A couple months ago, I visited Las Vegas for the first time and (no surprise) the Bellagio Fountains were amazing. After the awe of it all wore off a bit, I started wondering how it all worked. They're moving a lot of water, so I figured a pretty big and unique water system would be involved. So after I got home, I did a little googling.
The fountains were designed by WET Design, and was five times larger than anything they had ever done before. According to this article, "Bellagio's attraction consists of white lights, a fog system and four types of devices that shoot water into the air at varying heights. One of those devices -- basically robots called oarsmen -- is the only one that can make the water change directions." The exact cost isn't public knowledge, but it's estimated to be somewhere between $40-$75 million. To keep it up and running, there are approximately 30 engineers working every day. The engineers come from varying backgrounds, but all of them have dive training.
The fountains were designed by WET Design, and was five times larger than anything they had ever done before. According to this article, "Bellagio's attraction consists of white lights, a fog system and four types of devices that shoot water into the air at varying heights. One of those devices -- basically robots called oarsmen -- is the only one that can make the water change directions." The exact cost isn't public knowledge, but it's estimated to be somewhere between $40-$75 million. To keep it up and running, there are approximately 30 engineers working every day. The engineers come from varying backgrounds, but all of them have dive training.
I wanted to know how exactly the water was shot up so high, so I kept looking. This is the best description I found of the equipment they use: "The system consists of four kinds of devices that shoot water. The oarsmen, all 208 of them, make the water "dance" up to 77 feet high. Each is individually programmable so the direction of the water can be changed anytime. There are 798 minishooters that shoot water 100 feet high; 192 supershooters that shoot water 240 feet into the air and 16 extreme-shooters, capable of projecting a wall of water as high as 460 feet. The "fog" is made with softened water that is fed at a high pressure through pipes that lead out to the lake" (source).
The equipment was specially invented and designed for the Bellagio fountains, so it's pretty unlikely that we see much of the same equipment used in our water and wastewater systems. But check out the pictures (I can't paste them here because of ownership issues) of the pumping equipment room, control room and panels here (click on the first picture to make it bigger and then click the arrow to make sure you view each of the seven pictures at the top of the article). Some of that sure looks familiar! I think we'd be right at home working on the Bellagio fountains. Except perhaps for those dive training requirements....
I also found the video below that talks about some of the specific technology that brings the show to life.
The equipment was specially invented and designed for the Bellagio fountains, so it's pretty unlikely that we see much of the same equipment used in our water and wastewater systems. But check out the pictures (I can't paste them here because of ownership issues) of the pumping equipment room, control room and panels here (click on the first picture to make it bigger and then click the arrow to make sure you view each of the seven pictures at the top of the article). Some of that sure looks familiar! I think we'd be right at home working on the Bellagio fountains. Except perhaps for those dive training requirements....
I also found the video below that talks about some of the specific technology that brings the show to life.
Your pumps and control systems might not have to send fountains of water into the air synchronized with music and lights, but we think they're just as hardworking and important. That's why we pride ourselves on our pump service. We perform pump checks, troubleshoot, repair, rebuild, and replace pumps - always understanding how important they are in your system. Check out some of our pump projects here and then afterwards let us know how we can help you out taking care of your pumps here.
P.S. I just can't get enough of big water fountains. Check out this article to check out The Best Fountains in the World.
P.S. I just can't get enough of big water fountains. Check out this article to check out The Best Fountains in the World.
