Pond Fountain Components

thingiverse

My pond does not have much water flow, especially when we don't get a lot of rain, and I needed to find a way to circulate the water to keep it oxygenated for the fish and prevent algae growth. I started looking into pond fountains, but they cost at least $1,200-$1,400, which was too much for me. After doing some research and watching YouTube videos, I realized that I could probably make my own fountain for a lot less money. I printed four of the "pond_fountain_hanger_new" files and built a frame out of PVC pipe and elbows. If you print the hangers, you'll need to mirror two of them in your slicing software so you get two left-hand parts and two right-hand parts. In the pictures, I used HDPE sewer and drain pipe (white outside and black inside), but do not use this pipe. It's very hard to glue and paint doesn't stick well to it. Learn from my mistake and buy the teal sewer and drain pipe instead. The HDPE pipe has a different diameter than the S&D pipe, so if you buy schedule 40 PVC pipe, it won't work with the hangers. I bought a 10-foot piece of teal PVC sewer and drain pipe for about $12 and four PVC S&D elbows at about $2.50 each. I found a piece of plexiglass at my dad's farm to make the shelf that the pump would sit on. I also purchased some "fun noodles" and cut them to lengths that would allow me to insert them into the PVC frame, so if the glue joints fail, the fountain should keep floating. I bolted and glued the shelf to the hangers, then cut the PVC pipe to length (22 inches for all four sides) and glued the frame together. I also did some light sanding on the pipe and elbows to help the paint stick later. This may be easier before assembly. I sourced a pump, extension cord, and waterproof butt splice connectors from Amazon. The pump is a 0.5 HP 3300 GPH pump that costs about $70. The extension cord is a 100-foot 16/3 outdoor cord that cost me around $23 (but seems to have more than doubled in price recently). I also bought some waterproof butt splice connectors for about $9. When these items arrived, I cut the ends off the cords, slid on the waterproof splices, soldered them together, and then soldered/sealed the connectors as well. I put heat shrink over the three splices and sealed that up too. I traced out the mounting holes on the shelf and drilled some out to receive the pump. I also used a 4.5-inch hole saw to make a hole for the pump inlet through the shelf. This all plugs into a GFCI outlet on the outside of my house, so if there's any kind of short, etc., the outlet will kick. For nozzles, I experimented with several different ideas that I came up with after looking at a small fountain we have for a stock tank that our dog drinks out of. Two nozzles (the V and the tulip) utilize a 1.5-inch PVC pipe and have two collars that are glued/screwed into place, and you're able to adjust the pattern by increasing the pressure behind the nozzle when you move it in and out via the threads. My third attempt at a nozzle was just gluing a cap on the 1.5-inch PVC pipe and drilling holes in it. To maintain spacing and angles, I printed a simple jig. If you build your own and have any questions, feel free to reach out. After everything was assembled, I put a coat of Krylon Fusion low-gloss black paint on everything. I plugged the extension cord into a GFCI outlet I have on the outside of my house and use a mechanical outdoor timer to ensure that pump only runs 8 hours a day. It's been running for about a month like this without any issues, but I take no responsibility if you hurt yourself making this or shock yourself.