Please help me get my fountain working again

GDB2222

My porch has a fountain in it!

It looks a bit like this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blumfeldt-L%C3%B6wenstein-Circulation-Water-Flowing-Intallation/dp/B0728PHTY9

That's a fountain where a trickle of water comes out of a lion's mouth into a little trough.

It originally simply had a mains water feed that fed a spout in the lion's mouth, and a drain took the water away. Eventually, the water board cottoned on to the waste, and it was disconnected.

I want to get it working again with a recirculating pump. I have drilled right through the wall where the lion's mouth is, and I can feed a flexible pipe through, and then back through the wall into the trough.

So, I need a submersible pump plus a suitable pipe. That is hopefully where you ladies and gentlemen** come in, please.

The pump really only needs to produce a small amount of water - just a trickle. Any more, and it will splash all over the porch.

What about the pipe? My thought was perhaps microbore copper pipe?

I'll hide the pipework behind some shelving, but piping that can take a sharp bend would be best. And how do I make the connection between the pump and the pipe?


** Sorry, I don't mean to be exclusive of people who don't fall into that categorization.

cymruchris

The item you've linked to shows a 200 litre per hour pump as being included - so likely something like this 250 litre per hour water feature pump with a variable flow valve would probably work ok. They do have a pump with a higher flow available, again with a variable flow valve - so that might be worth looking at too. But if it's pretty much the same as the one you've linked, then the 250 should be ok.

https://www.ukwaterfeatures.com/products/250-lph-replacement-water-feature-pump-with-light-offshoot-low-voltage.html

Then some 13mm hose:

https://www.ukwaterfeatures.com/products/12-inch13mm-ribbed-black-water-feature-hose-1-metre.html

And a couple of hose clips.

What's the connection and diameter at the lions mouth?

silvercar

Can’t it be a nice decorative feature without actually pumping water?

cymruchris

silvercar said:

Can’t it be a nice decorative feature without actually pumping water?

I wouldn't say so - as it would look like a water feature - every time someone walked past it (me included) would think 'Oh that's broken'. I'd rather have it working, the same as the OP. 

GDB2222

Thanks, both of you. We have lived here almost 25 years, and it has always been a shame to me that we did not have it working  properly. 

Thanks for the suggestions Chris. I really need a much thinner hose, so I will have a word with the company that you linked to and see what else they recommend. 

Apodemus

GDB2222 said:

Thanks, both of you. We have lived here almost 25 years, and it has always been a shame to me that we did not have it working  properly. 

Thanks for the suggestions Chris. I really need a much thinner hose, so I will have a word with the company that you linked to and see what else they recommend. 

 Nice feature to have an you definitely need to get it working again!  I think I'd be looking for a suitable gauge of pvc tubing online (my local old-school, not-chain-store hardware centre has a rack of sizes) and an aquarium pump. 

EDIT:  If you know anyone who works in a hospital...the tubing from a "giving set" (think saline drip) would possibly do the trick.

chris_n

Bear in mind that as you reduce the diameter you will increase the pressure which is definitely what you want.