Architectural Fountain Design & Manufacturing
As for the question of what extra maintenance is required during Winter, we have a few thoughts on that.
Congratulations on being proactive and already winterizing your fountain. We’re sure if it could, it would thank you (but go ahead and thank yourself, just because). If you’ve already winterized your fountain, there isn’t too much to do until you start up again in the Spring. You should have already drained and/or blow out your pipes, pumps and filters; turned off the necessary breakers; and opened your drain valve.
Our recommendation for you is to remember Murphy’s Law – if anything can go wrong, it will. Even though your fountain system is shut down for the Winter, we still recommend checking it every week, or after every heavy rain or snowfall. Water can still get trapped in your pipes from the snow and rain runoff, so you’ll want to drain the trapped water out of your system before the next freeze. Remember that the best thing you could do for your fountain is preventative maintenance, don’t let your fountain sit idle until Spring, only to find out something failed and your vault flooded. Save yourself the headache.
If you chose to keep your fountain running during the Winter, you should already have switched your water heaters on and be routinely checking your air or water temperature settings. Even though you aren’t winterizing your fountain, this is the perfect time to clean and perform a system check on all your pumps, valves, strainers, switches, timers, and chemical levels to make sure every system is operating properly.
Also, we recommend you pay attention to your Delta “T”, or change in temperature. No heater can be effective at every temperature; they all have a point at which they can’t overcome the extreme low temperature environments (see the photo of the Nashville Symphony fountain below). If your fountain has a heater, make sure you know the absolute coldest temperature in which the heater can work properly. If you’re not sure what that lowest temperature is, consult your Operations and Maintenance Manual or the maker’s website. If you continue checking your system on your regular maintenance schedule and stay aware of any issues that may arise, you should have a smooth start-up in the Spring.
When you work to maintain your fountain system year-round, your fountain and its components will have a longer life. If you’ve done everything we recommended and you still worry about your fountain this season, call our technical support staff at 904-886-9030 for more information.
Winter Fountain Remember what we said about the South in the article above? Even deep freezes can happen in the South, as seen from the Nashville Symphony’s frozen fountain from earlier this year. That number four in the top right corner? That’s the temperature. Make sure you know your Delta “T” and pay attention to your local area’s weather.
