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Design and manufacture of weird and wonderful water features

 

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  1. How much water does it use?
  2. Is it safe to touch the water?
  3. Can I use an existing outdoor socket?
  4. What does Orrelwood signify?
  5. Can I choose my own Lumifont housing or pot?

How much water does it use?

The water is held inside the pot and constantly re-circulated. It is slowly lost through splashing and evaporation, so the level needs topping up every few days. Pretty much like watering a house plant...

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Is it safe to touch the water?

It is perfectly safe. The fact that the water sometimes appears flame-like is an optical illusion. The electricity supplied from the transformer to the Lumifont is 24 Volts AC, which is a low voltage and insufficient to cause any shock to the person, even under highly unlikely fault conditions.  Furthermore, the transformer is a safety isolating transformer, which means that mains 240 voltages cannot become connected to the Lumifont, even under fault conditions.

NB One should NOT drink the water as it will not be fresh and may contain small traces of lead and manufacturing chemicals.

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Can I use an existing outdoor socket?

Yes, but then the installation is slightly more complicated because the transformer must be kept perfectly dry. It is easiest to plug the transformer into a socket inside a building and run the low voltage cable to the Lumifont. However, if the transformer must be placed outside then it should be housed inside a waterproof enclosure (to IP 55 or better) with suitably watertight cable entries. Furthermore any outdoor socket should (by law since 2005) be protected by an RCD (residual current device) with a trip current of 30 mA, so your socket and circuit might need upgrading.

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What does Orrelwood signify?

Orrelwood is the original name given to my house (and studio location) by its Edwardian builders.  We're not sure of the origins of  'Orrel', possibly related to the Lancashire town Orrell near Wigan, or perhaps to 'oriel' windows.

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Can I choose my own Lumifont housing or pot?

Of course. I am always interested in new ideas and will work with you to realise your idea. Ideally you would leave your pot/housing with me at my studio whilst I work on it, if this is possible. Or I could visit your site and take comprehensive measurements to work with.

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© 2005  Orrelwood Waterworks      Last updated: 05 Jan 2007 .