15/11/07 - Don't be a drain on the fountain budget

Following two incidents of vandalism to Welwyn Garden City’s Coronation Fountain on Parkway, Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council are urging people to think before playing pranks.

On Monday 12 November and Tuesday 13 November a large quantity of detergent was poured into the fountain, causing a huge amount of foam to be produced.

Whilst the council acknowledges that this could be seen as harmless fun, cleaning up the foam has proven to be a drain on resources set aside to maintain the fountain.

Every time detergent is poured into the fountain, the council must call a specialist contractor to rectify it using “Foambreaker”, a chemical which disperses foam. This costs at least £60 per visit, depending on how much foam is in the fountain.

In severe cases, when detergent is stuck in the fountain’s pump and filter, the fountain must be completely drained so the pipes can be flushed and the fountain refilled with water. Again this work is carried out by a specialist contractor at a cost of around £300 a time.

Following the incident on Monday 12 November, the council called the contractor who added the Foambreaker to the fountain. Late on the same evening more detergent was poured into the fountain. It is not yet known if the fountain is damaged and will need to be drained

To try to curb incidents of detergents being poured into the fountain, the council has approached local retailers and asked that they refrain from selling large quantities of foaming products to younger people.

In addition to the “foamings”, there have been several incidents of people throwing soil and other debris into the fountain, which again can cause damage to the pump, filter and the fountain itself.
 
Councillor Alan Franey, Executive Member for Resources, said: “We would like to discourage people from playing pranks and pouring detergent into the fountain, as the budget to maintain it is being stretched by having to make repairs following incidents of vandalism. The fountain is one of Welwyn Garden City’s distinctive landmarks and it is sad to see it treated in a thoughtless way.”

END/PR/07/156