Sprinkler system hose bib for fountain?

[ulysses55]

Hi-

Wondering if anyone has had experience or thoughts about converting a sprinkler controlled hose bib into a line for a fountain. I have a Hunter system in the backyard with plenty of connections for soaker hoses, and my wife and I were wanting to put a fountain in the backyard. What I don't have anywhere close by is a 110v source for a pump. Thoughts?

 

[CountryBumkin]

I think the sprinkler line will provide enough water for a nice fountain effect. What happens to the water after it comes out of the fountain? Does it go on the ground (down the drain)? The fountains I am familiar with recirculate the water via a pump. It sounds like you are going to skip the pump part.

There are some "low voltage" fountain pumps that may work for you. You would just need to have 120V at the house (for transformer) then run low voltage direct burial wire out to the fountain.
see http://fountainsnslate.com/low_voltage_fountain_pumps

 

[Sponsor]

 

[hj]

What is a "sprinkler controlled hose bibb"? you are going to "waste" a lot of water running the fountain without a recirculation pump.

 

[ulysses55]

Thanks for the replies. To be clearer, I wanted to reuse both the existing freshwater supply and the low voltage running to that area for a fountain. It seems like it might be possible to use the existing low voltage line to power a 12v water pump for the fountain. I'm not so sure about keeping that same line for control, although it would be cool to have the fountain in the Hunter system as a "zone" I can turn on and off as needed. If this were the case, I could incorporate the existing water supply for the new fountain, with a water level sensor that can turn on the water supply when the fountain level is too low, and back on when there is enough water in the fountain.

 

[CountryBumkin]

I doubt that the Hunter "valve control" circuit has enough power to run a low voltage fountain pump. I'm not even sure if the Hunter is 12VAC on the control side. You would need to check with Hunter (and have the specs for the fountain pump). But it would be reasonable to expect to have the Hunter system control a relay that turns On/Off the transformer supplying power to your fountain pump.

Is it difficult for you to run a new low-voltage (say 12GA, direct burial) wire from your house (where transformer would be mounted) to the fountain?

 

[hj]

Irrigation control systems have a separate circuit that turns on a "system pump", which has its own power supply, that you might use to run your fountain.depending on the circuitry.