“Why are the light bulbs in my fountain blowing out?” By: Allstate Resource Management

“Why are the light bulbs in my fountain blowing out?”

By: Allstate Resource Management

Fountains are a great way to add visual appeal to the landscape and the stirring water is relaxing and tranquil to hear. In addition to their aesthetic qualities, fountains also add a great deal of oxygen into the pond as the tiny droplets make contact with the air and fall back into the pond. But do pond water fountains provide enough aeration? Similar to choosing an aeration system, determining if a fountain is right for your pond will depend on the depth, shape, and size.

Subsurface aeration, like the Pond Aeration Systems, are recommended for deeper ponds to provide complete circulation. For these units, the air is pushed through diffuser plates positioned at the bottom of the pond. As the air bubbles rise, oxygenated water from the surface moves to the bottom, creating a healthy aerobic pond ecosystem.

Allstate Resource Management can add beauty and function to your waterways. Our experts will design the ideal fountain or aeration system for your lake or pond. Floating fountains with decorative spray patterns help to beautify highly visible waterways while assisting nature with many biological benefits. Increased dissolved oxygen levels help to sustain fish populations, assist in controlling undesirable bacteria, and improve the overall health of a waterway system. Bottom diffuser aeration systems help to speed the decomposition of organic sediments, improve circulation, and reduce the potential for fish kills in a water-body.

We are often asked, “Why do the fountain bulbs burn out with such frequency?”

The answer may be easier to explain by comparing a fountain that is a few years old with an automobile that has been driven for 100,000 miles.  If you put new tires that are rated for 50,000 miles on an older car which has worn shock absorbers, soft springs, and is out of alignment, the tires may only last for 25,000 miles.

A similar set of circumstances that occur after a fountain has been in operation for a few years reduce the life of a new bulb in the same manner.  The copper inside the power cables, control panel components (circuit breakers, contactors), wire connections, the light sockets that have become corroded from moisture, no longer conduct a consistent voltage to the bulb.  As a result, a bulb that would typically last 3 years under ideal or “new” circumstances may afford only a year of life.

Fountains are often taken for granted and become just part of the horizon, rather than something that is used on a daily basis like your car. These fountains are in operation an average of 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, with the lights operating about a third of that time.  Accelerating the deterioration process is the fact that they are submerged underwater 24/7, and exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet rays everyday.

Replacing the bulbs as well as performing scheduled maintenance go a long way with upkeeping an older fountain.

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Allstate Resource Management

6900 SW 21 Ct. Building 9

Davie, Florida 33317

954-382-9766