Indoor Water Feature Accessories

As with outdoor water features, accessories and add-ons for indoor water features are virtually limitless.

By Lori Luechtefeld

As with outdoor water features, accessories and add-ons for indoor water features are virtually limitless. They enable homeowners to tailor the look, sound and feel of their features to their own preferences.

Jon Jay of Flair Fountains in Minneapolis said most water feature accessory options — be it sound, light or aesthetic additions — have been on the market for a long time. Many of the options commonly seen on outdoor features can be brought indoors with little or no modifications.

Specifically, Jay said, laminar jets — a popular accessory for pools and outdoor features — could be adapted for indoor use to add a more dynamic look to features. “Laminar jets create what essentially looks like a rod of water shooting into a feature,” he said. “Light travels through the rod of water and creates an effect that looks almost like a laser.”

The main challenge faced in mimicking an outdoor pond indoors is the issue of plants, said Michael Fulmer of AquaDesigns in Graniteville, S.C. “There are some live options that can work well,” he said. “Mainly, these customers are purchasing silk plants. There are some really quality options out there that look great.”

Pawl Hollis, owner of Rail City Garden Center in Sparks, Nev., agreed that maintaining any plant life in an indoor water feature can prove problematic. Another option beyond artificial plants is to supplement indoor water features with grow lights, he said.

Foggers remain another popular accessory in indoor water features, as well as fiber-optic lighting, Hollis said. “With fiber-optic lighting, there’s a central control unit with one light. You can run dozens of points of light off that one bulb,” he said. “If it burns out, it’s just one bulb that can be easily replaced. The tradeoff is that it’s more expensive than traditional lighting.”

California-based freelance writer Lori Luechtefeld's complete article, "Sales Support the Move Indoors," appeared in the October/November 2007 issue.

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