Archimedes Pet Fountain

Our domestic beasties love their flowing water gadgets. They’re mature products, all I’ve seen built around small, low-voltage electric emersion pumps, either built into the fountain body, or small clip-on units.

These little pumps work well, last a long time, and are easy to clean (a necessity, as even with the fountains’ usual filters, their little impellers often clog with hair and similar junk), but even well-maintained, make an annoying buzzy noise, sometimes reverberating with their cases or the whole fountain.

So, instead of an emersion pump, the Archimedes Pet Fountain features an Archimedes screw, turned slowly by any of a variety of electric or other dry motors. The screw and motor takes up most of the space of the fountain, so rather than being concealed, is a prominent aesthetic feature. The fountains are available in many styles – elaborate Victorian copper pieces to modern plastics, art ceramics, chintzy themed layouts, etcetera – including purely decorative, non-pet watering ones, all dominated by non-buzzy gurgling, and if so designed, slow mechanical creaking and clunking sounds.