Fountain Basins and Kits
A fountain basin is the reservoir a water feature sits on. It holds the water, houses the pump, and carries the weight of whatever is above it, which is why sizing it correctly matters more than almost any other decision in a fountain build.
Basins come in two broad forms. A sub-surface basin is buried below grade so the fountain appears to pour directly onto the stone, with no visible tank. An above-ground basin sits on the surface and becomes part of the look.
Sizing a basin
Two figures decide it. The first is water volume: the basin has to hold enough that the pump never runs dry between top-ups, and enough to absorb what sits in the plumbing and on the feature's surface while it runs. The second is load rating. A basalt column or a stone urn is heavy, and the basin lid has to carry that weight without deflecting. Check the rated capacity against the actual weight of the piece before ordering.
Basin kits
A kit pairs a basin with a pump sized to match, which removes the most common specification error on a self-assembled fountain: too much flow and water sheets past the stone, too little and it dribbles.
