Hi all,
I want to use one of those beautiful large glazed ceramic pots to make a fountain. It would be a large one so that the top will be at a decent elevation - something on the order of five or so feet high. I guess it would have a 50 - 70 gallon capacity, depending on the shape. I want to have the water bubble up over the top and run down the side. I figure I will bury a plastic tub in the ground, center the pot in the tub and fill the tub with large decorative round stones. The overflow would make its way to the tub where it must be pumped back to the pot. Here are my questions. Where should the pump go? At the bottom of the pot - with a long extension tube to provide the bubbling action at the top and tubing that passes through the bottom side of the pot to the tub area to suck the water? Near the top of the pot, perched on something with the tubing (and power cable) going down the pot and out? Don't need the extension in this case. Or possibly in the tub? Should it be a 120v or low-voltage pump? Now for the biggie, what size pump would I need? I'm not looking for Niagara Falls - just want a nice steady bubbling over that I could hear inside. This will be right outide my window along my front walkway. Maybe a variable flow would be helpful. How much would the pump cost? I know the pot will be very expensive. Any other considerations, ideas, etc.? Obviously I have to get to an electric outlet as well. Thanks.
Victor
Pot fountain design
I have never had one although they can be quite dramatic. What I would suggest is to go to your local garden center and look at several and see how they are made. Then make yours the same way. :)
Two things to think about. The lower you place the pump , the higher the lift. This means that the pump has to work harder against gravity to get the water up the hill.
Second thing to think about is this. Pumps clog up sometimes. Little bits of algae or whatever in a small pump can make it slow down or stop. Make sure your pump is in a place where you can get to it easily to clean out. I love water features and had a fountain that was so pretty. However, it would occasionally need cleaning. To get to the pump, I had a dis assemble the fountain. Well, a year later that fountain got replaced. It was just to time consuming to clean.
Okay , one more thing. If your water level drops low enough, your pump will run dry and die..So, make sure it is low enough that it wont
I am not sure what size pump you need. I guess it depends upon how high up it has to pump. One of the smaller pumps should do it, but I dont know which one.
I have plans for doing something similar but havent got to it yet. I am going to put my pump in the bottom of the outer container. I think I am going to put some type of housing over the pump and then put some rock in the outer container to help hide the housing. This way, I can fairly easily access the pump.
Thanks, rylaff. I do plan to put the pump in the 'tub' and pump into the pot.
Victor
Mine is in my pond. Took FOREVER to dril the hole in the ceramic pot large enough to put my 1 inch tubing through. The tubing goes almost to the top of the pot, with the water bubbling, you can't see it.
Thanks - looks great!
That is so pretty. What size pump are you using?
Fish, that is so pretty!
xxx, Carrie
I got this one at Garden Ridge, complete with the pump, a tub reservoir, tubing for $60 I think it was. It barely bubbles up, then silently cascades over the jar for a sleek look. Not exactly what I had in mind it would do, but love it now. We have a waterfall close that we can hear, if we didn't have that, I might miss the sound. My purpose in posting it is, if you look, the top is not open, it has a peice of PVC in the hole that the tubing fits over. So the jar isn't full of water, and takes less push to carry the water. The rounded edge and sloping sides keeps the water from splashing. So consider that when picking a shape. You could add a bowl and seal it, to hold the tubing and create a small pool at the top. Lowe's has a lot of pumps, don't go too small, also you don't want one that isn't adjustable either. Oh, and the pump on this one is in the holding tank, which has a trap door on the top, so I can reach below the rocks to take the pump out without lifting the jar off.
But you will need to disconnect in the winter freezes. LOL!
I believe it is about 1100 gph pump? The pump sits in my Koi pond and pumps into this pond. The water then flows over a roofing tile back in to the Koi pond.
Very nice Sheila. I do want the top open though. I think it will look and sound better. Thanks again Fisk knees. Very helpful, all!
Regards,
Victor
I was thinking about doing something like that myself at one time and found these intructions from Better Homes and Gardens. It may give you a place to start.
hhttp://www.bhg.com/bhg/story.jhtml;jsessionid=YOCQ3BS2RV0LJQFIBQSCBHQ?storyid=/templatedata/bhg/story/data/12316.xml&categoryid=/templatedata/bhg/category/data/sc_780.xml&page=2
Wow, nice.
Fish - I love the way you have your pot in an upper pond area. Very attractive and such a great idea.
Knox, that link did not work for me. I'll search the site for it. Thanks.
Victor
The link didnt work for me either... Got to say, i just love that fountain in your pond, Fish. Its a great idea and looks beautiful... i just may try it out for my koi pond..
I noticed this blog from a few years ago and am working on a similar project. I have a very large ceramic vase 4ft+ high that I'd like the water to overflow over the edges onto a basin below. I'm going to have a tub in the ground with the pump in it and a metal cover on top with holes to allow water to flow back into it. There will be decorative rocks at the base of the vase to hide everything. The problem I have is - I'm worried about putting that much water in the vase at one time. It is very sturdy, but I have concerns that over time it may break. Any suggestions to over come this? Was thinking of sealing the bottom where the hose comes in and adding some light material (styrofoam material) in the vase to fill space. It would be covered with a plastic plate with holes that would sit under the vase's lip. That way there would not be as much water in the vase at one time and the material would not pour out with the water. Wanted to see if there are any other suggestions/tips before I started. Thanks
I am doing the same thing. I found this tutorial to help with the bottom part.
http://www.rd.com/advice-and-know-how/stepbystep-instructions-and-pictures-of-how-to-create-your-own-fountain-for-under-80/article115173.html
If you have enough room in your bottom basin you could put a brick on each side of the pump to help support the pot.
