I have been playing around making fountain nozles for the ponds two fountains. Pricing them from vendors makes you think they are machined or molded out of platinum.........I mean afterall how high tech can a molded plastic fountain head be..........well I have learned quite a bit while making some, on what you can and what you can't get away with, that really just never entered my mind on my initial couple of fountain heads. But now I have finally got it down, and have some made that have been working just fine, properly sized to the output volume and pressure of the pumps used to supply them, and at the same time not block up or get clogged in any of the various openings from debri in the water........getting a good spray and pattern of sufficient height and width without blocking or overloading the pump was interesting during my experimentation. Its amazing what you can do with kinternal passages and channels and holes milled or drilled in just the right places when it comes to making these things. Now I need to cast a few pieces of bronze up and machine them out of the bronze now that Inow what I am doing. Then again thew ones I have made out of delrin and HDPE and PVC will probably last a lifetime, but the bronze ones are still yet another challenge to make.
Currently using 2 pumps, both of which put out 4200 gph at 2' head. One is a higher pressure pump than the other. Best pattern I have so far that is suitable for our needs is sort of like a large umbrella, that totally covers the entire surface under the 32' diameter spray area the nozzle makes. Its height is approx 18 feet, to the top of the spray, with an additional spire out the cxenter that reaches perhaps
22 feet or so. Main use is pond aeration for the one fountain , and to provide a good looking fountain that has decent o2 / water transfer, without making a heap of waves, gives good coverage and water turn over and looks good with lighting at night.The other is provide good aeration in a smaller section and all of the above requirement and not overly disturb the surface area as the water lillies do not like disturbed water....
Things you do when you get bored!
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