Fountains May Not Be Forever

After retiring from 30 years of designing and building well over two thousand waterfalls and fountains I have come to the conclusion that fountains are not everything that they seem or appear to be. Yes, most are elegant, charming, ornate, tranquil, appealing, relaxing, soothing, stress relieving and somewhat enticing. However, there is a darker side to fountain ownership. In this article I will teach you how to turn a fountain nightmare into an aquatic dream come true.

If you own a fountain now, you were obviously influenced by fountain memories of the past or enticed by the gentle, peaceful beckoning of the fountain displays at the home and garden center or Spring Home & Garden Show. After caving in to the siren-type call of a particular fountain, and laying out an obscene amount of cash for a formed chunk of concrete, you then hauled it home, put it together, installed an electrical outlet, filled it with water and finally plugged it in. You were so excited when the water started flowing; it was everything you had hoped it would be. In fact, you started shopping and surrounding and adorning your fountain with expensive gifts of pots and urns overflowing with beautiful flowers, maybe a statue or two, or perhaps a pair of concrete lawn ornaments. And finally you showered it with accent lighting.

Wow, a symphony of light and sound, a veritable Las Vegas showpiece -- how could it get any better than that? I believe they call this phase the honeymoon. Well, I have a news flash for you… honeymoons do not last forever. The flowers die and for a while you keep replacing them with fresh ones, you pick out the dead bugs, leaves, cigarette butts and Twinky wrapper (no, that’s not a singer). You quickly realize that as a result of splashing and evaporation the water level has dropped a few inches, and you need to drag out the garden hose and fill the fountain at least twice a week. On one occasion you returned from a two week vacation of admiring waterfalls and fountains in Hawaii, only to discover the low water level caused the fountain pump to run dry and it burned out.

You start realizing this relationship is not only requiring way too much of your precious time; it is costing more money than the peace and tranquility the fountain offers in return. An endless cascading flow of money down the drain in the form of flowers, trips to the nursery, an endless ritual of unwinding the hose, turning on the water, waiting for it to fill, turning off the water, coiling up the hose and cleaning out the occasional accumulating debris stuck in the pump. Oh, almost forgot the new $52 pump replacement, $75 labor charge, scrub brush, cleaning supplies and elbow grease to clean the algae and accumulated scum off your beautiful enchanted fountain. And then there is the electric bill -- and you have no clue how much of it represents your precious symphony of light and sound. However, something is whispering to you ever so softly, “Whatever the cost to run that new pump is a tad more than it is worth.”

So you do not own a fountain but were seriously thinking about getting one, and now you are not so sure. Well, here’s the good news. You are not alone. There are millions of frustrated fountain owners with the same experience. However, now there is a solution to resolve 90 percent of the maintenance and frustration.

Today there are automatic water level devices designed for use in all types of fountains. Until now most water levelers were mechanical, bulky and very susceptible to corroding, rusting, sticking and jamming, causing an overflow. Plus these floats were too large to be installed in small fountains. Now there are electronic water levelers that by nature of design and technology are adaptable to nearly any size fountain.

Here are a few of the most popular water leveler manufacturers: Levelor, OASE Levetron, Savio Water Level Sensor, Jandy Water Leveler, Fiberstar water level controller, Pentair water leveler and the AquaFill Fountain Water Leveler. Prices range from an outrageous $600 to a mere $69, with warranties ranging from one year to five years. Only one manufacturer claims a 100% satisfaction guaranteed or full refund. If you Google fountain water leveler you can start shopping for peace of mind and start enjoying your fountain again. If you have not yet purchased a fountain, do so with confidence, but invest in a fountain water level device.