Fountain hygiene Fountain hygiene is either forgotten or just not known about. Why? Imagine a plaza fountain that is designed for people to "run through" and children being children will get excited and may just "relieve" themselves as they play, with out filtration / hygiene imagine what your child is running through. Or if you simply do not clean the fountain, what germs will there be breeding in the water? As you are probably aware, if you leave a glass of water long enough exposed to sunlight it will turn green, the green colour is actually algae which are fed from the nutrients in the water and uses sunlight for energy. Rivers do not turn green with algae because they are constantly moving so it is always different water exposed to the sun, but in a fountain or water feature it is the same water being recycled. Pond Owners Pond owners prevent green water by using a U.V. clarifier and biological filter (This also removes the pollution caused by fish waste) Using a biological filter and U.V. only makes the water clear, it does not disinfect the water. Disinfect the water? Because it is the same water being recycled and possibly months old it is an ideal breeding ground for organisms, such organisms can cause lethal doses of legionnaires disease. Bacteria and germs love water, they can actually live in the fine spray fountains produce. So what can you do? Use a pond UV and biological filter, or one of the all in one filter U.V. Pumps? NO. As previously mentioned these only make the water clear, they do not disinfect the water. You need to add a disinfectant such as chlorine or bromine Easiest option The easiest way is to do this is to add either "chlorine" or "bromine" tablets but the water should be tested periodically to check on the levels of these products. We do recommend this option for "domestic" fountains since it is the cheapest. The chlorine or bromine actually kill algae preventing it form forming, so keeping the water clear, and also they kill any water borne disease. Conventional method The next option is to have a dedicated filtration / dosing system. This consists of a slow rate dosing of a chlorine based compound, but chlorine dosing on its own affects the PH level of the water, so you also need to have an acid added to balance the PH of the water. Automatic dosing systems do all of this for you. Solids removal Chemical dosing is good, but does not remove the solids, for example air-borne dirt, leaves etc, this is where solids filtration comes in, literally as the name suggests it removes solids. The filtration of a fountain is important, but also consideration should be taken into account of how easy is the filtration to access, its no use having filtration if it can not be checked, replenished / cleaned as required. Often large fountains opt to use a "sand filter" to mechanically clean the water
There is also available "silver / copper ion" purification as opposed to the use of chemicals. Basically it uses electrolysis. It passes a very small current from one electrode to the other , and the silver ions kill any bacteria etc, it has the advantage that it does not change the pH value of the water. PLEASE NOTE: Regretfully we are currently unable to supply any type of fountain filtration. We suggest you try a swimming pool supply company It should also be pointed out that with these methods a separate room or chamber is required as these items are some what large. You can see a genuine pump vault on the page here In July 08. the plaza fountain in Clacton was turned off because of hygiene concerns, it has been decided to erect a 1m tall fence around the fountain instead (People will still climb over it) If the fountain had a bigger pump vault it could have had more water treatment. Below is the Fountain at Clacton
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