Questions about musical fountain installations

28 Oct 2018

Key Preliminary Considerations

The characteristics of the location of your installation park, square, garden, shopping centre, indoors, etc. and its desired effect (main attraction, boundary demarcation, secondary effect) are decisive in the design of any water feature.

Basin Sizes and Specifications

The basin of any musical fountain must be functionally attractive and as small as possible. It must be able to hold the volume of water circulating when the water fountain is not in operation, and be fitted with mechanisms and automatic devices that guarantee the minimum water level required by the submersible pumps at peak performance. Level sensors, drains and overflows will be installed to monitor the level of water in the basin. The water jet splash radius, which for practical purposes is taken to be the same as its height, also determines the minimum size of the basin.

Nozzle Fountains, Spray Rings and Water Pumps units

The type and number of fountain nozzles, the way in which they are connected and the specifications of the pumping station chosen determine how the water musical fountain will operate. In other words: the height of the water jets,the type of jet, etc. In this section, we will focus on the flow and pressure rates required for each type of fountain nozzle. This information is written on our technical data sheets. Jet pipes can be grouped together so that they can be fed separately, enabling a more accurate adjustment and allowing the water feature fountain to operate partially during periods when there are fewer visitors.

How to prevent the discharge effect in very long spray rings?

Head loss, in either circular spray rings or very long pipe stocks, causes a gradual reduction in the height of water jets directly related to their length. Allowing water to enter at several points in the water manifold prevents this shortening effect from occurring.

Minimum water flow in the pumping station

The size of the pumping station is determined by the operating pressure and the total flow volume of the water fountain, which is the sum of the individual flows (technical data sheets) from each fountain nozzle. Installation costs permitting, we highly recommend the use of a double pumping system to guarantee that the water feature fountain will operate even during breakdowns and to allow for scheduled maintenance and repairs, as well as “sharing” wear and tear.

Considerations when illuminating a water musical fountain

Architectural fountain lighting is a very important consideration: the choice of using white light, conventional colour or underwater LEDS needs to be evaluated. The height of the water jet that will be lit has to be taken into account in order to choose the projector that best meets your needs. In order for a water fountain to stand out at night, it has to be bathed in more light than the backlight of a city at night.

Keywords: musical fountain

Originally published 28 Oct 2018, updated 28 Oct 2018.