Custom Water Fountains

Custom water fountains are beautiful and provide many benefits such as stress-relief, beauty, unique decorating and even advertising your business.  As custom fountains become increasingly popular so do the questions on how to clean water fountains and how often to clean them.  Waterfalls do require some TLC to keep them looking beautiful and flowing nicely for years to come.  Below is a guide on how to clean your custom water feature. Keep in mind, this is a general guide, your fountain may have a different set up or different materials, but this should guide you through some tips on maintaining your fountain.

Keeping your Water Fresh from the Start in your Fountain:
When you first get your fountain it is important to keep the water fresh right from the start.  If you have the ability to use distilled water this is going to be ideal as it will keep your custom fountain free from hard water and calcium deposits.  With large fountains, this is sometimes not always a feasible option so most people opt to use regular tap water in their larger fountains.  Depending on how hard your water is, you will probably start to see some lime or calcium build up on your fountain over time.  This is normal with any water feature.  To avoid this and still use hard water, you can use a product called No More White Scale.  This will help prevent the white scale build up at the water line and face of your fountain.  Algae will be the other problem you will see over time with any type of water you use.  Wherever there is water, there will eventually be algae.  There are several fountain care products that will help keep your water fresh and combat algae build up.  Some suggestions for large fountains are Fountain Fresh, Fountain Block and No More Algae.  Using fountain care products will definitely help keep your fountain water fresh it does not eliminate the need to clean your water feature.  Read on for cleaning tips for your wall fountain.

Cleaning  your Water Fountain:
I always recommend a cleaning schedule of every 4-6 months completely cleaning your water feature.  In some cases this may mean taking a lot of it apart so you can get at the critical parts of the fountain.

Emptying the Water from the Fountain: The first step to giving your water feature a good cleaning is getting the water out.  A couple ways to do this:  You can take a second fountain pump and pump the water into a bucket or use a shop vacuum to suck the water out.

Cleaning the Fountain Pump:  The pump of a fountain is what makes the fountain tick!  It is important to keep it clean.  If it gets clogged with debris or algae it will not function properly.  Because it sits in the base of the water feature it makes for a good place for algae to grow.  You can simply unplug the pump, unhook the tube that connects the pump to the fountain and remove it to clean.  I find it easiest to clean it in a sink.  There is typically a back on the fountain pump that can be removed.  Run fresh water through the pump and use some type of brush, a toothbrush works great, to remove any build up in the small areas. 

Cleaning the Fountain’s Distribution Unit: This is another area that is important to keep clean.  Typically the distribution unit will have holes in it that the water flows out.  If these holes get clogged, water will not flow properly.  It is sometimes easier to remove the distribution unit and clean it in the sink.  If this is possible, take a long brush or something that you can stick through the unit to get rid of any debris. You can also use a toothbrush from the outside to clean the holes as good as you can.  Some fountains have more of a trough at the top that fills and water spills over the edge.  This is important to keep clean as well.  Wiping it or scrubbing it with a mild abrasive sponge works great.

Cleaning the Tubing:  You will typically see a tube that carries the water from the fountain pump up to the water fountain’s distribution unit.  This tube can also get build up in it and cause water flow issues.  If you can, it would be a good idea to disconnect the tubing and clean that as well trying to get in it with a brush. 

Cleaning the Face of your Fountain:  The face of your fountain should be very easy to clean.  If you have a slate wall fountain simply using a non-abrasive pad or scotch brite pad to free the face of any build up or algae should work great.  If you have a glass or mirrored face water fountain, cleaning the mirror can be done with windex, CLR or any other glass cleaner.  A highly recommended glass cleaner is Jazz Window Prep.  This will not only clean the glass, it will make the water flow flawless over the face of your fountain. 

Wiping the Base of the Fountain Clean:  It is unnecessary to take the base of the fountain down. Once the water is out of the fountain you can simply wipe the base clean with a sponge and clean water.  This will remove any slime that has started to build up around the base of the fountain.

Now you are ready to put your fountain’s pump back in and add fresh water.  If this cleaning ritual is done every few months it will truly save you a lot of work and keep you fountain pump and custom water feature in great condition for years to come.  For more tips on fountain care, please visit our tips and advice center.