I made a floating fountain out of a manifold off a hot tub with 7
outlets and a long run of 2" pvc pipe a 5 galbucket and powered it up
with my gas powered water pump. Worked fine. So then I started on
making a better looking fully funcional floating fountain. What I came
up with is a Linzea submersible pump 60 some GPM flow rate. I used a
plastic blow formed outdoor umbrella base for the float. These are the
umbrella bases you fill with sand or water. The hole the umbrella pole
goes though fit a piece of 1 1/4" PVC pipe perfectly. I inserted the
pipe through the hole in the umbrella base, and then attached the sub
pump to it using an elbow and a 2" x 1 1/4" reducer bushing. Used a 1
1/4" male adapter fitting on opposite end to attach the Sugar Creek
Fountain nozzles (29.00 for a set of 4 different nozzles)...Pump hangs
from the discharge pipe through the umbrella stand about 18 inches
into the water so there is little frictionloss from a long run of pipe
or fittings..(less than 20") I wrapped a piece of aquatic enclosure
type netting around the pump to act as a guard, but pump will pass
3/8" debri easily. I also attached a nylon strap from ther pump to thr
base of the umbrella base so all the weight of thre pump is not
hanging just from the discharge pipe. Put it i the water and it
floats perfectly level with the water surface with just the top of the
umbrella base above water and the fountain head itself.......barely
noticeable.........turned it on, and I can get a nice full pattern of
24 foot diameter and approx 12 feet high out of just the one nozzle I
tried so far. I cant install it where I want it yet as my power cord
is only 16 feet, and I am still waiting for my underwater splice kit
to come in so I can add an additional 60 or so feet of wire to it. I
have some 13 pound weights (hollow plastic filled with cement from a
weight exercise machine) that I will use to anchor it in place, with
nylon or poly lines. Was quick to m ake once I figured out what I
could make it all fromand best of all it was better than half the cost
of a factory made unit and utilizes the same exact pump and
nozzles....My ponds water has never looked as good as it does right
now after a couple of days of aeration.....I can actually see about 16
to 18 inches deep, and its getting nicer every day. I figure it will
take 25 days of continual running for a complete turnover, but clear
water is not what I was after as much as I was looking to get rid of
surface film and accumulated pollen etc that turns the water a yellow
color with a yellow like powder throughout the year, and keep grass
clippings etc along the shoreline until they sink. Now I gotta add me
some lights to it...on the cheap!
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