Bluworld of Water provides indoor and outdoor water feature design and fabrication with each project fabricated and tested prior to installation in its 45,000-square-foot facility in Orlando, Florida.
The company prides itself on being a single source that design professionals can rely on to ensure their water feature projects will be a success.
Projects involve a water feature specialist to ensure the project works correctly without operational issues, addressing the nuances in controlling water that can easily be overlooked or unanticipated even by very component design professionals.
The company places a strong emphasis on engineering. Its product offerings include indoor water features with a standard single panel, a horizontal multi-panel, a vertical multi-panel, stacked horizontal multi-panels and built-in water features that integrate components to create large, monolithic walls of water.
Facing a challenge
A recent water feature project stood out as case study of success in addressing a situation in working with what initially presented itself as a limitation, but became a challenge to be mitigated, leading to satisfying results for the client and the company.
A client owns a large beachfront resort which featured an existing planter area in its main driveway. The client wanted the planter converted to a dynamic fountain. The company went to work to choose the right feature for the situation, notes Sean Drummond, president and founder.
To bring the project together, the team performed an initial site visit and met with the client.
“During the meeting, we determined the project objectives based on our clients’ desires and expectations for the fountain,” says Drummond. “We also inspected the site and determined the constraints we would be working through.”
The company informs clients that when properly designing a water feature, it is imperative that some details are worked out early in the design process such as material selections, splash considerations, reservoir and pool sizing, and basic mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering requirements.
The company offers mock-up services to clients as a necessary and critical step of a proper custom water feature design process. The mock-up is especially essential when a new, untested material is being proposed in a custom water feature, particularly if it is a textured surface, Drummond says.
A full set of specification drawings is created for the planned water feature. The drawings include views, details, material call outs, mechanical requirements, construction notes and all other relevant details.
Concept validation and budgeting considers whether the unique idea for the water feature will work and have the water effect the client is envisioning. Also under consideration is whether the lighting will perform as the client thinks it will, says Drummond. An additional consideration is whether a particular material will hold up in a water feature or whether there is a better material for the application. A significant factor is whether the design can be built within budget.
Getting technical
As the client wanted to convert a planter to a dynamic fountain, there were technical considerations the team had to build into the system to make the feature work smoothly.
“Being a conversion project from a planter to a fountain, we were limited in the amount of new piping that could be added as well as limited in the amount of space that could be utilized for an equipment area,” Drummond points out. “To overcome that challenge, we designed the system to utilize submersible stainless-steel pumps located in the fountain pool area, and fabricated custom pump housings. The piping from pumps to nozzle effects was designed to be above grade in the pool.”
The company’s engineering department produced a full set of specification/shop drawings for the fountain and collaborated with the client through the approval process.
They procured the equipment through a partner vendor and fabricated custom parts of their own to complete the setup, Drummond says. “Our installation team traveled to the site with the equipment and performed the installation. We then created the custom ‘show’ programs and performed system start up and our own training.”
“The fountain is a beautiful display of water nozzles and lighting,” says Drummond. “There is a lower, larger pool and a smaller, elevated upper pool. Streams of water are programmed to shoot as high as 30 feet in the air from the lower and upper pools, and some streams shoot from the lower pool to the upper pool.”
“The fountain is a beautiful display of water nozzles and lighting.”
– Sean Drummond, Bluworld of Water
The streams and lights are all programmable and choreographed to display captivating shows for the client’s customers to enjoy. The fountain features 25 submersible LED color-changing lights grouped in five zones, with each zone individually programmed and controlled, allowing for the different nozzles and effects to be illuminated individually as the show progresses.
Each of the five zones controls a different set of nozzles producing each nozzle effect being able to be programmed to fluctuate the height of the water effect.
“We custom programmed six different ‘shows’ into the control panel for our client,” Drummond says. “The shows range from ‘spectacular’ with nozzles and lights changing dramatically to ‘subtle’ with effects changing slowly over time.” They also spent time training the client on how to program their own shows through the system’s interface.
“The constraint of having to use submersible pumps was considered a challenge at the onset,” Drummond says. “However, through the process and through the success of the project, we realized that this method has many beneficial aspects. Since this project was completed, we have utilized this submersible pump concept in full or in part on many other projects.”
Using creativity and strong design strategy, Drummond’s team was able to turn a planter into an eye-catching water feature. For the client, it was a huge success, he says.
“The new programmable, dynamic, fountain with color-changing lighting is the centerpiece for their clients to enjoy as they pull onto the property and throughout their stay,” he says. “The fountain has now become a signature element of the resort.”
