How to Adjust Drinking Fountain Stream Height

I was reading a clickbait article about the button on a drinking fountain. It turns out that you can adjust the height of the stream of many drinking fountains with a small flat-blade screwdriver. Access to the adjustment is through the hole in the center of the button. So I looked up the Haws company's Maintenance Manual. And it's true. You turn on the fountain by pressing the button, then insert a screwdrive and twist clockwise for more flow, counterclockwise for less flow. The instructions for replacing the cartridge valve are also included.

There is also a video on how to replace the cartridges:

Well I guess in areas with higher water pressure the spout may hit you in the eye, adjustment so simply is great!

I feel like this piece of knowledge is going to be extremely useful to set up a prank...

Thanks for sharing!

John C Daley wrote:Well I guess in areas with higher water pressure the spout may hit you in the eye, adjustment so simply is great!

Yes. The more common problem I have seen is that the fountain gives out a little dribble. Such that, if you want a drink, you have to touch the spout and slurp the water off of it. Which defeats the purpose of having a drinking fountain in the first place! It's good to know how to fix that problem, without trying to call everyone in the Parks Department.

The drinking water fountain at our church splashed so much for so long it ruined the wood on the adjoining wall.

15-20(?) years and nobody paid any attention.

One Sunday in 5 seconds, I dialed down the pressure so it was a nice sedate flow.

The question I have is how high should the arc of the stream be, I figured maybe about 5" or so, but haven't found the 'correct answer' yet.

>>>. I did some further research on the subject, the minimum height is 4" from the catch basin surface.

The 'dribble fountain setup' probably means either mis-adjusted inlet pressure, or the system has become clogged or restricted in some fashion.

Fountains are an example of what people will put up with and nobody does anything about problems FOR YEARS.

Drives me nuts.

OTOH, most are locked up or the valve is covered so it cannot be tampered with, which is probably a good idea anyway.

But then try finding a maintenance person to fix the problem.

Here is a link to a government publication which mainly deals with handicapped access issues, but also contains the stream arc height info.

Should have gone there first, but then I would not have found this forum.

https://www.access-board.gov/files/ada/guides/drinking-fountains.pdf

roger christian wrote:The drinking water fountain at our church splashed so much for so long it ruined the wood on the adjoining wall.

15-20(?) years and nobody paid any attention.

One Sunday in 5 seconds, I dialed down the pressure so it was a nice sedate flow.

>>>. I did some further research on the subject, the minimum height is 4" from the catch basin surface.

Fountains are an example of what people will put up with and nobody does anything about problems FOR YEARS.

Drives me nuts.

Here is a link to a government publication which mainly deals with handicapped access issues, but also contains the stream arc height info.

Should have gone there first, but then I would not have found this forum.

https://www.access-board.gov/files/ada/guides/drinking-fountains.pdf

Hi Roger, welcome to Permies! I'm glad you were able to fix that fountain. I know I like the stream to be pretty high so that my face isn't down in the catch basin. But 5 inches sounds like a perfectly usable height.

It is frustrating when a problem is left to sit for years. Here at permies we are solution-focused. We try to turn that old saying on its head: "We have found the solution, and it is us!" So many problems can be fixed with some knowledge and just a bit of elbow grease.