waterall feature

Hello group,
I'm a newbee trying to find an answer to an annoying question.
I spent a lot of money purchasing a tall fountain which is cute to look at.
Sadly, I have had nothing but problems with the cleaning of it. Unless I tip all the water out and scrub it throughly,(it's a strong resin like material) replace with clean water, it attracts bugs and grundge.
Are there any wise owls out there able to help with suggestions on cleaning it? or keeping the water clear/clean
I hope this is not to complicated to understand, I do tend to babble on a bit.
Thank you very much for any suggestions.

 

It's a fact of life that any fountain or water feature will attract dust, bugs, birds, windblown detritus and even rainfall which all provide a source of minerals and nutrients. Algae and moss then quickly colonise it.

Chemicals can be added but they are more or less toxic, especially to fish, so you have to be wary. To keep the water pristine and clear you may have to resort to a UV type pond filter which will help as will regular removal of any debris.

Aged water features normally have a collection of thick mosses and ferns which some think greatly add to their attraction. Beauty really does lie in the eyes of the beholder.

 

Some years ago we had a large water feature with fountain in the centre of Norwich. It wasn't there long because somebody thought it funny to add a small amount of Fairy Liquid to the water. The resulting foam was quite spectacular.

 

A small pond filter/lamp should do the trick.

 

Thank you for your input it was very interesting.
I have left the fountain water build up over a few weeks however, it concerned me that midges and wiggly things may at some point cause problems with the health of our grandchildren.
Mental alarm bells would ring loudly. So, the pond device may just be what is needed here, so thank you all again for your help.

 

Although this was posted almost a year ago (sorry I have just joined) I add this in the fact it may help some one.

A dedicated outdoor fountain will always become green / dirty because of photosynthesis, The sunlight will turn the water green.

Commercial fountains when designed properly never turn green, it has nothing to do with the old wives tale that running water does not turn green*. With a commercial fountain all you see is the nozzles water and pool, what you do not see is the filters and chemicals that are added to stop the water turning green, this can either be under the fountain (as in a shopping centre) or in a ââ?¬Å?plant roomââ?¬Â some where nearby.

But back to the problem in hand. The easiest solution is regretfully to empty the fountain on a regular basis and refill with clean water. Yes you can add an easily available chemical, but with children around its not advisable. Adding a pond filtration system is not usually practicable since there is
a) Nowhere to hide it
b) Nowhere to connect it to the fountain, since that is not what most domestic fountain are designed to have added.

A point of note: Although water may look clean it can still harbour water borne diseases, another reason why commercial fountains have chemicals, or more recently silver-ion filtration, but so long as you keep your fountain well maintained / cleaned there should be no problem.

(*This is based on the fact streams are running water and don�t turn green, this is because the running water is not being recycled unlike a fountain, the running water you do see in a stream is not the same water you saw five minutes ago, that water has long gone, a streams water is constantly changing)