I'm sharing about how to keep your water fountain clean, outdoor fountain maintenance, modern outdoor fountain options to buy and more!

A water feature can be a fun addition to your yard. There's just something about listening to trickling water that sounds inviting and relaxing.

I'll be sharing all my tips on how to keep a patio fountain clean, but before I get to that... promise me that you aren't going to judge how dirty our backyard water fountain got before I learned how to take care of it!!!

outdoor fountain maintenance tips — Love the look of landscape rock? We replaced our mulch around the patio with rock and love the change!

From that angle, you might think that the yard fountain doesn't look that bad. Cover your eyes, because here's a closer view of our back yard water feature.

Gross water before adding algaecide (fountain cleaner)

Yikes, right? Let me share about our fountain cleaner and how we maintain the backyard fountain over the winter!

Easy tips for having an outdoor fountain on your patio!

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First things first, these types of backyard fountains are beasts! They weigh a freakin' ton. So, make sure you have someone to help you. Luke and I can barely lift the top piece together and the few times that we needed to get the bottom bowl off... we've had to have extra help.

If the patio fountain that you have is as dirty as ours, you can't use use a fountain cleaner to clean the water. First, you really need to clean the whole fountain itself.

Supplies for Outdoor Fountain Maintenance

How to Clean Small Water Fountains

Dump the water out of the bowls first. If you can tilt the bowl, then let the water pour out that way. (If you can't tilt the bowl, then you can use a bucket and just scoop it out. Last year we used a suction pump with our hose and that worked as well. Just work with what you have.)
Using a hard bristle brush and soapy water, scrub! For harder stains, you can add in some Simple Green.

Ok, now that you have your water feature basin clean, let's talk about how to keep it that way!

How to Keep A Backyard Fountain Water Clean

There's three main components to keeping your fountain water clean:

Cleaning the fountain to begin each season
Keeping the water flowing in your fountain using a pump
Adding an algaecide to the water to keep it looking nice
Covering the fountain for periods of time when seasons change

The fountain cleaner that we bought was FounTex Algaecide because it was safe for birds and pets and was meant to clear out algae and clarify the water. We found it easy to use and, most importantly, felt like it really worked. The cleaner comes out blue but dissolves and doesn't stain anything.

Another component of your backyard water features is the pump system and it also plays a role in keeping your water features clean.

Small Water Fountain Pump System

There are lots of different types of yard fountain pumps. For our fountain, we needed an outdoor fountain pump that was submersible and electric.

Different pumps can pump water up to a certain height, so if you needed to pump water up from a chamber where your pump sits, make sure to really read the details on a pump before you buy to make sure it will pump the water up high enough for your fountain.

Another thing to note is that most pumps come without the hosing for the spout. Make sure to buy that while you are at it.

When we purchased our pump, we tested it first before installing it inside the patio fountain. Our installation was pretty easy, we just had to feed the hose up through the holes of both bowls of our water feature, but installations will be different based on what type of fountain (outdoor wall fountain, traditional bowl fountain, etc.) that you have.

Since our pump is electric (we get too much shade in our backyard to have a solar pump), we have a cord that runs out the back to a box in the rocks below. The box holds the connection for the pump to the electrical line. From that box we have an electrical line (which we ran last year) that runs underneath our rock patio to an outdoor electrical outlet. The outlet has a timer on it so we can have the fountain come on just during the daytime.

Even with a timer on our pump, we found that the backyard fountain water got hazy after about a week. To keep it clean, we started adding an Algaecide to the water.

One other little thing about maintaining the outdoor fountain: if you have a bowl that has waterfall holes (see below) like ours, they tend to get plugged occasionally. We've found that when this happens, you can grab a small twig and poke out whatever is clogging the hole.

Honestly, with just a bit of care and maintenance the patio fountain works great. As with everything else in our house, we know that the fountain could even be a bit better. It has a crack on the "neck" and that crack has been there since we moved in. Eventually, that is going to crack completely and then we will have to figure something out. But until then, we are just going to enjoy having this as a water feature on our patio.

Here's a few questions that you might have:

Should I winterize my backyard water fountain?

Should I leave my water fountain on all the time?

We definitely preferred to use a timer system on ours to that we weren't constantly using electricity. You do want the water to run often, so that it stays cleaner.

How do I keep my fountain water from getting slimy?

The key to this is to run the water fountain often and use the fountain cleaner that I mentioned earlier.

Shopping for Water Features for backyards?

Modern Water Fountains

Outdoor Wall Fountains

My mom had an outdoor wall fountain by her front porch for years and it was pretty charming as you walked up to her front door. She actually recently moved and now has a circle drive that has a soon-to-be landscaped bed in the middle of the driveway. It's just calling for a front yard water fountain. So, don't get stuck in a rut thinking that you can only do back yard water features. I think there's lots of options for adding them in different spaces, depending on how your yard, seating areas, etc, are!

How to Keep Backyard Water Fountain Clean

I’m sharing about how to keep your water fountain clean, outdoor fountain maintenance, modern outdoor fountain options to buy and more!

Materials

Hard bristle brush
Simple Green
Fountain Tarp
Algaecide and Clarifier

Instructions

Dump the water out of the bowls first. If you can tilt the bowl, then let the water pour out that way. (If you can’t tilt the bowl, then you can use a bucket and just scoop it out. Last year we used a suction pump with our hose and that worked as well. Just work with what you have.)
Using a hard bristle brush and soapy water, scrub! For harder stains, you can add in some Simple Green.
Keep the water flowing in your fountain using a pump.
Add an algaecide to the water to keep it looking nice.
Cover the fountain for the winter.

Notes

Should I winterize my backyard water fountain?

Yes, you should if you live in a climate that gets winter weather. Winterize the fountain by taking the water out of it as well as the pump. Put a weatherproof fountain cover over the top and, when it rains or snows, scoop the water off the fountain cover every so often.

Should I leave my water fountain on all the time?

We definitely preferred to use a timer system on ours to that we weren’t constantly running electricity. You do want the water to run often though so that it stays cleaner.

How do I keep my fountain water from getting slimy?

The key to this is to run the water fountain often and use the fountain cleaner that I mentioned earlier.

If you enjoyed this post, then you might like: How to clean siding without a pressure washer or How to add a bucket and pulley for the kids!

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How to Keep Water Fountain Water Clean