Talk:Fountain

Waste of water
I was wondering how much waste can a fountain waste, but I cant find any material about it. There's circulation of course, but some water must vaporize. Maybe its possible to add something to the water? Barskya (talk) 18:05, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

Drinking Fountains
Perhaps someone who is more well-traveled than myself could add something about drinking fountains in an international context? I have always lived in the United States where drinking fountains were ubiquitous, but then moved to Germany, where they are almost completely non-existent. Although it may seem trivial, there is a lot of cultural insight contained in something as mundane of the presence, or lack thereof, of drinking fountains. Whenever I make an observation such as this I like to check and see what Wikipedia has to say, but there seems to be nothing about drinking fountains around the world.

Indeed, the part in this article seems very America-centric. I can confirm that in Holland, we don't have drinking fountains either. - 88.159.237.128 (talk) 16:49, 8 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Personally I think that there should be a different article for drinking fountains altogether... Drinking fountains have different purpose, function and features from decorative fountains.Dreammaker182 (talk) 07:27, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

Wasserspiel
Can anyone add information about Wasserspiel - fountains as playful practical jokes? They were in vogue a few hundred years ago in Europe, and several delightful examples still exist. They don't quite seem to fit the definition of "Animated fountain," and I don't see any other place for them. Ideas? Rklawton 19:25, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Traditional Fountains
What powered them? How did they work? I came away from this article assuming that in the medieval ages they had 12v solar panels. C'mon, get in with the nitty gritty! :D Heron's Fountain is potentially one method if built on a large scale and emptied with reverse-bellows of some sort to keep it powered, but really, how'd the romans do it? Jachin 18:47, 2 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Four months and no answer, does anyone have any input on this subject so we can expand this article a little more? Please, anyone? Jachin 12:48, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Images
I'm going to try to move the images around a bit and resize some to reduce the impact they are currently having on the text - there is lots of white space and some "orphaned" sentences. I hope it turns out OK!... Hassocks5489 11:06, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

this article is far too long and contains WAY too many pictures. it's a bloody mess really. Bloggyelf (talk) 03:18, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

there are over 100 images in the article. that is ridiculous. many sections have 6-8 example pictures where 1-2 would suffice. and the gallery at the end should be pruned off to a seperate article. and the article is still much too long. i don't want to just arbitrarily slash stuff but it really needs some work. Bloggyelf (talk) 18:49, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

Drinking Fountains
How do they work? How do they pressurize? Why aren't you supposed to spit in them? Is the water recycled? Is that safe? If someone could answer these questions that would be great.

thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.192.140.197 (talk) 08:09, 16 November 2008 (UTC)


 * The water isn't recycled but it's uncouth to spit. Try the Reference Desk if you have more questions, then come back and help improve the article! Rivertorch (talk) 14:57, 16 November 2008 (UTC)

Does anyone know where they use the term "water fountain" when they mean "drinking fountain"
I read in a book for the first time where the author used the word "water fountain" while referring to drinking fountains. The author was saying there were no water fountains in Paris, and it took me a while to realize that what he meant to say there are no drinking fountains in Paris. In all the areas I have lived in the US and Canada, the term "water fountain" was never used for drinking fountain, but instead referred to the decorative fountains you find outside. Both my hard copy English dictionary, and the online Merriman-Webster dictionary don't recognize water fountain as synomyn for drinking fountain. Is using water fountain for drinking fountain a regional thing, and if so, what region?


 * In the south, I've always heard and refered to them as water fountains, but if you wanted to be really specific you could always just say drinking fountain. Decorative fountains around here are usually just called fountains.  I guess it's just implied if you're asking for the location of one, you're thristy and looking for a drink.   Lime in the Coconut   19:42, 29 December 2009 (UTC)

As for drinking fountains not being popular in Europe, I am not surprised. I noticed my German relatives would never drink water straight from the faucet, but when I was growing up, we only drank water from the regular house faucet. I thought it a waste of money to pay for water, and it has only been in the last 20 years or so that American's started drinking bottled water the same way they did soda - when I was a kid, you would never find bottled water in a vending machine. Perhaps the Europeans don't have drinking fountains because they don't trust the public water supply the way American's do, an attitude being a holder over from more ancient times when the city water supply was less safe. Glenn Beard, Southfield, Michigan. &mdash; —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.51.147.97 (talk) 20:04, 14 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Personally I think that there should be a different article for drinking fountains altogether... Drinking fountains have different purpose, function and features from decorative fountains.Dreammaker182 (talk) 07:29, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

History and pants
The term "drinking fountain" is also used for a structure such as the one shown here. When this was erected it was the sole water supply for the residents nearby. There being no shortage of water in this area, the spout would run continuously and people would bring vessels and and fill them.

A curious local usage is that in the northeast of England (and Scotland apparently) such a structure is called a pant. I have found no origin for the word and each reference I have found, such as here on the PMSA site, uses it as though it was a well known word! &mdash; RHaworth 06:26, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

Does not address drinking fountain
I got redirected here while doing a search for Drinking Fountains, but this page has nothing about it in it minus that one sentence, maybe it should include some more information/text about drinking fountains here! 96.244.254.20 (talk) 01:20, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

split -- History of fountains
I think this is very a long section which is interesting in it's own right.--Levineps (talk) 21:42, 27 December 2011 (UTC)

coins
tossing coins should be mentioned in this article. i'd do it myself but i don't really like contributing in anyway that requires effort24.136.136.42 (talk) 13:44, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

Reorganize
Somebody tried to put in all ever existing fountain in that article... Putting together galleries needs to look good, serve a purpose. Jamming together every picture that appeals to you, is not a good way to go. You need to choose high quality images that sit well together. Then you need to arrange them as if you were hanging works in a real gallery. Remove lot of miniature pic that doesn't add to article, just make it longer and difficult to view. Hafspajen (talk) 14:19, 21 May 2014 (UTC)

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