Not really sure what to do about keeping less water inside...
Are you going to run a tube up through the center and not have any water inside the vase? Not sure I understand what you mean lol.
I am just going to secure mine with bricks so weight won't be an issue. I was told not to let the water level get too low or it could evaporate and the pump would burn up. I will prob run a tube up the center but will keep water inside as well.
Still working it all out lol. I think I will need to seal the inside of my large ceramic pot ~the inside is porous so will prob use pruning seal or find some other type of sealer (hopefully I can find a clear one)
We put this in a year or so ago. It's not a pot but an egg shaped ceramic ball with a hole in the top. The water circulated from the top of the ball back down the sides and into a rock covered pit. It's only about 2ft tall.
Here is a link with a step by step.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/831255/
Victor, You might be more interested in something like my Birdbath. It's higher about 3ft. The pump in the pond bottom. There is a concrete pedestal that the birdbath sits on. Both the pedestal and the bird bath have a hole that run thru them with a plastic pipe threaded thru. The concrete basin is approx 3ft deep and 5-6ft wide, wouldn't have to be that deep or wide depending on the width of your pot. I don't know the size of the pumps but I can pull them and check.
Very nice, Holly! But I'm still hoping for my original design.
Looking forward to pics when you get it done. Bet it will a spectacular addition to your entrance.
IF!
Hey Victor,
Here's on that we put togeather a year or two ago. It's hard to see but we have a small foutain head just above
the surface and the water trickles over the sides.
Very nice!
last summer I was fiddling around with a pail, a few ceramic pots and a small pump and some of the gravel from the greenhouse floor.
The result is posted on a thread in the Canadian Gardening forum, 'it started with a 5 gallon pail' (currently on page 4) sorry, I don't know how to make a link
I really want to do this fountain again, on a much larger scale.....
Victor, I can't believe it's been almost three years and you haven't got your "Disappearing Fountain" yet! LOL Who am I to talk, we bought our vase almost five years ago, bought the base, pump, etc. to hook it all up two years ago and there's still no water bubbling up over the top :) But, THIS is THE year! We had a major problem when we first tried to hook it up - the hole in the bottom of the vase wasn't large enough for the tubing. Even though I got a tremendous deal on the vase ($100.00), I didn't want to take the chance on drilling the hole larger myself. So we've finally decided to take it to the local experts http://springdalewatergardens.com/ShopSite/page16.html and have them drill the hole for us. I'll have to check to see what size pump we actually bought but this is what their site says:
A pump for a statue or fountain spray takes less volume of water than a waterfall. Many fountains or statues work well with 700 gallons per hour or less, and several will perform nicely with as little as 300 gallons per hour or less. You must filter the water when operating something with small openings like the fountain or statue. Clogging from small particles will occur without filtration
We should have it set up in the next month and I'll have a better idea of how it all works.
That's EXACTLY the type vase I am looking for, Debbie! $100?!! What truck did it fall off?!^_^
This message was edited Mar 25, 2009 12:20 PM
LOL, you'll have to plan a vacation to Outer Banks in September some year :) I found this great place there one year that has 50% off their pottery every year. The first year we were in my friend's car and there was no way to fit it in her car. The next year I made sure we took my van! You should have seen us, it took three of us to get the darned thing up into the back of the van but I wasn't leaving without it!! It was actually my gift to Rick for his 50th birthday but we all know what those kinds of gifts are about :)
Hee hee. How tall is it?
rcn, that is a beautiful pot. Did you pick that up in Nags Head? There is a place right along the main road in town, that's where I got my Blue Ball. They have a lot of pottery sitting out in the yard and just a little bit up from there is a furniture store that also has quite a bit of large pots sitting outside.
Holly, yes Nags Head, probably the same place you're thinking of, it was more of a gift shop but they had an excellent assortment of pottery out front with a couple of the 'disappearing fountain's set up in the display. Although I was satisfied with the one I bought, the first year they had a better selection at the end of the season and I was trying to find one with green tones instead of the blue. At that price I was trying not to be too fussy! I would love to go back some fall but I don't think Rick dares to let me head in that direction! LOL
Victor, it's about 3.5' tall with a 30" diameter :)
Victor, took my camera along yesterday when I traveled to Springdale Water Gardens to get our vase drilled :) The vase is still in the van (with the instructions) but I'll take pictures as soon as we start getting it set up to show you. Just a few of the selections they have available...
more...
Three they have set up on the edge of one of their ponds and in the background there's one of the "half pots" they sell at the top of the stream.
Still in the crates but I loved the glaze on these - smaller than the one I have and ONLY $500 and $300!
I don't remember what they call these but they're really unique, like a vase within a vase.
I really like the spheres.
But these are probably my favorite :) So...are you drooling yet? LOL
