How fountain nozzles work

We get asked how  fountain nozzles work so we thought it appropriate to put a few words together.

If you have a strait pipe sealed at one end and water entering from the other if you were to drill a hole in that pipe water will come out, that's where the similarity ends. With a fountain you want to know where the water is going to go although if you drill a series of holes in  a strait line in a pipe the water will not all go in the same direction, this is because of the angle of the hole, any swarf left inside the pipe (this will deflect the water) so this is where nozzles come in.

The most common direct-able nozzle is the komet nozzle.

Foaming nozzles have a constriction that increases the speed of the water and as it leaves the water sucks in air making it "frothy or foamy" they do not require a separate air supply, although some do have a "snorkel" to allow enough air to be sucked in.

rotating nozzles such as the pirouette are actually rotated by having the arms set at a slight angle and the water pressure leaving the nozzle  causes the it to rotate.

Bell nozzles are a clever piece of engineering that have an inverted "hemisphere" and the water follows this shape.

Different nozzles require different quantities of water to operate correctly and also different pressures, foaming nozzles do require a lot of water and a lot of pressure.