Garden Fountain

2023 Author: Hannah Pearcy | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 03:36

The simple running fountain takes advantage of the natural gradient: water is taken from a river and diverted to fountain pools made of wood or natural stone. The river always delivers the same amount of water to the well, so that it overflows, sometimes less water is drawn than flows in. Excess water is returned to the river via an artificial stream or seeped into the area.

At the draw well (also called deep well), the groundwater collects in a vertical man-made opening in the ground, the well shaft. In earlier times, the water was pumped up via buckets attached to winches. Today, a few centimeters wide boreholes are sufficient for the extraction of groundwater from a well. Electric pumps draw the water from great depths and make it usable for garden irrigation.

When is it worth having your own fountain?

If you tackle it yourself, you can set up your garden fountain relatively cheaply: if you count the rising costs for fresh water and wastewater for years, the investment pays for itself after a short time. Anyone who uses the garden fountain not only for watering flowers, watering lawns and beds, but also for filling up the pond or watering pets (obtain information about contaminated sites) will quickly appreciate the cost savings from their own garden fountain.

Others

The 3 most important questions about your own well

Maybe you know that? There is always someone in the Circle of Friends who wants to drill their own well. But inevitably, the …

Rammbrunnen or Bohrbrunnen?

A ramming fountain in the garden is only possible if the groundwater level is no lower than 7-8 meters below the ground level. Water can no longer be pumped from deeper locations using a fountain - the pumping capacity is also limited. 900 liters per hour sound a lot at first, but are not more than 15 liters per minute: almost 1.5 water buckets! With a nostalgic handle pump, you can crown the ram well visually and in terms of performance.

The well is the most common type of well in private well construction: With high groundwater levels (less than 7-8 meters deep), this well is easy to drill yourself. Its delivery rate is only limited by the productivity of the groundwater vein and the delivery rate of the connected pump. In most regions, you get just as much and just as reliable water from a well as from a tap!

Drilling a well yourself: How deep?

In the flat areas of Germany, drilling depths of a few meters are usually sufficient to encounter a layer that carries groundwater. You can drill wells down to a depth of eight meters yourself without heavy equipment - in addition, professional machines are required and the costs for the wells skyrocket.

Garden maintenance

Drill wells

Water from your own spring: You can drill a well yourself in the garden

In order to convey the groundwater upwards, you have the choice between an above-ground garden pump or a submersible pump hanging in the borehole. In addition to the 7-8 meter deep garden fountains, which are economical for private owners, groundwater can also be pumped from lower levels by using deep well pumps.

Well note what

If you have decided to drill your own well in the garden, there are still some formalities to be regulated:

• Find out which approval procedures apply to private wells in your state / municipality. As a rule, garden fountains are license-free, but must be reported to the Lower Water Authority!
• Ask the local water provider about the depth of the groundwater table - you will often get the answer faster from a neighbor with your own well.
• Is the groundwater under your property contaminated? Have the Kartasteramt confirm that it is harmless in writing.
• Is your property in a water protection zone? Stricter requirements apply here!
• At the end there is an application for a water law permit from the city or municipal administration.

Clean well

If you have been operating your well for several years, the pumping capacity may decrease. The cause is rarely the groundwater layer falling dry, but rather the clogging of the well filter. You can remove these deposits in the well with a cleaner - the application is easy. We tried the fountain cleaner from Wesso ourselves (see picture gallery above).

The "tried it out" conclusion: fountain cleaner

• + Easy to use
• - Can only be used in wells whose water column can be filled from above

Does your fountain deliver significantly less water over time - and is it even cloudy? Then you can try cleaning with the Wessoclean Aqua Type 1 (www.wesso.com). The fountain cleaner cleans in an environmentally friendly manner based on citric acid, it should dissolve loose areas in the transition from the gravel bed to the well filter. Two 400-gram bags are required for garden fountains (around 26 euros). Dissolved in 10 liters of water, the agent is poured into the well pipe - a check valve that is usually present must be dismantled. Leave on overnight and then rinse or pump the fountain thoroughly.

The only disadvantage: cannot be used with a check valve at the bottom.

Source: himself is the man 8/2014