Peacock Water Fence

There are times when going against the design intent is obvious and reveals that there can be and that there are flexibilities to work with. Such was the case several years ago when I set up a test to determine a spacing requirement for the peacock nozzle. The catalog indicated that the top of the nozzle should be 1/2" below the water surface. However, my testing showed me that the look of the jet operating above the water level was indistinguishable from the photos. Armed with this knowledge I eventually used the peacock jet on a plaza project in New Orleans at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas.

The following photos are of the mock-up I used to establish the spacing requirements for a water fence. I used the PEA-125 jet; the operating height was 4 feet with the spacing of the jets at 2 feet. For this test, two rows of jets were used to get the maximum spread from each jet without clashing with the other jets spray. The spread for these jets is roughly 5 feet each. The row spacing was 16". It should be noted the orientation of the jet, the plane of the spray is perpendicular to the body. This detail will be critical in the grating selection and placing the jet within the project. 

I used a single line of jets to simplify construction and the operating height was kept at 4 feet. The spacing for the jets was in the 2-foot neighborhood. As you can see, the illusion of a water fence was successful. One aspect of this particular jet is that it is a cast bronze jet with rounded corners making it a user-friendly selection, as well as being extremely durable, a feature not overlooked for the saltwater environment of New Orleans. 

With the spray being projected in a single plane, millions of droplets are available to catch the light, so the peacock jet lights very well from below and from the side with landscape fixtures, making it a good choice for plaza projects. 

If you are a landscape architect designing a plaza project or an installing contractor faced with the design-build challenge of a plaza with a liner water element, you can utilize the information I gleaned from my mock-up test and later applied in the Aquarium of the America's as a starting point in your design process. 

Frontal View of Test

Side View of the Test

Complete Perspective of the Fence