TIP: Use your pump instead of your back to empty heavy fountains Have a fountain that's so heavy it's impossible to carry to a sink or even lift it when it's full of water? Here's a tip that will save you from a backache and allow you to clean or just change the water in your fountain more often.

Determine what size tubing your particular pump uses. Go to a hardware store where tubing is sold off the spool. Find the size of tubing your fountain uses, ( or take a piece of that with you when you go to the hardware store) Then, find the size of tubing that fits snuggly into the size of tubing in your fountain. Three feet should be enough.

The next time you decide the water needs changing, or the bowl needs cleaning, get an empty bucket, stick one end of the tubing in it and the other end into the spout of the fountain. Let the pump drain the fountain for you. Yes, I know you're not supposed to run the pumps without water... but you won't be running it long enough to do any damage.

Once you have most or all of the water pumped out of the bowl, unplug the pump, disassemble the fountain and clean it. With a helper, (one person to hold the hose in the bucket, the other to add fresh water to the fountain) you can also just flush the water out, adding new water as the pump is draining the old.

We find this way of draining our fountains very handy as we set them up to test them then empty them for delivery to the customer.