Maintaining Your Outdoor Water Feature

We absolutely encourage our customers to consider all the necessary maintenance a water feature requires. Outdoor fountains are subject to the elements of changing seasons and unwanted debris and vegetation. It is essential to understand what is required and how you or your hired help will meet those requirements as often as needed.

There are three main tasks that you will need to address regularly for your fountain to maintain its beauty and function. These are water replenishment, water treating and fountain cleaning. Water replenishment is simple and should be performed almost daily, while fountain cleaning is much more intensive but is only required four times a year at the most.

Water replenishment

Water will naturally evaporate and some will even splash onto the ground. There are two factors which dictate how quickly your fountain will lose water. Firstly, certain fountains hold more water than others, these will not need to be refilled as often. However, fountains that expose a large surface area of the contained water with evaporate that water at a slightly higher rate. Also, the climate has the hugest impact on water evaporating. Naturally, if you are in a humid climate maintenance will be less severe than in an arid zone.

Why is having enough water essential? Firstly the fountain needs plenty of water for the feature to look and sound great. That might be obvious. The other more technical aspect is that the pump needs to be completely submerged in water. If it is not, then the pump will become damaged from sucking in air.

We recommend you replenish the fountain between every day and every other day. The more often you replenish, the better. Less water at one time is the best practice.

Water treatment

Chemically treating the water of your fountain is a great way to combat the elements and fight off unwanted lifeforms in your fountain (algae, etc). We sell these water treatments in our pond product selection. Peruse our catalog and you will be able to find water treatments for your fountain. Directions come with the treatment. Please use these treatments sparingly as they can build up in your fountain if not used correctly.

Seasonal fountain cleaning

Your fountain will need a complete cleaning from two to four times a year. The changing of the seasons is a great time to clean your fountain. While treating the water helps fight unwanted vegetation, your fountain will still be plagued with some unwanted growth that will need to be taken care of. These substances can get into the fountain, basin and pump.

To clean your fountain first cut out the power to the pump and let your fountain sit for a second. Then start removing anything that is building on the outside. Cleaning with soap is fine, or you can use vinegar. Then you will need to clean the pump with a similar method. Lastly, you can clean the inside of the fountain by draining the water and scrubbing the inside.

Water Feature Pros cleans fountains and ponds locally in the Kentuckiana / Greater Louisville Area. Call us and we can set you up with a fountain or pond cleaning.