Sunday, March 10, 2013

Project: Watering Can Fountain

I made a watering can fountain back in September.  It was a simple DIY project that added a nice, calming sound to the garden.  Here's how I did it:

I wanted to add a water feature to my garden, but I didn't want to deal with having to plug in a fountain.  The nearest electrical outlet would require the cord to either go over or under a sidewalk.  Going under sounds difficult and going over wouldn't be pretty.  Instead I decided to get a solar water pump. 


The affordable solar pumps don't have as much power as the electrical ones, but I didn't need a lot of power.


The only other things I needed was a watering can and a metal tub.  I also got a couple of paving squares and leveled them to place the tub on.


I then used a combination of drilling (which was not too effective) and hammering a large nail into the bottom of the watering can to run the tubing through.


I ran the tubing to the watering can spout.



This is what the inside of the watering can looked like:


I nailed the handle of the watering can to the fence, added rocks and water to the tub along with a decorative frog.  I put the solar panel on the top of the fence, facing south.  Then I just had to wait for the solar panel to charge and I had a lovely little fountain. 


Most days the pump runs all day and continues for a couple of hours after the sun sets.  I had to adjust the position of the tub because the pump was more powerful during the midday and the water was shooting out past the tub.


It was a simple project that adds a relaxing addition to the garden.

4 comments:

  1. I once had a little water garden. I used a solar powered pump to run my bamboo spout at the top of my waterfall. I didn't have any battery though. So it ran when the sun was up. If it was too cloudy it wouldn't run at all. I do love the sound of running water, but I guess I got bored with it after about five years and took it apart.

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  2. I LOVE YOUR IDEA ABOUT SOLAR POWER CAN YOU PLEASE PM ME COS WE HAVE TOO MUCH SUN IN HER THANKS IN ADVANCE

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  3. Solar power it future, good to see tha you used it for your garden. Good post, thanks for sharing it

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  4. Please tell me what solar pump you used, there are so many out there I not sure which one. Thanks

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