a complete discussion.

    2) Skimmers are devices that skim the surface of the water to catch floating debris. Often on small fountains you are the skimmer, armed with a dip net. Larger fountains, especially commercial ones, have skimmers similar to those on swimming pools.

    3) Drains and overflows are a useful addition to fountains since they make it easier to remove the water for cleaning purposes. Often the pump can be inexpensively configured to be used to power drain a fountain. Though this takes some expertise in plumbing, it is well worth the investment in time.

    4) Plants and fish are an individual choice that each fountain owner must decide. With plants and fish you get a natural ecosystem complete with algae and muck. If clear clean water is what you want, then chlorine is the way to go. But since fish cannot tolerate chlorine, the two are mutually exclusive. Rarely can you get clear, clean water with fish and plants living in your fountain. It's not impossible, but it takes a lot of skill and effort. For more information about fish and plants click here.

III. Conclusion

    Designing a fountain is fun and interesting. It is the first step to the building process. Most people who call me for the first time do so early in the design phase. They are looking for information on how to incorporate all their ideas into one coherent plan. Seldom does anyone call and say, "Here's the plan, let's build it." Usually they say, "I have some ideas, but I don't know where to go from here." 

    That's natural. Good ideas don't spring full blown onto the drafting table. Fountains start with the germ of an idea and get shaped and honed over the course of weeks or even months. The ideas change several times before the final design is settled upon, and even then some details are left undecided until the fountain nears completion. 

    There are several good sources for fountain ideas. Go to the library and look through back issues of magazines like Southern Living, Better Homes and Gardens, and Country Living to name a few. Visit cities with a lot of public fountains like St. Louis, Memphis and Washington, D.C. Don't copy ideas verbatim, but take their ideas and incorporate elements of them into your design.

    Most of all, be creative. Do something that you like, and others will like it too. I promise.

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