History
- This cast iron fountain, being one of two cast around 1880 in a French Foundry.
The fountain was build for a Royal Horticultural exhibition and was later
relocated to its current location in Victoria Park, Ashford, Kent.
Precision Pipework provided the technical knowledge on the electrical and mechanical services.
The brief was to provide a fully automated fountain, capable of standing the test of time. All materials where practical, were to be in 316 grade stainless steel or engineering plastics.
Consultation started early in 1997 on the project which was passed for heritage lottery fund assistance. Precision Pipework Ltd tendered and won the contract to design, supply and install all of the electrical and mechanical services to complete the project. Previously the 30ft fountain lost water due to high winds causing drifting, faced with the same dilemma, Precision Pipework designed the pump to automatically slowdown during periods of high wind.
At
night the fountain is automatically illuminated by 34 low voltage submersible
lamps. The water is sterilized using a Ultra Violet tube set into a stainless
steel manifold.
The total job was completed on schedule and was officially opened on the 12th November 1998 by the Mayor of Ashford. The fountain can be seen working for 20 hours a day, the best time to view the fountain running is at night, the underwater lights bring the fountain alive!.