How to Install a Floating Pond Fountain

A floating fountain can add beauty to your pond.

Installing a floating pond fountain not only adds a touch of beauty to your outdoor pond or water garden, it also serves an important purpose by aerating the water. Aerating keeps the water rich with the oxygen that fish and other aquatic creatures need to survive. Some of these fountains come with adjustable heads that allow you to customize the spray pattern, as well as lights to give your pond that romantic glow.

Things You'll Need

• Anchor weights
• Plastic tie
• Utility knife
• Electrical outlet/connection

Instructions

1. Secure the included cords to the mounting points on the side of the fountain. Two securing loops should be located directly opposite each other on the outside of the fountain. Make sure the knot is secure, and trim off any rope or cord trailing from the knot with a utility knife so it doesn't get caught up in the fountain intake.

2. Connect a fountain nozzle to the top of the fountain. Some floating fountains may come with as many as five different heads to choose from. These may either snap into place or be held by screws.

3. Lower the fountain so that it is floating on the surface of the pond. Don't lower the fountain by the power cable, as this could damage the connection.

4. Attach the power cord cable to one of the mooring ropes with a plastic tie. This step will keep the cables from getting sucked up into the intake.

5. Secure the mooring ropes for the fountain. There are two main ways to do this: secure them to weights on the bottom of the pond, or tie them to stakes on the side of the pond. Tying the ropes to weights on the bottom of the pond will conceal them better.

6. Adjust the weights for the fountain on the bottom of the pond to the proper distance from the fountain, if this is how you are anchoring the fountain. A good guideline is to have the anchors 1 foot away from the fountain for each 3 feet of depth. So in a pond that is 3 feet deep, the anchors on either side should be positioned 1 foot away.

7. Connect the power cables to a nearby power supply. How this is done will depend on the type of floating fountain that you have. Some fountains will have power cords that plug into a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt) fountain, while others will have to be hooked up to an electrical circuit by a qualified professional.

References

• English Country Gardens; Pond Fountain Installation; Stephanie Gottschalk
• Kasco Marine: Floating Fountain Manual
• Roman Fountains: Floating Fountain Installation