$10- 12 Water Fountain, Realistic Looking

The project is all about harnessing all your creativity in one go. Try not to make exactly the way I have crafted but instead use the techniques and processes. This project will judge your patience, so, better be prepared. Ultimately you will have the best thing to place inside your living-room.

Your fountain will consist of three things

1. A submersible pump to lift water

2. A miniature mountain with some greenery

3. A container which can hold over all mechanisms and water

You will require these things:

Cement (construction cement) 2.5 kg

Sand 2.5 kg

Stones as per your design to build mountains

1/2 m square denim or any thick fabric

waste newspapers and used poly bags

water proof acrylic fabric colors and brushes

Scrotch Bright form 3M to create trees and greenery

Dried stems, approximate 3mm thick

Submersible Pump, 180-240V AC 50Hz

One meter flexible pipe to insert into the outlet of the pump

A plastic storage bin or bowl having mouth diameter close to 1.5 feet

Tools and equipment required:

A pair of gloves to wear while working with cement

Scissors

Apron

Tape

Cement mixing containers ( 10-15 liter bucket)

Pliers, Paper cutter and Spoon

Outdoor wooden surface to work upon

Step 1: Step 1 Make a Cement Container/Bowl

Mix cement and sand as per manufacturers suggestion, mentioned on the package (or simply in 1:1 ratio) to prepare a semi solid paste. Take a piece of denim or any thick fabric and a plastic bowl. Cut the fabric in such a way that when you wrap it inside of the bowl it should cover all the faces extending two inches above the brim. Dip the piece of fabric and mix it thoroughly into the prepared cement paste. Finally wrap that cemented denim inside the bowl and let it to dry for 24 hours in shadow at well ventilated place.

Step 2: Release Bowl From the Mould

Use pliers and paper cutter to remove the outer plastic shell. Have patience and be careful while removing. Fill it with water to check if there is any leakage. If it leaks than mark and apply thick cement paste and make leak-proof. Keep checking until you are fully satisfied.

Step 3: Create a Place for Pump

Fill newspaper inside the packaging of the pump and tape it down. Filling should be strong enough to bear the load of mountain you have planned over it. As per location of the outlet on the pump, mark and attach a temporary pump using hot glue above the tapped packaging. By adding extra poly covers make it waterproof. Finally attach another piece of pipe on the side face of packaging to insert wire.

Step 4: Construct Mountain

Wrap plastic inside finished cement bowl before you start creating mountain, because in worst case you should be able to replace the malfunctioning pump with new one. Place tapped packaging by keeping the outlet toward edge of the bowl to create a long canal on the mountain flowing towards center. Start building mountain using stone pieces by joining them with a mixture of cement and sand in 1:1 ratio. Leave almost two inches opening towards center of the bowl and at the bottom of the mountain for the flow of water towards pump.

Try to occupy less than half of the space of the bowl to create mountain because half will have water body. While creating mountain plan your landscape and river wisely because this is going to be the most beautiful part of the design.

Step 5: Remove Mountain From Bowl

Make sure all the joints are dried fully and well attached. Mountain should come out easily from the bowel if it having proper draft angle.

Step 6: Decorate the Mountain

Clear pump keeping place and paint few places, specially around the joints and top of the stones using water-proof acrylic fabric paint to create greenery as shown in the photos.

How to create trees - Collect few dried small pieces of stem from nearby park, lawn or garden. cut it as per your desired tree dimension and apply gray or dark brown waterproof colors all faces. I have used Scotch bright from 3M to create leafy part of those trees by applying quick drying adhesive fixing it to stems.

Step 7: Place Over All Setup Inside Bowl

Insert connecting wire of pump into the wiring tunnel of mountain and place the pump into the cavity of mountain. Use hot glue to fix the pump. Once pump is properly locked at its position into the mountain, lift it carefully and place mountain with pump inside the cement bowel.

Step 8: Add Extra Details to Bowl

I have used scotch bright to create greenery on the edges of cement bowl and some places over the mountain by pasting a thin layers of it. Use waterproof paint which is easy to apply using small paint brushes (In our case we have used Acrylic Fabric colors) to create a sense of greenery. For best result you can take reference from any aerial view images to create green patches.

Step 9: Fill Bowl With Clean Water and Switch It ON

Before you fill it with water make sure everything dried and clean. Remove all lose pieces of stones and cement from the mountain and clean it properly.

Place the finished piece of fountain on your desired place and connect it to the nearest power source and the fountain will start working.

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