Okay, so I've got these two garden fountains-- they can be had for
surprisingly little money on Craigslist-- that are about 1.3m/4ft
tall. They each have a removable small electric pump that submerges in
the fountain that is equipped with 4m/12ft of heavy gauge electric
cord that plugs into 110v outlets (preferably GFCI equipped,
obviously). The electrics are sealed in the unit and are, of course,
waterproof. The wiring cannot be changed without damaging the
watertight seal.

I want to site the fountains about 7m/20ft from the house, though,
probably a good 10m/30ft from a plug, assuming I drill through the
foundation to run the wires. If I put the fountains next to the house
I could get them to the outlets with the wiring the pumps come with.
But how should I power the things out in the "middle" of the yard?

I could have an electrician run conduit to the fountains and install
an outdoor plug, but then I need to be concerned about shutting off
power to the outlets if it rains and nobody is home, don't I? Or must
I look for pumps with 10m/30ft of power cord (which I haven't found)?
Do I want an outdoor power plug-- two, actually-- out in the yard?
They cannot be camouflaged as the lawn is wide open. And if I do put
them out there, is running conduit something I should do or should I
leave it to an electrician? Hm, it occurs to me there must be county
codes for this...

I actually want the things next to the house in my two little flower
gardens but my wife is insisting that it would look silly. After all,
she argues, all the houses with fountains where we grew up had them in
the middle of their lawns.

Problem is, we grew up in Newport, RI.

So an answer or suggestions will be appreciated. Arguments I can
present to Mrs Markvmd for putting the fountains next to the house
(other than "it's the only place I can get power to them"; you think I
haven't tried that?) will be similarly appreciated. Making fun of the
whole fountain idea will be tolerated. Examinations of the
psychosexual connotations of fountains and flower gardens will be
ignored. Anyone who actually goes to see "Snakes on a Plane" will be
soundly thrashed, because, as Samuel L Jackson pointed out, "It's not
Gone with the Wind. It's not On the Waterfront. It's Snakes on a
Plane!"

Nice tip promised, to keep the money where it belongs.

Hook it up to a small solar panel. Bury the line and put the panel
somewhere discreet. Ezekiel 25:17 for further direction;)

Easy!

Tell your Mrs that you are going to have to install three huge pylons
to run the power cables to where she wants the fountains.

Do stress the health risks of living near overhead power cables but
point out that the cats will love the challenge of sitting on top.

Then get your Mrs drunk.

When she is sufficiently far gone, get her to give her written
agreement to the pylons. (It's probably a good idea to have the
agreement drawn up by Kemlo - he's very good at such stuff.)

Then place the agreement in a safety box in a Swiss bank (Zug is very
fashionable) and hide the key.

Start by preparing preliminary drawings of the pylons and by getting
contractors along to quote for the project.

Then tell your Mrs that, in view of the cost over-runs, you might have
to file for bankruptcy.

Wow!

I can see all the makings of a Broadway Musical here as Mr & Mrs fight
for territorial rights.

Of course, the contractors eventually strike oil and you are then able
to throw an opening reception to which all the GARs and GACs are
invited. (Timespacette, Steph53 and Cynthia are always up for a grand
bash if they can get to wear their crinolines.)

And everybody lives happily ever after.

Good luck!

Bryan

I can't really find any good sites to back it up, but here's my
solution from person experience...

In film and TV the electricians (who call themselves gaffers) use what
they call a 'french letter'. Essentially a small tube of plastic film
large enough to go over a plug. When they need to weatherproof a join
between cables they put one across the plugs, and then use cableties
and cloth/insulation tape to secure the ends to the cable.

I've seen this used over the course of a few days in poor weather
without incident. With a few extra precautions I don't see why the
technique could not work for an indefinate installation.

The precautions, I would say, would be to prevent damage to plastic
and avoid unnecessary movement of the cable.

If it were me, I would dig a little channel in the lawn and put the
cable in it. Where the cable from the fountain ran out, I would make
an access hole - basically dig a little hole, put stones in the bottom
to allow drainage, then put a plastic container with holes in the
bottom on that, make a little slot to allow AC cables in and out, and
place weatherproofed connection in that. Then put a lid on and bury
and inch or so under the turf. Then continue my little channel to the
house. This way the cable is out of sight, protected from the elements
mostly, as well as sealed additionally, and protected from movement
and damage. Just don't forget it's there and put a shovel though it.

As long as it has a good issolation transformer at the house end then
the worst that can happen is it blows a fuse.

Hope that helps, sorry I couldn't come up with an answer specifically.

Regards,
Sycophant

I don't know of a specific product to use, but the thought occurred to
me to find an electrical box that can be buried with only an access
panel exposed at ground level.  Bury the box very near the back of the
fountain.  Run the electrical service to the box, and run the cord
from the pump to the box.  I don't think you can bury the pump cord,
but it might be possible to hide it with something.

Your wife's childhood memories don't include the practicalities of
getting power to her cherished fountains.  I'm sure in reality there
was some necessary items for supplying power.

I recommend talking to a landscaper who has experience with  fountains.

The solar pannel may be your best solution, but you need at least 1/2
square meter of solar panel if the panel is shaded late morning or
early afternoon. Face the solar panel toward the noonday sun = 1pm if
you are on daylight savings time. You also need a 12 volt deep cycle
battery. Any size from 3 to 50 kilograms is ok. You need a 100 watt
inverter or more watts.
Some of the jump start units to jump start cars, come with an inverter
built in as well as a suitable deep cycle battery. This could be a
multi use gadget at no more cost than the battery and inverter as
separate items. If practical charge the battery as the manufacture
suggests in the house or garage. If the solar panel is used for the
first charge, you should not turn the inverter on until a week of
sunny days. There after, the solar panel should replace the energy
used by the fountain pumps, even if you leave the pumps running 24/7
In the late fall and early winter you may need to turn the inverter
off occasionally to allow the battery to catch up, especially if you
run other appliences off the inverter.   Neil

You do need to protect the inverter from rain. You should check the
battery voltage occasionally. Under charge is less than 12.5 volts.
Over charge is more than 13.2 volts. Both shorten the life of the
battery. The jump start units often have over charge protection if you
connect the solar panel to the jack for the power cube. Also most jump
start units have LEDs to test how charged the battery is. This method
is not suitable in neigborhoods where thieves are likely to steal your
goodies.   Neil